मी शिवाजीराजे भोसले बोलतोय... !!

Well couldn't have found a better topic for my last blog before exams. The picture and title say it all but I must concede one fact that reviewing a movie that is pretty regionalistic in its content but still all-inclusive in its essence is indeed tricky business. On the personal front, I went to watch this movie only to break the viva jinx that had set in for the past 2-3 weeks. And also to feel good that I finally took my mom out for a marathi movie and malvani dinner. Oh yes, a complete mother-son outing after a long time and I enjoyed it every single bit. And with no commercial bollywood movies releasing due to some producer-multiplex owner spat, this was the only watchable movie.

And back to reviewing :

The movie has overplayed and over-highlighted the plight of the marathi manoos. In a sense that the first quarter of the movie is full of self-demeaning scenes where a certain Dinkarrao Bhosle (played astutely by 'sachin khedekar') is humiliated by every Tom , Dick and Harry that crosses his way simply coz he is a 'ghaati' (read 'marathi manoos') and deserves to be treated like that. And Mr.Bhosle can do nothing but bear this mortification till he can bear no more. He literally becomes crazy and starts whining and ridiculing himself for being a marathi manoos. He curses his great ancestors and marathi legends and blames them for his present condition.

Its now that the story begins to unravel. This ridicule and self-pity reaches the ears of the great Maratha warrior and pride of Maharashtra Shivajiraje Bhosle (an imaginary role played well by Mahesh Manjrekar) who takes it upon himself to inspire and change Dinkarrao Bhosle and make a man out of this miserable soul. Dinkarrao is shown sharing the same old Marathi grouse of outsiders , non-maharashtrians setting up businesses-big and small- and taking away opportunities from the sons of the soil and how they should be taught a lesson etc etc. It is exactly at this point when I was wondering which way the story was going. And I must tell you, its a welcome change to see Shivajiraje vociferously admonishing his complaints and rather urging him to learn and strive to create an identity for himself than blame others for his indolence. And part of this inspiration is provided through trailers of his own historical successes in establishin a Maratha kingdom with an army that was not even quarter of the size of mughals, the amazing depiction of his bloody encounter wid afzalkhan... all this set the goose-bumps rolling. Yea hard to believe I know....!!

Dinkarrao has his share of downfalls. He puts his guard down when confronted with real-life goondas only to be persuaded by the warrior to not lose heart but continue his struggle. Its amazing to see his new-found yet earthy confidence. The story does go in high-flying mode later losing track of realism but then you also gotta cater to the ultra-emotional crowd who bring in their colony friends and relatives thus bringing business. For those who understand spoken Marathi, its a treat to listen to the hilarious one-liners. That is something that cannot be replaced by subtitles. The song 'O Raaje...' fits so perfectly to this story.

For all those pushovers out there , Marathi or not , this movie is for you. Its high time you learn to assert yourself and work towards carving out an identity for yourself. Don't take insult lying down for we may not be so lucky to come across His Majesty to show us the right path.