Tag Archives: Swapnil Joshi

Navra Maza Navsacha 2 review: Thoroughly entertaining surprise of the year

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It is quite common for movies to not live up to its exciting trailer. It is extremely rare for the opposite to happen. Sachin Pilgaonkar’s Navra Maza Navsacha 2 is that rare film that turns out to be many times better than its trailer. In other words, the film’s promo was misleading, but in a good way.

Navra Maza Navsacha 2 is the sequel to the iconic and successful Navra Maza Navsacha (2004), which starred Sachin Pilgaonkar and Supriya Pilgaonkar in lead roles. The film ended with Vakratund aka Vacky (Sachin) somehow managing to fulfill his late father’s vow of visiting the Ganesh temple in Ganpatipule naked. He was pushed for the same by his wife Bhakti (Supriya). The couple also earns Rs. 8 crores as they help the police nab the criminal Babu Kalia (Pradeep Patwardhan).

Hence, in the second part Navra Maza Navsacha 2, Vacky and Bhakti are leading a comfortable life. Their daughter Shraddha (Hemal Ingle) has grown up. She is in love with Lambodar aka Lamby (Swapnil Joshi). Due to certain circumstances, this time Shraddha vows to get Lamby visit Ganpatipule temple naked along with other difficult conditions. Lamby somehow agrees and the four of them set out to for the trip through train.

Navra Maza Navsacha 2 pretty much follows the same template as its predecessor with the ST bus being replaced by train and Ashok Saraf’s character being the ticket collector (TC) instead of the conductor. However, the characters and their funny mannerisms and the overall jokes and gigs are quite fresh and genuinely funny. In fact, barring some emotional moments, which were necessary, the movie is a complete laugh riot where even little things play a big role in getting you in splits.

Navra Maza Navsacha 2

Unlike the first film, the journey in the second one starts in the second half. The first half has some major conflict and drama. This takes you by surprise because none of this is shown in the trailer.

Navra Maza Navsacha 2 brings back the nostalgia of the first film. But it is shot and presented like a film of today’s times. The balance is well maintained. The music falls in the decent category with ‘Dumroo Vaje’ turning out to be memorable.

Sachin Pilgaonkar and Supriya Pilgaonkar have carried on from where they left in the first film, bringing the same energy. Swapnil Joshi, despite his age, fits the character of a bachelor and succeeds in bringing Lamby alive. Hemal Ingle also performs well among the stalwarts. Like the first film, Ashok Saraf takes the cake despite arriving late. His act is not only funny but also moving.

The film has cameos and extended cameos from Siddharth Jadhav, Nirmiti Sawant, Jaywant Wadkar, Vijay Patkar, Vaibhav Mangle, Sonu Nigam, Ali Asgar, Johnny Lever, Shriya Pilgaonkar, among others.

Like the first film, there are a lot of creative liberties taken. But the major issue with the film is its timeline. The first movie ends in 2004. Considering Vacky and Bhakti had a kid right after the story’s completion, Shraddha would have been born in 2005. So her age should be 19. But there is no mention that she is very young and it’s difficult to believe that a modern girl like her decides to marry at such a young age in today’s times.

Vijay Patkar’s character is continued from the first film. But Nirmiti Sawant, who was Vacky’s aunt in the first movie, is now shown as Lambodar’s mother. At one point Ashok Saraf’s character is said to be the same from the first film. But then, Vacky and Bhakti never seem to recognize him. The same goes for a few other characters too.

But overall, Navra Maza Navsacha 2 is a thoroughly entertaining surprise of the year. And if you are a believer in Ganpati, you are in for a treat.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Director: Sachin Pilgaonkar

Producer: Sachin Pilgaonkar

Writer: Sachin Pilgaonkar

Cast: Sachin Pilgaonkar, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Swapnil Joshi, Hemal Ingle, Ashok Saraf

Also Read: Ashok Saraf on Lifeline, “More than the length, the strength of the character is important”

Vaalvi (Marathi movie) review – Swapnil Joshi, Subodh Bhave-starrer is a finely crafted dark comic thriller

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Filmmaker Paresh Mokashi’s first three films Harishchandrachi Factory (2010), Elizabeth Ekadashi (2014) and Chi Va Chi Sau Ka (2017) were different from each other, but they were all light in nature. With Vaalvi, he has taken a giant leap into the dark comic thriller territory.

Vaalvi revolves around Aniket (Swapnil Joshi), who works on a good post in a company, and his wife Avani (Anita Date). The two decide to end their lives together due to certain circumstances by shooting themselves. Aniket’s actual plan is to kill his wife by keeping his gun unloaded and Avani’s loaded because he is in a relationship with Devika (Shivani Surve), a dentist.

Aniket and Devika carry out various rehearsals to ensure that their plan doesn’t fail. But something happens on that fateful day and a mysterious man (Subodh Bhave) enters their lives.

Among various things, the makers of Vaalvi should be lauded for presenting a trailer that gives nothing away about the main plot. The story’s major crux lies in the second half and the trailer doesn’t feature anything of this. In fact, we just get a glimpse of Subodh Bhave’s character, making us wonder if he has a special appearance. But in reality, he plays a character as important as others.

Vaalvi is a thriller that scores high in all departments. Madhugandha Kulkarni and Paresh Mokashi’s basic tale itself is not just thrilling but also hilarious. It is finely narrated by the screenplay and intelligently presented by the direction. The dialogues require special mention for being hilarious; their unexpected timing on some occasions makes them even funnier.

Stories revolving around murder tend to go at least a bit downhill in the second half but Vaalvi steers clear of that. In fact, as mentioned above, the movie ups the ante even further post-interval.  

Vaalvi is a taut thriller without any songs. But its background music, by Mangesh Dhakde, plays a vital role as it adds more intrigue to the proceedings. Similarly, Satyajeet Shobha Shreeram’s camerawork and Abhijeet Deshpande and Saurabh Prabhudesai editing also adds to the plusses.

Swapnil Joshi showed a different side of himself in both the seasons of the web-series Samantar. He has again gone against his image and has come up with a fine act of a mean individual who feels nothing when it comes to hatching a plot to kill his own wife. The one-take sequence where he fears getting killed by another character by a gun deserves mention.

This is yet another fine performance by Subodh Bhave. Without going much into his character to avoid spoilers, it is safe to say that the actor has succeeded in showing his comic side with dedication while playing a serious character. Anita Date displays perfection while playing a woman diagnosed with mental illness. Shivani Surve is decent as Aniket’s love interest. Namrata Awate Sambherao has only a couple of scenes but they become memorable because of her act.

Also read: Ved (Marathi movie) review

As it happens with films of this genre, Vaalvi too has quite a few creative liberties taken. The transportation of one dead body stands out amongst all. The movie would have appeared more intelligent if this was taken care of.

Overall: Vaalvi is a finely crafted dark comic thriller. After this film, Paresh Mokashi won’t be known only for Harishchandrachi Factory.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Director: Paresh Mokashi

Producers: Zee Studios and Madhugandha Kulkarni

Writers: Madhugandha Kulkarni and Paresh Mokashi

Cast: Swapnil Joshi, Subodh Bhave, Shivani Surve and Anita Date