Marathi movie ‘Rangakarmi’ released on 27th December, 2013. Prime News and Times  brings an exclusive review of the movie. Produced by Sashi Sumeet Motion Pictures & directed Sanjiv Kolte, the story is penned by Sanjeev Kolte & Sumeet H. Mittal.It is a must watch movie in the new year.

The cast is rather impressive & gives you the reason to get pulled to the movie hall. Dr. Amol Kolhe acts as Keshav Inamdar, versatile & senior actor Mohan Joshi acts as his guru & mentor Dwarkanath Kambli. Sheetal Dabholkar acts as Minal (Dwarkanath’s daughter who is deserted by her husband). Supporting actors are Sharmistha Raut & Prafull Samant.

The passion for theatre is enduring but, does it elude an artist? That is for the audience to watch in the movie ‘Rangakarmi’.

Keshav is chucked out by his father for acting in village tamashas (folk art in Maharashtra). Keshav is engulfed by the passion for theatre, so leaves his home & comes to Mumbai with the dream of being a successful stage actor. He gets a chance to work in a theatre company where Dwarkanath, the most dedicated & famous make artist works too. Ofcourse Keshav works there as a labourer who helps to put the set & as a helping hand.

Keshav knows all plays by heart & often while working he is seen reciting dialogues of famous plays. Dwarkanath gets him home one day since he has no home to reside & he is terribly sick. He encourages Keshav to audition for the play ‘Mrutunjaya Karna’ & Keshav bags the lead role.

Dwarkanath on the first day of the show tells him that it is his responsibility to make the audience happy who have paid for the tickets & a whole lot of people depend on the success of the play. Also, humility is a mark of a true Rangakarmi or artist.

Keshav climbs swiftly on the ladder of success but, has to always be in the shadow of his guru. Infested by ego he finds his guru’s values a hindrance in his path. What happens to Keshav when he tries to break loose from the shackles of his guru’s teachings is for the audience to watch.

The movie is targeted at ardent theatre lover, if you are one, just go for it. Dr. Amol Kolhe is brilliant in presenting innocent Keshav at the start of the movie. What amazes you about Dr. Amol is he has carried the transformation from an innocent, passionate young rural lad to a professional & practical actor perfectly. Mohan Joshi is an extremely versatile actor. His calm demeanour & sincerity towards theatre is something that many theatre lovers will be able to relate to & no doubt he has portrayed these aspect brilliantly.

Another dimension of the story is can a guru really hold on to his student & not give him the freedom to decide on matters of his interest. Ego does harm but, possessiveness ends relations. The two voices of the protagonist shown in the form of puppets is introspective.

The entire world of theatre, the back stage, the green room, the back stage crew, is captured well, which makes you to hold on to watch the movie that is predictable. Also, the lure of the movie that pulls the theatre actors is shown realistically.The second half lacks the mature handling of the subject that the first half has. The climax is rather melodramatic & over stressed.

No denying the producers have smartly marketed the subject & packaged it for Marathi theatre audience. But, wish they knew that theatre audience is far more vigilant than excessively sensitive as they want to believe.

Music of ‘Rangakarmi’ scores high points. ‘Rana Petale’ is sung by Rahul Saxena captures the journey of the artist Keshav , well penned by Sanjiv & composed by Pravin Kunvar. The song needed to emote the madness & passion. Something that Rahul has captured wonderfully by stressing on the right words. ‘Ajun pan Sanjveli’ is sung by Rahul & actress Ketaki Mategaokar has a classical base & Ram Deshpande ‘Nayan main jala bhar aye’ composed by Pt. Kumar Gandharva is an absolute treat.The message is that one should learn to cherish and withhold ones success in any profession with true devotion and respect for that profession and towards everybody associated with it.Your altar ego and pride should not tarnish your success.

Source : Sachin Murdeshwar