Nagpur Map
Though this film has original concept and script of its own, 'Me Shivaji Raje Bhosle Boltoy' has loose resemblance with two movies, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Dombiwali Fast .
Dinkar Bhosale (Sachin Khedekar) is a common Marathi manoos living in Mumbai. He works as a clerk in a bank and lives in an ancestral bungalow. He is a simple man with simple needs but his life is miserable. His salary is meager and is humiliated everywhere. His daughter, Shashikala (Priya Bapat) is highly talented and she can easily be one of the best actresses of Bollywood. However, in the audition, she is rejected because of her surname ‘Bhosle’ which the production manager considers ‘downmarket’.
His son Rahul (Abhijeet Kelkar) wants to pursue engineering from a reputed college but the college asks for a huge ‘donation’ inspite of the fact that the college is run by Nandkumar (Ganesh Yadav), who’s a childhood friend of Dinkar. Then there’s a builder, Ghosalya, who is keen to demolish Dinkar’s ancestral property and build a skyscraper in its place. In return, he’s willing to give Dinkar a posh flat in far away Badlapur area and a Santro. Dinkar rejects this offer and his wife Sumitra (Suchitra Bandekar) ridicules him for being impractical. Ghosalya on the other hand wants Dinkar’s property at any cost. He starts harassing the Bhosle family in various ways. Frustrated by all this, Dinkar curses him for being born as a Marathi. He says that his ancestors must have committed a heinous sin because of which he’s born a Marathi. This outburst of Dinkar arouses the spirit of Shivaji Maharaj (Mahesh Manjrekar) who comes face to face to meet Dinkar. He scolds him for his shallow thinking and asks him “Did I fight and establish Swaraj to hear something like this from my people?” He teaches him a lesson and Dinkar realizes that he was indeed wrong. From the next day, Dinkar changes his mindset and decides to fight landsharks, goons, corrupt officials, cops and all those who obstruct his path. Will he be able to emerge victorious?
Although the film has lots of dialoguebaazi, it doesn’t become preachy at any place. What really works is its excellent screenplay and direction. At places, the film just shakes you out of your seat. Take for instance, the scene where Dinkar is criticizing the biggest Maratha leaders of the past- It stirs up your conscience. And the scene that follows, the entry of Shivaji Maharaj in the narrative creates a far more impact. The war theme in the background and the audience’s whistles & claps make for a fantastic experience! And from here, the film binds you to your seat!
The film becomes little slow post interval but again picks up in the last 20 minutes. The other flaw is in the story itself. Why isn’t any attempt made to politicize Dinkar’s cause by any political party? And the way he suddenly became very famous is hard to digest. In the pre-climax seqence Sachin Khedekar is shown fighting with the goons using Shivaji's sword, doing airy stunts, which somhow hampers the quality of the movie. However, the film makes up for its flaws completely in various other departments and emerges victorious!
Along with its unique storyline, the film also earns brownie points since it doesn’t preach hatred towards other communities. Dinkar is shown to have rented a part of his bungalow to North Indian and Muslim family and is supportive to both of them. In return, they provide complete help to Dinkar in his struggle. Then there’s a scene where Dinkar says that we never raise our hand on the enemy’s wife/sister/mother or children. These were also the teachings of Shivaji, which is in today’s times forgotten especially after the politicizaion of cause of the Marathi people.
Coming to the performances, Sachin Khedekar deserves the highest praise for his mind blowing performance. In the film ‘Bose-The Forgotten Hero’ he wonderfully essayed the role of Bose After ‘Bose’, this must be one of the best performances of his career. There is not a single flaw in his acting. Watch out for the scene when he comes home drunk and where he rants for being a Marathi-simply incredible!
Mahesh Manjrekar shines as Shivaji Raje! His entry takes the breath away and his dialogue-delivery is powerful and strong. But what really works is his appearance- he looks like Shivaji completely! Although audiences may be disappointed since he doesn’t have much role in the film, he leaves a mark and creates a long lasting impact!
Makarand Anaspure as Raayba is hilarious and provides lots of laughs in the film. Suchitra Bandekar is perfect. Siddharth Jadhav as the goon Usman Pakar is terrific and is quite funny in the final scene. Priya Bapat and Abhijeet Kelkar as Dinkar’s children play their part perfectly. Ganesh Yadav acts natural. Others too leave their mark.
Out of the 4 songs of the film, the song ‘O Raje’ rocks! Sung wonderfully by Sukhwinder Singh, the song is the theme of the film and is played in all important scenes. Then there’s ‘Maharajanchi Kirti Befaam’ which describes Shivaji defeating the mighty Afzal Khan. It is a unique song with fantastic lyrics. But the koli-song doesnt impress much. 
Sanjay Pawar and Mahesh Manjrekar’s dialogues are sharp. In fact, the film succeeds due to its mighty dialogues. The film also has some great one-liners, esp the ones mouthed by Makarand Anaspure which are quite funny! Shailesh Awasthi’s cinematography is flawless. Visual effects are breathtaking and the film is technically brilliant! Many scenes were actually shot on Pratapgad.
Mahesh Manjrekar has written the story of the film which is very novel. Screenplay by Manjrekar and Abhijeet Deshpande is great and does total justice to the story. And Santosh Manjrekar emerges as a ‘hero’ for such a wonderful direction!
Some of the best scenes of the film:
1. Ghoshalya and Dinkar meeting for the 1st time
2. Shashikala’s audition
3. BMC officials inspecting pipelines in Dinkar’s bungalow
4. Dinkar criticizing great Maratha leaders (powerful scene!)
5. Shivaji scolding Dinkar
6. Dinkar scolding Gidwani for rejecting his daughter (best scene of the film!)
7. All scenes of Usman
8. The song ‘Maharajanchi Kirti Befaam’
9. The final 20 minutes
Overall, MI SHIVAJI RAJE BHOSLE BOLTOY is a treat with Shivaji Maharaj and a common man. History meets the modern world! Watch it not for Marathis, but for the sense of Indian Unity and for living a righteous life!
RATING : ****
Review by Ashish Gharde :
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
