Romeo and Juliet, once more

It is a story that has been explored time and again across the world. One of the latest adaptations of

A still from Priyatama

is Marathi film Priyatama, written by Sachin Darekar and directed by Satish Motling.
Motling, who worked as a cinematographer before directing films, says Priyatama is his first experiment with romance. “I have always been interested in action, comedy and larger-than-life canvases. Romance was never really on my mind. But when I came across this story, I was totally hooked,” says Motling.
In the city to promote the film with the cast and crew, Motling, sitting comfortably on a deck chair by the swimming pool at a plush hotel., glibly spouted his favourite lines: “We have stories of Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Majnu and Romeo-Juliet. Now is the time for Parshya-Gauri.”
Priyatama also draws from inspiration from the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Set in an idyllic village in Maharashtra in 1955-60, the film follows the story of Parshya — a wild but kind-hearted youth from the Potraj tribe, who falls in love with the village Patil’s (chief) beautiful daughter, Gauri.
Siddarth Jadhav plays the character of Parshya, who is from an ancient, fast-vanishing tribe called the Potraj in Maharashtra. They worship goddess Kadak Lakshmi, and travel in groups. While women balance a small deity on their heads and play drums, the men dance, twirl and smack themselves with heavy whips made out of woven coir or leather.
“One of the reasons for setting the film in the ’50s was to show the socio-economic divide that was more prominent between classes then,” says Motling. “I did not want to showcase a boy from a Potraj tribe, flaunting a mobile phone or wearing sneakers,” he adds. Other prominent roles are portrayed by Girija Joshi, who plays Gauri along with Sanjay Khapre, Prafulla Samant, Charusheela Vacchani and Sagar Satpute.
Ask Motling about the similarities between the posters and trailers of Priyatama and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s (SLB) recent hit film, Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela, the director says, “I am not going to deny the fact that I have always been inspired by Bhansali sir. I have tried to use a vivid colour scheme throughout the film, to enhance the raw, wild love story.” Produced by Sejal Shinde, Priyatama is set to release on February 14.

 

Events

Audio of Priyatama released

The music of the forthcoming Marathi film Priyatama was launched recently by Everest Entertainment in Mumbai. The five songs in the film are composed by Chaitanya Adkar and are penned by Abhay Inamdar and Prakash Holkar. The film stars Siddharth Jadhav, Girija Joshi, Sanjay Khapre, Prafulla Samant, Charusheela Vachani and others. Produced by Sanjay Shire’s banner Kshatriya Productions and directed by Satish Motling, it is slated to release on February 14.

Music launch of Hello Nandan

The music launch of director Rahul Jadhav’s Marathi film Hello Nandan was held in Mumbai recently. Producer Navin Ramanani, Rinu Ovhalan, co-producer Abhinav Mishra, actors Adinath Kothare, Mrunal Thakur, Mahesh Kothare, Sayli Pankaj, and Aman Trikha were present at the launch. The music has been composed by A. V. Prafullchandra and Amit Raj of Duniyadaari fame.

 

Briefcase

A comedy after Dhag
After impressing with the National Award winning Marathi film Dhag last year, director Shivaji Lotan Patil’s next is a comedy titled Rajwada. The film, with a strong social message, will release on April 11. Starring Mangesh Desai, Megha Dhade, Abhijit Chavan, Kishor Choughule, Arun Kadam and veteran Kuldeep Pawar, it is produced by Deepak Parkhe for Superpower Entertainment. Music is by Vijay Gatlewar.

Kesha Khambhati in Heart Attack
Kesha Khambhati has been roped in by director Jagannath Puri in his upcoming Tamil film Heart Attack. Shot in Spain, the youthful romantic flick stars Nithin. Kesha shot a romantic number in Thailand for the film which is ready to hit the theatres on January 31.