Natasamrat
Poster of the 2016 Marathi film Natasamrat. It depicts the protagonist looking downwards, wearing a white kurta and black Gandhi cap, against a lit background. The poster reads "Natsamrat" with its tagline in Marathi, which translates to "Such an actor will never be again" followed by the words "A Mahesh Manjrekar film".
Theatrical release poster
Marathiनटसम्राट
Directed byMahesh Manjrekar
Written byKiran Yadnopavit
Screenplay byMahesh Manjrekar, Abhijeet Deshpande and Kiran Yadnopavit
Story byV. V. Shirwadkar
Based onNatasamrat (drama)
by V. V. Shirwadkar
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAjith V. Reddy
Edited byParesh Manjrekar
Music byAjit Parab
Production
companies
  • Fincraft Media and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
  • Gajanan Chitra
  • Great Maratha Entertainment
Distributed byZee Studios
Release date
  • 1 January 2016 (2016-01-01) (India)
Running time
166 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMarathi
Budgetest.₹7 crore[1]
Box officeest.₹48 crore[2][3]

Natasamrāt (roughly translated as: The King of Theater or The Emperor of Actors/Acting or Greatest Actor) is a 2016 Indian Marathi-language drama film starring Nana Patekar in the leading role. Based on a play by the same written by playwright Kusumagraj, the film depicts the tragic family life of a stage actor who has retired from acting but is unable to forget his fond memories of theatre and the stage.[4]

It is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and produced by Nana Patekar and Vishwas Joshi under the banner of Great Maratha Entertainment, Gajanan Chitra and Fincraft Media and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The film was officially released in India on 1 January 2016 and became the highest-grossing Marathi film at the time, until Sairat occupied that place.[5][6] The film was made in Gujarati in 2018 as Natsamrat and also made in Telugu in 2023 as Rangamarthanda.[7][8]

Plot

The film is a tragedy about a veteran theatre actor Ganpat Ramchandra Belwalkar, also known as, Appa (played by Nana Patekar) who has been an acclaimed theatre actor during his days, garnering fame and fortune by acting in plays based on various works, especially those of William Shakespeare. He wins the award and the highest title of Natsamrat.

Subsequently, Appa bequeaths all of his wealth to his children. He never keeps anything to himself and expresses his views very frankly. He does not mind using expletives while expressing his views. Only his wife Kaveri (Medha Manjrekar), whom he fondly calls 'Sarkar', and his close friend Rambhau (Vikram Gokhale) are able to understand his nature. His daughter-in-law Neha (Neha Pendse) and son Makrand (Ajit Parab) do not seem to appreciate his frank nature, which at times causes embarrassing situations for them when they have visitors or when their daughter hurls expletives at school. The breaking point in their relationship comes when their granddaughter performs a folk dance taught by Appa, which is not appreciated by her mother Neha. An argument follows between them and when they return home, Neha slaps her daughter. The next day, Neha proposes to part ways with them by moving out, a ploy through which she anticipates that Appa will grant them their space. Appa sees through her plan and decides to move out while remarking to his son, "The whole world is a stage, and unfortunately, my part is a sad one."

Appa's wife Kaveri is very devoted to him and she does not question his decision. They move to their son-in-law and daughter Vidya's place. Appa continues with his carefree and frank ways, at times laden with few expletives. Their son-in-law, Rahul Barve (Sunil Barve) is a high-ranking engineer in his company and is of a caring nature. Vidya (Mrunmayee Deshpande) also confronts similar embarrassing situations as Neha, but her husband Rahul does not seem to mind it. He appreciates Appa's poetry (To be or not to be, that is the question) and his fluent style of recitals. On Vidya's anniversary, Appa comes in an inebriated state and embarrasses Rahul's boss. Although next-day Appa apologizes, Rahul does not seem to mind it and discards it as a one-off incident.

Meanwhile, Appa remembers about his friend Rambhau and pays a visit to him. Rambhau is devastated after the demise of his wife Kumud. He lashes out at Appa for leaving him alone in his final days. The scene that follows is a heart-touching conversation between Karna and Krishna enacted by Rambhau and Appa respectively while Rambhau is lying on his hospital bed. Mesmerized by Rambhau's performance and pitying his condition, Appa grants Rambhau his last wish.

The next day Appa returns to his son-in-law's house. Kaveri tells Appa that Rambhau had overdosed on sleeping pills and that he is no more to which Appa confesses that he gave the pills to him implying that, it was his last wish.

On another occasion, Appa insults Rahul's boss's son when he could not stand his weak adaption of Othello. This irritates Vidya and she confronts her father. She makes their arrangement in her outhouse; however, her husband still stands by Appa and regards this as a non-issue. Vidya makes sure that the outhouse is well maintained and they are taken good care of.

One fine day Vidya misplaces cash given to her by her husband and in a turn of events, she accuses her parents of stealing it. This creates a rift between them. Vidya realizes her mistake later when she finds the money. She apologizes to her parents but it is too late as Appa and Kaveri have already decided to move out. Vidya's husband Rahul is still sympathetic with her parents but cannot change their hearts. On that night, they escape from the outhouse for their ancestral village where they have an old house in a dilapidated state. On the way, they halt at a village, where Kaveri dies of fever. Appa is destroyed by this loss. He is supported by a boot polishwala named Raja. Raja is extremely poor and a homeless person who lives with his family under a bridge. Appa is at times in a delusional state and suffers from the fact that the grandeur with which he had lived as an actor is now making his pain unbearable in his state of loneliness and poverty. Appa serves tea at a tea stall where he enthralls his customers with his poetry recitals and dialogue from his plays. A man named Siddharth(Sarang Sathaye), who has respect and great fondness for acting, continuously follows Appa, since, for Siddharth, he is a noble actor and an idol. Appa hides his real identity from Siddharth and refuses to acknowledge that he is 'Natsamrat'. Siddarth, however, continues with his conviction regarding Appa being the great actor.

