Aseem Entertainment and Approgramme Studios’ Butterfly (Marathi) is about pursuing one’s passion.
Megha Deshpande (Madhura Welankar-Satam) is a housewife bogged down by the daily chores. She lives with her loving husband, Viraj Deshpande (Abhijeet Satam), their daughter, Ananya (Radha Dharne), and her father-in-law (Pradeep Welankar). She joins badminton classes which she attends during the time her daughter takes tuitions. Megha doesn’t inform her family about her badminton coaching. Trouble erupts when, in spite of being a fantastic player, she is unable to play in the first round of a match because the timing of the tournament clashes with her family commitments. What happens thereafter?
Vibhawari Deshpande’s story is average as it rests on a weak foundation. Vibhawari Deshpande and Meera Welankar’s screenplay is ordinary. The point of Megha not even informing her loving husband about her badminton classes is a bit too much for the audience to digest. Everything that follows, therefore, looks contrived because the audience is constantly troubled by the feeling that the problems could’ve been avoided had she just taken her husband into confidence. It is because of this very reason that the emotions that should’ve been evoked remain a distant dream. Although the intentions of the drama are good, the path which the screenplay takes is not half as good or convincing enough. After a point of time, the screenplay becomes one of such convenience that it also becomes very predictable. That’s the biggest undoing of the script. Kalyani Pathare and Aditya Ingale’s dialogues are commonplace.
Madhura Welankar-Satam does a fair job as Megha Deshpande. Abhijeet Satam is good in the role of Viraj Deshpande. Sonia Parchure is very nice as Megha’s sister-in-law, Amarja. Mahesh Manjrekar lends able support as the badminton coach. Pradeep Welankar is adequate as Megha’s father-in-law. Radha Dharne is alright as Ananya, the daughter of Megha and Viraj. Others lend routine support.
Meera Welankar’s direction is average. She has not been able to make a heartwarming film which could move the audience to tears. Shubhajit Mukherjee’s music is so-so. Lyrics (Vaibhav Joshi and Guru Thakur) are alright. Background music is of a fine standard. Vasudeo Rane’s camerawork is quite alright. Santosh Phutane’s art direction is okay. Jayant Jathar’s editing could’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Butterfly may have noble intentions but its box-office prospects appear bleak.
Released on 2-6-’23 at Plaza (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru August Entertainment. Publicity & opening: poor.