Thackeray

Nawazuddin Siddiqui pulls of one of the best performances of his career. He's fabulous! His body language, composure, magnetism & mannerism is at a different level all together. We don't come across actors like him often. If nothing else, watch the movie just for him.

Overall, depending on your political inclination, the values you carry, the principles you have, you may hate or like the film, as it is based on a political personality and the choices he makes. Personally, I must admit that the 150 mins did alter my opinion about Balasaheb Thackerey. That by itself shows that the film & the performance of its casts is good enough to have an impact (good or bad) on your opinion about the protagonist.

However, the film is very slow & if you can't read Hindi you might find it difficult to keep up. Dialogues at times are great but most often very confusing.

Bottom line is, if you are looking for a typical bollywood entertainer, you might like to skip this one. Else it is a good watch!

Had high expectations from this film considering the charismatic persona of the protagonist . The narrative unfortunately is not gripping enough to hold the audience in rapt attention .

The film has its moments but seems disjointed, with punch lines that are laboriously inserted without having any impact on the narrative.

Navaz fits the bill perfectly and gets into the character with ease . But as they say no one can rise above the script . Could have been better .

5 out of 10 stars from me for this biographical docudrama.

! I was waiting for the movie since it's trailer was launched Huge disappointment! It's sluggish all the way...it doesn't seem to hold ur seats... First half is black and white.. No concepts well clear! It could have been much better Nawazuddin Siddiqui doesn't disappoint anyway!

Director: Abhijit Panse Producer and Writer: Sanjay Raut, MP (Rajya Sabha) Shiv Sena

Story: Thackrey revolves around the life of late Bal Keshav Thackrey, as he goes from being a cartoonist to founding a political party, Shivsena for the Maharashtrians and how he became the most influential person of Maharashtra.

Review: Thackrey movie shows the famous and not so popular life incidences of the Bala Saheb Thackrey, going through the crucial moments which made him, one of the most influential people ever born in the state of Maharashtra.

However, the movie fails at capturing the attention of the viewers and one will find it very hard to concentrate at the film throughout the 2 hours and 19 minutes. With a poorly written script, one finds it difficult to connect with the movies when movies go ahead showing the life of Bala Saheb Thackrey.

It is more like different new pieces reporting the incidence rather than being a movie.

If you are looking for a nicely written script with amazing shots, the movie is not for you.

One must only go if you would want to know about the life of Bala Saheb Thackrey.

Verdict: 2/5

6/10 - Coming back after seeing this biopic of the larger-than-life Marathi politician, I am quite disappointed at how they have not done justice to this movie.

Acting: First of all, Nawazuddin is the only major role in this film and others remain bystanders throughout the movie. Nawaz is probably one of the better actors in today's era and he proves it with another great performance. However, he seems uncomfortable with Marathi and falls short at the fiery roar that Balasaheb possessed. For example, when I saw Sanju, I didn't realize that it was not Sanjay Dutt acting. Such actor-character sync was missing.

Yet, he was perhaps the best choice for this complex role (but would've preferred Nana Patekar or Manoj Bajpai if they were younger). Amrita Rao, while being the other major character, is non-existent and missable.

Screenplay: The story, while doing a good job of taking us through Thackeray's life, did feel over the top at times (Remember that this movie was produced by Sanjay Raut, who is a part of the Shiv Sena so it excessively glorifies the character). I also hated the fact that the first half is in black&white. I mean, what's the point?

However, it was really interesting to see some politically-unrelated moments of Balasaheb's life that I wasn't aware of. Some dialogues are pearls.

Direction: This was the biggest let down for me. Abhijit Panse, who had previously made his debut with Rege (2014) - an absolute gem of a movie - seemed sloppy in his second (though I am not sure how much he could control things). It appeared as if he let Nawaz get away at times, but could've aimed at perfection.

He also tries to tell too many things in 2 hours. I would've preferred less things but in more detail.

Music: While there are no songs in this movie, background effects were really good and gave me goosebumps many times, inspiring me to pay attention to every scene.

Editing: Like I mentioned, there are too many scenes, and the movie seems very fast. They should've fixed it.

All in all, worth a watch, but don't have high hopes like Sanju or Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. 6/10 stars.