Natsamrat

What a splendid movie… After so many years such a drama full of all sort of emotions Anger, Fear, Joy, Jealousy, sorrow, grief, fear, hope, love, hate, cruelty, greed, frustration, disappointment, desire, curiosity, surprise, gratitude, sympathy what was not there…. Such a lovely drama opening all the threads of all possible worldly relations naively narrating in an eloquent manner. I don't know how many times in the middle of the movie i just wanted a pause to capture all of it into my soul. Every scene every dialogue was building it's own impact/impression or sense in the parallel world, even if u leave behind the whole story plot. Be it Karn and Krishna Sequence or the king lear one. Nana Patekar no words to his performance, you can clearly see how this great actor has worked throughout his life, It looks like he has lived his own life in this movie. Still now these words "To be or not to be" are resonating in my mind.

Some movies go beyond the visuals, the dialogues, the script & even the actors to make an ineffaceable mark on your memory lane. Natsamrat is one such astonishing piece of cinema!

A screen adaptation of Kusumagraj's iconic Marathi play "Natsamrat", this movie takes us through the life of a veteran theater actor named Ganpat "Appa" Belwalkar (Nana Patekar), the fame & stardom during his heydays & the tragic upturn of his life after his retirement. The agony of the lead character is heartbreaking and the story telling is path-breaking. This movie leaves you with moist eyes & a scratched soul.

Nana Patekar is outstanding as Ganpat Belwalkar. He owns this movie with unmatched conviction. "Natsamrat" in literal sense means the "The King of Actors" & this man makes you realize that he indeed is amongst the best in Indian cinema. You laugh when he cracks the jokes & you cry when he suffers. He has portrayed this character with such a proficiency that you leave the cinema hall with a reverence to the phenomenon called Nana Patekar!

As Amitabh Bachchan is the "Shenshah"& so is Shahrukh the "King Khan". Nana Patekar, should, with due authority, be rechristened as "Natasamrat Nana Patekar" after this performance.

Vikaram Gokhale as Rambhau is superlative. The veteran actor plays the role with such a conviction that in few scenes he given even Nana Patekar a run for his money. The sequence on his deathbed when Gokhale recites lines from the Mahabharat gave me goosebumps. This movie will be a milestone for this "Best Man in the Marathi theater". The scenes of Nana & Vikram Gokhale are the life of this movie. What a camaraderie! It's like watching Sachin & Ganguly bat together. Sheer brilliance!

Medha Manjrekar as Kaveri Ganpat Belwalkar is serene. The romance between Anna & Kaveri is ethereal. Mrunmayee Deshpande, Neha Pendse, Sunil Barve play their parts well.

The director, Mahesh Manjrekar needs a serious applause for steering the ship such beautifully. The film is an ode to the theater greats from V V Shirwadkar to Shakespeare. The story telling is refined, to-the-point & touches you to the core. Even though the plot is melodramatic & you would have seen similar plots of aging Parents suffering in the hands of their children in movies like Baghbaan, Avatar and many more, Mahesh Manjarekar's Natsamrat hits you the hardest. The director makes you feel the weight of Nana's pain & suffering.

Such a kind of cinema needs to be celebrated & it's high time that Marathi Cinema gets its due acclaim & admiration. This movie will make Bollywood realize what they have missed by not using an actor of Nana Patekar's class to his truest potential.

My take: A must watch! Go & experience the acting prowess of Nana Patekar.

What a movie by Nana Patekar!! He is at his best. It feels like watching the sequel of the legendary movie Wajood. Love it!!

I don't have good knowledge of Marathi language. But on a friends recommendation I have watched this movie. Believe me my first question to him "How many times you cried while watching this movie?". I could not control my emotions and cried like a child. Each and every characters have strong role to play. Each part of movie is not to be missed. This is masterpiece.Thanks to Mahesh Manjrekar, Nana Patekar and all cast to pour liveliness in character. I must have missed some core Marathi words to understand but acting says it all. Movie will not allow you to get disturbed while you watching it. I don't have words as I am still in influence of movie while writing this review. IMDb please don't force to write 10 lines :). Thanks. Must watch it.

This movie is a mixture of all emotions - love,sadness,anger,trust,surprise, etc. It perfectly balances and portrays the happy and sad moments in life alternately and surprises the audience all the times. Also, this movie is worth watching because first of all, it is the adaptation of one of the most famous Indian (Marathi) play - 'Natsamraat'; secondly,it has stellar and noteworthy performances from supreme actors like Nana Patekar, Vikram Gokhale, Medha Manjrekar and all other actors / actresses have also performed extremely well !! And last but not the least, since this is another screen adaptation of famous Marathi play (first was 'Katyar Kaljat Ghusali' based on the famous Marathi musical play), 'Natsamrat' movie is, no doubt, worth watching on the big screen !!! Go watch it now :-)