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Tag: Mahesh Manjrekar

  • Mahesh Manjrekar forays into Marathi TV with Tuza Maza Jamena

    Mahesh Manjrekar forays into Marathi TV with Tuza Maza Jamena

    MUMBAI: After giving many successful Marathi films and plays, Mahesh Manjrekar has now forayed into Marathi television with his new production Tuza Maza Jamena (TMJ), which will be aired on Zee Marathi.

    The lead cast of TMJ is Reema, Manva Naik, Vaibhav Tattvavadi, Vidyadhar Joshi, Suhas Joshi, Bhau Kadam, Poornima Manohar, Shreedhar Bhave, Abhijeet Kelkar and Savita Malpekar amongst others.

    The show will be aired from 13 May from Monday to Saturday at 9 pm.

    "I‘ve always believed that TV is a very challenging medium, simply because keeping the audience hooked for days on end is not the easiest thing in the world. In fact, I think doing something for TV is the most tiring job. But, it‘s also a challenge that I wanted to take up. Also, TV is too huge a market to ignore," Manjrekar said.

    He added, "People are asking me why only Saas Bahu story? In fact, it‘s an everlasting subject. Every day some person or the other has an incident to tell about in-laws, bahus and husbands. The reason my serial is not going to be like other shows are because I have kept my script contemporary. Tuza Maza Jamena is a new age story and will portray the dilemma in every household where there is a gap in generation, egos, beliefs, understanding and expectations. Everybody will identify with the characters. And yes, there will be emotions and lots of humour too."

  • Himmatwala : No guts or glory

    Himmatwala : No guts or glory

    MUMBAI: Sajid Khan prefers to make entertainers but this time he decided to take a tried-and-tested formula and stick to it by remaking Himmatwala from 1983, which in turn was a remake of a Telugu hit, Ooriki Monagadu (1981). As was the case with the earlier version, this film too has a village backdrop. And instead of a contemporary setting which is how the main, multiplex and overseas audience likes it now, he has opted to keep it a 1983 story. However, by treating it like a spoof, the attempt to revisit the original is hurried and patchy and leaves it in a mess.

    Ajay Devgn has returned to Rampur to avenge his father‘s death caused by the village sarpanch, Mahesh Manjrekar, aided by his brother-in-law, Paresh Rawal. Manjrekar is a tyrant who has usurped the land and property of each and every villager and treats them like his slaves. Nobody dare oppose him. Years back he had framed Devgn‘s father, the local priest, and shamed him in front of people to the extent that he committed suicide. A young Devgn‘s attempt to kill him fails. The goons chase him and set fire to his house but he runs away after his mother, Zarina Wahab and sister goad him to.

    Devgn grows up in an orphanage in a big city and is informed that contrary to what he believed, his mother and sister are very much alive but in a bad shape. He decides to return to look after them as well as to avenge his father‘s death. Being a Devgn film, the original social musical is turned into an action movie. His skills are already established as a street fighter who brawls for money.

    Devgn, on his arrival to the village, starts the clean up first tackling Rawal and then, immediately, neutralising Manjrekar. What is the purpose of carrying on your film once your main villain is humiliated and defeated? None, really, and that is what happens with rest of the film. The villainy is now reduced to comic villains‘ scheming and plotting to little effect.

    If Manjrekar is a tyrant, his daughter, Tamannaah, is more so. When Devgn crosses her path, she sends goons after him. Of course, they are no match for this super-powerful man. Next, she lets loose a tiger on him. Things go wrong, and instead of her enemy, she is about to become the tiger‘s prey. Devgn stands between her and the tiger and saves her. Love happens. Songs and dance follow. When you are borrowing a film, you might as well dig a bit more and also take songs from the original. So we have two songs from the earlier Himmatwala. Thanks to Bappi Lahiri‘s racy score, these remain the only good tunes in the film.

    Since the villains are already neutralised, the fights are outsourced to a bunch of toughies. Street fighters are brought in to make the climax action-packed but when Devgn can‘t win against this well-armed bunch, who will save the family? It is time to invoke superpower, the Goddess Durga. The tiger, which Devgn had fought and later befriended, returns to chase the villains away. RIP Manmohan Desai.

    Himmatwala is badly scripted and the director does not seem to be serious about this film. As one of the dialogues in the films suggests, it is 1983 story so anything goes! That also seems to be director Sajid Khan‘s approach to the film. The climax is stretched. There is nothing much for actors to do. Devgn is happy being Himmatwala with action scenes. Tamannaah is okay. Manjrekar hams it up. Wahab is sincere. Whatever little entertainment the film offers is thanks to Rawal.

