After Shivaji Maharaj, Tanaji was my favourite character
from our history and I remember having sobbed each time I read about his
sacrifice. I remembered the Kondaji chapter vaguely and happy to therefore get
a cinematic version to watch. Sanjeev Langarkande and Raja Payagude need to be
commended for always making that extra effort to make quality Marathi Cinema
available and to top it get the cast here in the country.
The movie is about a slice of Maratha history where Shivaji
Maharaj played aptly by Chinmay Mandlekar requisitions the service of Konkaji Farzand ( Ankit Mohan) despatches his best generals to recapture the
fort of Panhala in a difficult terrain. Farzand insists on taking just 60 of
his best people and works towards recapturing the fort from the Mughal
commander Beshak Khan. A pulsating thrilling piece of history which could have
been recreated with tremendous drama. So how does Farzand fare ?
Farzand excels in its casting. People picked up aptly for
their roles especially the role of Shivaji played by Chinmay. The excellent
representation lies in the fact that the
role is played with sophistication and stateliness that we associate with
Shivaji Maharaj rather than screaming populist patriotic monologues that the
director could have easily resorted to.
There is a challenge of the budget and it is visible in the fact that
the art director tries to fill the art deco in minimum tight closeups but fails
to give the scale of enormity that the powerful background music seems to
suggest. I wonder why the use of Special effects was not resorted to . It ends
up looking like a very high budget play than a well budgeted film.
The film has glass undoubtedly but suffers from an insipid
script that is unable to the pulsating theme and make it thrilling. A sense of
drama is missing as the director tries to make a Bahubali out of Kondaji with
rippling six pacs and focusing more on espousing on his good muscular heroic
looks than his historical work. Slowly the lack of finesse in the fights and
lack of conviction on how they capture the fort seeps in and which is sad as it
lessens the real life grandeur of Kondaji’s actions.
The film has its heart in the right place, the costumes seem
apt, the art direction not distracting and helping the director to the extent
the budget allows but is let down by a script that does not do justice to
fantastic actors like Mrinal Kulkarni who mouths very predictable dialogues and
looks honestly disinterested or to a very enthusiastic Prasad Oak who plays
Bahirji the master of disguises or Ankit Mohan who executes his part as
expected . Think we should see more of Chinmay as Shivaji in a large budget
movie devoted to Shivaji Maharaj wholly.
It is still a movie with its heart in the right place and a
good learning for children who are still not fully aware of Indian history and
Maratha history in particular
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