Panorama Studios, 3H Enterprises and Lee Pictures’ Aadi Anant (Marathi; UA) is the story of the bond between a grandfather and his grandson, and how it is put to test in trying circumstances.
Aaditya (Sankarshan Karhade) lives in Pune with his grandfather, Anant (Ashok Saraf). He is a struggling actor. One day, Aaditya meets Gayatri (Sakhee Gokhale) who happens to be the grand-daughter of Anant’s friend. Aaditya and Sakhee fall in love. Since Anant is a disciple of Dutt Bhagwan, he one day asks Aaditya to accompany him to his temple. Just then, Aaditya gets a call from a producer’s office that he has been selected for a film. However, Aaditya can’t go to meet the producer for his look test because his grandfather is hospitalised for a spine injury following a fall in the temple. This frustrates Aaditya. However, Aaditya finally lands a role in the lead in the same producer’s film a few days later. As bad luck would have it, Aaditya has to leave his shooting on the very first day as his grandfather has a fall in the bathroom that very day while he is at the studio. Aaditya rushes back home and is so frustrated that he behaves very badly with his grandfather. As time progresses, Aaditya realises that he has misbehaved with his grandfather. He seeks his grandfather’s pardon. What happens thereafter?
Sankarshan Karhade’s story is good in parts but also predictable after a point of time. Karhade’s screenplay is so-so, mainly because of lack of novelty in drama. The proceedings remind of several earlier Marathi and Hindi films. Having said that, it must be added that some emotions touch the heart. Sankarshan Karhade’s dialogues are appealing.
Ashok Saraf does an excellent job as grandfather Anant (Anantrao Bhalerao). Sankarshan Karhade does well as Aaditya Bhalerao. Sakhee Gokhale is good as Gayatri Deshmukh. Yogesh Shirsat is alright as Aaditya’s friend, Mithun. Kavita Lad is so-so as Suman. Aarav Aeer (as Harshad), Vaidehi Parshurami (as the celebrity), Shrirang Godbole (as the director of the stage-play), Aishwarya Kulkarni (as Mithun’s wife), Mahesh Limaye (as the photographer), Neeta Donde (as Harshad’s mother), and Shantanu Bhake (as casting director P. Santosh) do as desired.
Mahesh Limaye’s direction is good. He has handled the emotional subject with the sensitivity it deserves. Avinash-Vishwajeet’s music is okay while their background score is nice. Guru Thakur’s lyrics are effective. Song picturisations (by Pooja Kale) are alright. Cinematography (by Mahesh Limaye and Tanmay Vanmali) is nice. Mahesh Kore’s production designing is okay. Rushiraj Joshi’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Aadi Anant is an average entertainer and its collections should pick up due to favourable word of mouth.
Released on 12-11-’26 at Metro Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by Panorama Studios. Publicity: good. Opening: so-so.
