29.3.09

Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy


Mahatma Gandhi came back from the dead and reformed a criminal in Lage Raho Munnabhai. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj hopes to do the same with the angry Maharashtrian in Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy (I am Shivajiraje Bhosale Speaking), a Marathi film that stars Bollywood actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar and is due to be released on April 3, incidentally, in the presence of MNS chief Raj Thackeray. The film revolves around Dinkar Maruti Bhosale, a middle class Maharashtrian in cosmopolitan Mumbai. He always complains about the lack of respect a Marathi person receives in Mumbai and feels he is victimised everywhere because he is a Marathi, little realising that he himself has brought this situation upon himself. Dinkar reaches Pratapgad and the spirit of Shivaji Maharaj is aroused. Shivaji Maharaj takes on Dinkar for his shallow thinking and asks him to command respect and not demand it. “Marathi people always complain that they have been sidelined by outsiders. The film, however, questions Marathi people if those outsiders had stopped them from progressing. It is a thought-provoking film and I hope people change after watching the film,” said Santosh Manjrekar, Mahesh’s brother and the director of the film. The film, which stars Mahesh Manjrekar, Makarand Anaspure and Sachin Khedekar, also features Sukhvinder Singh’s first Marathi song.
Manjrekar says the film represents the angst felt by middle class Marathi people, which Maharashtrains should watch and learn from. “There are two types of migrants, well educated and lower class. It is the middle class that is crushed between these two and the film portrays the middle class frustration.” Over the last year, Raj’s party has been raising the locals versus outsiders issue in the state. The protests by Raj’s party also saw violence. Raj had earlier attended the film’s audio release function while other political leaders like Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and NCP city chief Sachir Ahir had attended the premier.

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