ankush chaudhari – The Metrognome

Excellent performances and slick camera work make this film stand out, though the story and plot follow a predictable graph.

by Ravi Shet

Rating: 3 out of 5

Dagadi Chawl directed by debutant director Chandrakant Kanse not only focuses on gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli (known as ‘Daddy’) but also highlights the story of a common man caught in the deadly world of crime and the era of gang wars in late 90s.

The film, based in Mumbai in 1996, starts with Daddy (played by Makrand Deshpande) performing a puja at Dagadi Chawl, while his trusted henchman, Chandu Mama (Sanjay Khapre) attacks a local politician who is set to contest elections against Gawli.

Suryakant Sadashiv Shinde aka Surya (Ankush Chaudhari) who works for Daddy collects extortion money from a builder named Desai. On getting a complaint from Desai, encounter specialist Inspector Kale (Kamlesh Sawant) picks up Surya and plans to bump him off to complete a half century of encounters. However, DCP Ashfaq Khan interrupts Kale’s vehicle and demands that Surya be transferred to him.

On interrogation, Surya reveals the story of how he chanced upon a life of crime: when a group of goons harasses his girlfriend, he gets into an altercation that ends with him beating many of them up. This lands him squarely in Daddy’s crosshairs, because the goons are his boys.

This film will remind you of the gritty Satya and Vaastav, since the backdrop of the plot is quite similar. Here too, an innocent man falls prey to an unforeseen situation and ends up in the murky world of crime. Some of the scenes in the movie are predictable; however some slick camera work clubbed with a good background score and sharp editing are the positives of the film.

Ankush Chaudhari as Surya justifies his role perfectly; however Makrand Deshpande as Daddy impresses the audiences a lot more through his body language and dialogue delivery. Sanjay Khapre and Yatin Karyekar play good supporting roles. Many in the audience will also love the ‘Morya’ song played during the Ganesh Visarjan scene.

(Picture courtesy marathistars.com)

Review: Double Seat

This week’s release is about choosing between a home in Mumbai or the idea of a family; explored in sensitive detail.

by Ravi Shet

Rating: 4 out of 5

Double Seat directed by Sameer Vidwans is the story of newly married middle class couple – Amit Naik (Ankush Chaudhari) and Manjiri Naik (Mukta Barve) – who live in a small house with Amit’s parents (Vandana Gupte and Vidyadhar Joshi) and brother (Shubhankar Tawade) with the determination to buy a new home in the city.

The couple comes back from its honeymoon to their chawl based in Lalbaug, Mumbai. Manjiri works as an Insurance agent hailing from small town, living in Mumbai for the first time in her life, while Amit works in a courier company. She quickly settles into Mumbai’s pace of life and also learns how to ride a two-wheeler and catch the local trains. But the couple struggles to find privacy. There are moments when they resort to sending each other text messages to express their emotions.

As the days pass by, Amit tells Manjiri that it’s time to have their own home. They start their home hunt, Amit likes a house and pays a token amount for it. The couple is about to go ahead with their plans when Manjiri announces that she is pregnant. They now have to decide if they should buy the house or have a child, since they cannot afford the expense of both. This causes a rift between them.

The direction is excellent in terms of connecting the storyline realistically. The dialogues are good, too, as is the music by Jasraj, Saurabh and Hrishikesh.

Ultimately, the film rests on the performances by Ankush Chaudhari, Mukta Barve, Vandana Gupte and Vidyadhar Joshi, who are excellent in this film. Double Seat is a must-watch film for all Mumbaikars who struggle to find homes, love and meaning in the city.

(Picture courtesy www.megamarathi.com)