    Himmatwala will find it tough to sustain after the weekend as despite a holiday today, the opening is below par.

  • Salman Khan to make low-budget films

    Salman Khan to make low-budget films

    MUMBAI: Ever since he co-produced the edutainer Chillar Party under his banner Salman Khan Being Human Productions (SKBHP) with UTV Motion Pictures in 2011, the actor has been lying low on the production front since he was shooting for two of 2012‘s biggest entertainers Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg.

    Meanwhile, last year there were talks that Salman was keen to produce Hindi remakes of two of Mahesh Manjrekar‘s Marathi films: Shikshanachya Aaicha Gho (2010) and Mi Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy (2009). But nothing transpired.

    But now, Salman has indicated that he would remake the two films. “I loved both his (Manjrekar‘s) films. We are working on them (script for the Hindi versions) right now,” he revealed.

    But, the important aspect worth noticing is that the actor, who is known to be adept to big budget films, wants to make films on smaller budgets. “Technically, the money that goes into production isn‘t the foundation‘s money, since it goes from our pockets. Still, the idea is to make a good film with little money that brings in big business and helps our foundation grow,” he maintained.

    Interestingly, the aim of SKBHP is to make films for kids, which are quintessentially feel-good in nature.

  • Marathi film industry celebrates centenary

    Marathi film industry celebrates centenary

    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra chapter of Federation of Film Societies of India recently celebrated the centenary of Marathi cinema at Nashik.

    The Dadasaheb Phalke Birth Centenary celebrations committee-made documentary film Dream Sketch Wings directed by Gajanan Jahagirdar portraying Phalke’s role in laying down the foundation of Indian cinema, was also screened.

    A 52-minute Phalke Anthology based on Dadasaheb Phalke’s silent films made by Pune-based the National Films Archive was also screened at the event.

    Filmmakers like Kiran Shantaram, Mahesh Kothare, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Vijay Kondke, Mahesh Manjrekar and senior actress Sulochana were honoured at the event. Also honoured were filmmakers Amol Palekar, Jabbar Patel, Umesh Kulkarni, Paresh Mokashi, Sandeep Sawant, and producer Ramdas Phutane.

    The centenary celebration of Marathi cinema is being done in parallel to that of Indian cinema.

  • Zee Talkies to release Kaksparsh on 4 May

    Zee Talkies to release Kaksparsh on 4 May

    MUMBAI: Zee Talkies is all set to release Mahesh Manjrekar‘s Kaksparsh on 4 May. The film is touted as one of the milestones for not only the Marathi films but for National cinema as well.

    Shot in the backdrop of the 1930- 1955 period, Kakasparsh revolves around the happenings in a Brahmin family.

    Manjrekar said, “I did not choose Kakasparsh, the film chose me. This film was not included in my scheme of things. Rather I did not even know a film of this name existed. One day Sachin asked Girish Joshi the screenplay writer read out the script to me. That was it! I was possessed. The script hit me like a thunder bolt and I couldn‘t get it out of my system. Every single person involved, contributed immensely and today when I see the film, I feel proud of myself and my whole team. Kaksparsh is my best till date.”

    Kaksparsh is a story of love, sacrifice, passion and values, set in Konkan. The movie raises many questions and leave behind a heart-throbbing experience in the minds of the viewers.

    The story of the film has been written by Usha Datar with the screenplay and dialogues by Girish Joshi while Prashant Rane and Abhishek Vijaykar are art directors.

    The film is produced by Manjrekar under his banner Great Maratha Entertainment and is presented by Zee Talkies.

  • Mahesh Manjrekar’s Hindi version of anti-education film with Akshay Kumar

    Mahesh Manjrekar’s Hindi version of anti-education film with Akshay Kumar

    MUMBAI: Wanting to do a Hindi version of his anti-education Marathi film Shikashanachya Aaicha Gho for almost a year with Salman Khan, Mahesh Manjrekar has now decided to go ahead with the project with Akshay Kumar.

    Manjrekar is furious after he read of the gruesome incident of a 15-year old student stabbing his teacher in Chennai to death. Said Manjrekar in a statement, “After what that 15-year old boy did to his teacher in Chennai, I‘ve to do the Hindi version of the film fast. What are the pressures on a child that make him so allergic to school life and teachers? What could‘ve provoked that boy to stab his teacher in Chennai? My film is very relevant to the situation that school-going children face. I need Akshay to take the message of a child‘s right to exercise his career options and to be freed of peer pressure to the maximum number of people.”