One day, Appa reads in the papers that his favorite theatre had burnt down in a fire. He goes there immediately and is completely shattered to see the theatre reduced to ashes. Siddharth also arrives there as he was following Appa. Here Appa starts reliving his old memories and also accepts Siddharth's claim that he is the real Natsamrat Ganpatrao when Siddharth reveals that he knew all about him and his past. His family and Raja also come there to find him. They request him to come home with him and to live with them but he refuses. The film ends magnificently albeit it has a tragic end. Appa is in a delusional state and shuffles between reality and the great personalities he had once portrayed as an actor on the very same stage. He gives his last performance on the theatre stage for Siddharth and says that "Do you understand, dear Siddarth, this is what theatre acting is all about? To fulfill one's longing" He unexpectedly screams by placing a hand on his throat and collapses. Immediately everyone runs to hold him, but they find that he has already departed.

Cast

Synopsis

The film is the screen adaptation of noted Marathi playwright Kusumagraj’s iconic Marathi play "Natsamrat" which was first staged in 1970. Dr. Shriram Lagoo has acted in the Marathi play in the role of Natsamrat for a very long time.

Soundtrack

Music for this film is composed by Ajit Parab. Lyrics are by V.V. Shirwadkar a.k.a. Kusumagraj and Guru Thakur.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Mituni Lochane"Vijay Prakash04:07
2."Natyaasa Naav Apulya"Vibhavari Apte Joshi04:32
Total length:08:39

Release

The film was released on 1 January 2016, which is also the birthday of Nana Patekar.[9] Apart from Maharashtra, Natsamrat released in Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana and West Bengal with nearly 1,600 shows across more than 400 screens in the country daily.[6][10] It also had special screenings in countries like UK, Singapore, Canada, USA till March 2016. Even in its 6th week it was running successfully in 174 theaters with 2,225 daily shows all over Maharashtra.[11]

Reception

The film received praise for its portrayal of the angst of an aged veteran theater actor. Film critics praised the movie for acting skills, direction, cinematography and script.[12][13] The film received overwhelming response at the box office, and ran for more than 50 days across Maharashtra.

Box office

Natsamrat collected ₹10.25 crore (US$1.3 million) in first weekend [6] and ₹16.50 crore (US$2.1 million) in 1st week.[14] It collected ₹22 crore (US$2.8 million) in 10 days,[15][16] ₹36 crore (US$4.5 million) till the 4th week [17] and became the highest-grossing film in Marathi, by collecting ₹40 crore (US$5.0 million) in 15 weeks. The film grossed over ₹39 crore (US$4.9 million) in India and ₹48 crore (US$6.0 million) worldwide.[18]

Accolades

Best Marathi Film Award
Filmfare Marathi Awards[19]

Zee Gaurav Puraskar[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "६ मराठी सिनेमे ज्यांनी बॉक्स ऑफिसवर केली तुफान कमाई, बॉलिवूडवर भारी पडलेला तिसरा सिनेमा". Maharashtra Times. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  2. ↑ Narayan, Hari. "Marathi, Punjabi films that made a mark in 2016". Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  3. ↑ "With Sairat, Marathi cinema flies high on box office, appreciation". The Indian Express. 23 May 2016. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  4. ↑ Subhash K Jha. "Natsamrat Review: Nana Patekar brilliance reminds us what Bollywood is missing out on". FirstPost. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Ankita Mehta (6 January 2016). "Natsamrat box office collection: Nana Patekar starrer Marathi film records biggest opening weekend". International Business Times. No. India. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Yogesh Pawar (5 January 2016). "Nana Patekar starrer Natsamrat gets biggest ever opening weekend in Marathi cinema". DNA India. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Prakash Raj turns into an AD for Krishna Vamsi's "Ranga Marthanda"". Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Natsamrat Movie Review {4.0/5}: Critic Review of Natsamrat by Times of India" – via timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
  9. ↑ Ajay Kulye. "Nana Patekar's Natsamrat to release on 1 January 2016". Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Ajay Kulye. "Natsamrat gets biggest release for a Marathi Movie". Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Amitabh could play second fiddle to me: Nana Patekar". dna. 15 February 2016. Archived from the original on 18 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "Natsamrat Review: Nana Patekar brilliance reminds us what Bollywood is missing out on". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Natsamrat movie review: Nana Patekar's award winning performance will usher in the New Year with a BANG!". Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "Nana Patekar steals the show again". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  15. ↑ "Box office: 'Wazir' rakes in Rs 21 crore in its opening weekend". mid-day. 12 January 2016. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  16. ↑ sunil desale. "Natasamrat movie earns approx 10 crore in first 3 days – 'नटसम्राट' सिनेमाची बॉक्स ऑफीसवर धुम". India.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  17. ↑ Amit Ingole. "Nana Patekar's Natasamrat creates history at Box Office! – नानाच्या 'नटसम्राट'ने रचला इतिहास, केली रेकॉर्ड ब्रेक कमाई – Latest News & Updates in Marathi at India.com Marathi". India.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "'Sairat' to 'Baipan Bhari Deva'; FIVE Top highest grossing Marathi films at the Indian box Office'". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  19. ↑ "Filmfare Awards Marathi 2017 Winners – List of Marathi Filmfare Award Winners". filmfare.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  20. ↑ "And The Winners are: 'Zee Chitra Gaurav Awards 2016' – MarathiCineyug.com | Marathi Movie News | TV Serials | Theater". marathicineyug.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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