Swargandharv Sudhir Phadke Marathi Movie Review: Uneven pacing mars the film!

SWARGANDHARV SUDHIR PHADKE (Marathi)

Producer- Saurabh Gadgil and Yogesh Deshpande

Director- Yogesh Deshpande

Cast- Sunil Barve, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Apoorva Joshi, Milind Pathak, Avinash Narkar , Sagar Talshikar and Hrishikesh Joshi

Platform of Release- Theatres

Rating: 

By Jyothi Venkatesh

The film is structured as a biography and uses the interview trope to illustrate the salient events in the life of celebrated singer and music director Sudhir Phadke (Sunil Barve). However, though it is listed as a musical, the film rarely goes into the depth of Phadke’s music, especially because an inordinate amount of focus is placed on his sheer poverty and the various people he interacted with rather than his music.

The film sets out to trace the life of Sudhir who was named Ram. The name Sudhir was given to him by N.N. Deshpande (Uday Sabnis). Despite life’s vagaries forcing him to wander, Sudhir Phadke never stopped making music, even in adversity, ultimately becoming a popular as well as legendary singer and composer.

As far as the performances are concerned, all that I can say is that Swargandharv Sudhir Phadke has some extremely brilliant performances. While Sunil Barve essays his role beautifully, rendering it the right nuances to accentuate the character Mrunmayee Deshpande who plays the role of his better half with a lot of finesse.

Sudhir’s friend, Nana Gadgil (Chinmay Patwardhan), supports Sudhir and inspires him to keep singing. Chinmay Patwardhan’s portrayal of Phadke’s friend – Nana is exemplary though why he leaves Phadke, better known as Babuji in the first place has not been mentioned properly.

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One day, poet G.D. Madgulkar (Sagar Talashikar), who eventually plays a very vital role in Sudhir Phadke’s life, introduces him to Prabhat Film Company after which Sudhir never had to look back. After becoming a sought-after music composer and singer, Sudhir Phadke makes a biographical film on his idol, Sane Guruji.

Sunil Barve literally underplays and shines in the title role. Adish Vaidya is also excellent as the young Sudhir Phadke. Mrunmayee Deshpande is nice in the role of Sudhir’s wife, Lalita Bai. Sagar Talashikar makes his presence felt in the role of G.D. Madgulkar. Also worth mentioning are Apurva Modak (as Asha Bhosle), Milind Phatak (as Raja Paranjpe), Sukhada Khandekar (as Manik Varma), Nikhil Raje Shirke (as Sudhir Phadke’s son Shridhar Phadke) and last but not the least, Vibhawari Deshpande (as Sudhir’s mother).

Sudhir Phadke’s music is appealing, while Mahesh Aney and Saumitra Yadnyopavit’s cinematography is eye-pleasing, but though a well-made film it will do limited business as the film which has a very excruciatingly slow pace may not get the patronage of the youth. Screenplay is poor and leads to uneven pacing of the plot on the whole. Also, what may alleviate the film from the viewers is the inclusion of his political inclination, though it is a brave move rarely seen in biopics.