Garima Productions’ Appa Ani Bappa (Marathi; meaning ‘Father and Ganpati Bappa’) is the story of a man’s father and Lord Ganesha.
Govind Kulkarni (Bharat Jadhav) lives in Pune with his family comprising his wife, Manda (Sampada Kulkarni), father, Ramakant (Dilip Prabhavalkar), daughter, Deepali (Shivani Rangole), and son, Sanchit (Vrushabh Nayak). With the Ganpati festival approaching, Govind’s father expresses a desire to celebrate the festival in a big way as, he feels, he may not live to see the next Ganpati festival.
It is beyond Govind’s financial capacity to contribute to the community Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations and also spend lavishly on the Ganpati celebrations at home but he is left with no choice. His father asks him to withdraw money from a Rs. 20 lakh fixed deposit with the bank, but the bank asks for so many formalities to be complied with that Govind is at his wits’ end.
Dejected, Govind pours his heart out to a stranger, Vinayak (Subodh Bhave). Actually, Vinayak is Lord Ganpati in human form and is visible to only Govind. How Vinayak helps Govind fulfil his father’s wish is what the rest of the film is all about.
Arvind Jagtap and Ashwani Dhir have written a comic story which is quite entertaining in the first half. But the story appears too stretched after interval. The bank episode is so lengthy that it tests the audience’s patience. The duo’s screenplay is engaging only till it is funny. But once the comedy element reduces, it becomes boring. Dialogues, also penned by the duo, are funny at places.
Bharat Jadhav does a good job as Govind Kulkarni. Subodh Bhave shines as Vinayak. Dilip Prabhavalkar lends fine support as Ramakant Kulkarni. Sampada Kulkarni has her moments as Manda. Shivani Rangole is okay as Shivani Kulkarni. Sanjay Chaudhary is so-so as Rajkumar. Vrushabh Nayak (as Sanchit Kulkarni) and Tushar Dalvi (as the bank manager) make their presence felt. Umesh Jagtap, as the bank’s branch manager, Zoting Saheb, is alright.
Ashwani Dhir’s direction is so-so. Music (Sarang Kulkarni, Sayli Khare and Abhang Repost) is functional. Lyrics are nothing to shout about. Mangesh Dhakde’s background music is ordinary. Surya Mishra’s cinematography is appropriate. Jayant Deshmukh’s art direction is okay. Editing could’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Appa Ani Bappa is a flop show because of the weak post-interval portion.
Released on 11-10-’19 at Bharatmata (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Panorama Studios. Publicity: so-so. Opening: very ordinary.