One word..Magnetic electricity..yeah Magnetic electricity is what I experienced last Month at E-square where our gang caught up with the latest chart buster Marathi flick- Mi Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy. After first few minutes of riotous laughs and sympathizing with the debauchery of the very naive and timid Bhosale the film starts getting down to serious business. Mr. Bhosale who thinks it is pre-destined for him to be mocked at by the world- his boss, his co-passengers in the bus, the shop-keeper, fisher woman and even his wife whos is tired of his penny pinching middle class ways.
We see him punk-drunk and slam dunked by the Hotel officials questioning all the great Marathi martyrs about how and why they have made the hum-drum Marathi manoos such a simpleton that his silence and straight laced attitude is considered as his weakness rather than his strength.
His words stir the soul of Shivaji Maharaj on Pratap Gharh and he decides to show Mr. Bhosale the true purpose of his living. And that his lax attitude and not his language is responsible for his non-vertebral living. From the entry of the Mahesh Manjrekar who played Shivaji to the Hilt(He has a unique Baritone voice, I didn’t feel justified to see his voice dubbed. However I didn't understand why the young Shivaji looked like a 50 year old too) begins a series of Combat activities which drive the audience crazy- even we indulged in loud chants of the slogans of Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai and Jai Maharashtra (Along with Banoo whose strong shrill whistle can give any guy a run for his money) and a lot of claps on all the power packed monologues of Bhosale. Bhosale’s overnight transformation from un under-dog to a Strong-warrior is justified in a series of events where he posses challenges to the corrupt politicians, government officials and nefarious builders. I am still not able to fit the item song picturised on Priya Bapat and Ankhush Chaudhari in the film. It is a complete un-called for number. The OST background number is quiet catchy and sets your heart and foot thumping.
The slapstick humor of how only surnames like Kapoor's and Chopra's make it to the tinsel town inducing Priya to Change her surname is a stark reality wrapped in humor. The acting of all lead characters is balanced and does not go overboard to create artificial humor( Even hackneyed actor like Makrand Anaspure fares well). There are some witty moments- The dialogue of the builder telling the Bhosale’s about the plush greenery of Badlapur had me in splits (Being from Mumbai I am aware that Badlapur is the worst polluted suburb of all).The animation some how didn't gel with the film. The scenes of Shivaji Maharaj on Horse with video in the background seem like they were shot in the 50's with the horse standing still and the film moving behind. . The cinematogrpahy is shot well. Also the fight scenes shot on the hi-rise (hi-risk) building are very artistically and creatively shot.
The USP of this film is the awakening of the Marathi Manoos after years of dormantly bearing the flak. I don’t know why am I biased towards this film, may be because I am a Maharashtrain. May be because I could subscribe to the feeling of begin looked down upon. I still remember a train cat fight I had a few years back because someone has said "yeh ghati log". Yeah I didn’t appreciate that one bit. But as Shivaji Maharaj(aka Mahesh Manjrekar) says it’s a word that should be taken with the respect. I liked the approach of being in the system to change the system with Bhosale trying his luck at politics and giving a LOOOONG explanation about it
The main reason behind this film getting rave reviews and catching public fantasy is downright simple. Lakhs of Maharashtrains could relate to Bhosale’s situations- we all wished we could vent our anger like Bhosale - go out on sporadic aggressive sprees, try and bring about a positive change and emerge victorious. We wished our Language, our State and our rich Cultural Heritage be treated with the due respect that it commands. This film clearly woke up the Bhosales in us- it appealed us to stand tall for our self-respect and voice our opinions instead of bearing the spineless atrocities rendered by others. This is one film that I can recommend others without being in two minds about it. If you have watched it already you made a wise choice if you haven’t caught it yet its high time to start spending on quality entertainment. This one is definitely worth a dekho.........