    Kumar will to play the role of the tyrannical father who realises too late that his son‘s mind and heart are meant for cricket and not for formal education.

    It may be remembered that though Khan was interested in doing the project, he was unable to do so because of date constraints.

  • Mahesh Manjrekar forms new entertainment company

    Mahesh Manjrekar forms new entertainment company

    MUMBAI: Mahesh Manjrekar, in association with Pune-based realtor Aniruddha Deshpande, has formed a new company. Named Great Maratha Entertainment LLP, it will produce and market films and TV serials in Marathi.

    “We wish to make Marathi films that will give returns on investments rather than try to get financial support from the State Government. Over 100 Marathi films are released every year. However, only few of them are able to recover the investment. We wish to change this scenario,” observed Deshpande.

    Averred Manjrekar, “Though Marathi cinema has explored diverse subjects, it is far from the standards of Bollywood. Probably that is why it still does not enjoy patronage of teenagers and youngsters. Systematic channelisation of investments in Marathi films for having good production values, use of latest technology and intelligent marketing will bring up the overall standard of the Marathi films and will help capture audiences.”

    The new company is ready with four films scheduled for release over the next six months. The company, which is also adapting the cult Marathi play Natasamrat in a film form, has plans to release around eight films a year.

    The company is also planning to set up a modern studio soon and is looking for space between Pune and Lonavala.

    While Manjrekar has written, directed and acted in a host of Marathi and Hindi films, Deshpande is the managing director of City Corporation Ltd, a Pune-based real estate company.

  • Zee forays into Marathi feature film production

    Zee forays into Marathi feature film production

    MUMBAI: Zee Network’s chairman Subhash Chandra has announced its foray into Marathi feature films, by which the network will provide the financial backing to produce, market and distribute the movies in India and Internationally.

    “After the making of the film, the responsibility of its marketing, distribution, telecast etc (for Indian and overseas territories) shall be the responsibility of the Zee Group,” added Chandra.
    Zee executive vice president regional channels Nitin Vaidya told Indiantelevision.com that the network will attempt to raise the bar for financial investments in Marathi movies, by about 50 per cent depending upon the content requirements and production elements. The normal monies pumped in towards Marathi films varies between Rs 50,000,000 – 60,000,000.

    As a start up, the network has commissioned five production houses, namely Mahesh Manjrekar’s Ashvami Films, Gautam Joglekar’s SOC, Shrirang Godbole’s Indian Magic Eye, Smita Talwalkar’s Asmita Chitra and Rakesh Sarang’s Cams Club. In the next two years, these producers are to present the network with 15 Marathi films, three films each. Zee is also looking to tie-up with other production houses for the same.

    “With almost 60 -70 Marathi films produced this fiscal, we saw the strength of this market and decided to develop a business process to boost Marathi cinema,” added Vaidya.

    Chandra announced the latest Marathi film venture at the 8th Annual Parachute Jasmine Zee Gaurav Awards, where he also announced the launch of Zee 24 Hours, the first dedicated Marathi news channel.

    The Zee Gaurav Awards recognizes excellence in the Marathi film and theatre industry across 18 categories in films, 12 categories in commercial plays and five categories in experimental plays.

    This year in the films category Mission Champion bagged six awards for the best film, direction, story, screenplay, dialogue and child artist. In drama, Makdachya Hati Shampaign won five awards for music, script, actor, director and best drama, informs an official release.

    Zee Marathi also felicitated legendary actor Dr Shreeram Lagu and veteran music director Datta Davjekar for the lifetime achievement award – Zee Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar. While the Mee Marathi Award was given to Lage Raho Munnabhai lyrist Swanand Kirkire by Bollywood’s director Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

    The Zee Gaurav Awards will be telecast on Zee Marathi on 10 February at 7.30 pm.

  • Pritish Nandy Communications to release ‘Meerabai Not Out’ early 2007

    Pritish Nandy Communications to release ‘Meerabai Not Out’ early 2007

    MUMBAI: Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd has announced the start of filming of its forthcoming film titled Meerabai Not Out.

    The film is directed by Marathi director Chandrakant Kulkarni. The principal cast consists of Mandira Bedi, cricketer Anil Kumble, Mahesh Manjrekar, Anupam Kher and Eijaz Khan.

    The film will be shot in one straight schedule in Mumbai through December and January. The music will be scored by Sandesh Shandilya. The film’s release will be timed around the World Cup 2007.

    The title of the company’s upcoming film Honeymoon which is currently in its pre-release stage, has been changed to Just Married. The promos of the film starring Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol and Perizaad Zorabian amongst others are currently on air.