Zee Studios and Shree Ganesh Marketing And Film’s Har Har Mahadev (Marathi; UA) is the story of Shivaji Maharaj, his intelligence, his concern for commoners, his philosophy, etc.
With a view to giving the Mughal emperors a tough fight, Shivaji Maharaj (Subodh Bhave) asks all the kings to unite under one umbrella. Bajiprabhu Deshpande (Sharad Kelkar) is reluctant to toe the line of Shivaji Maharaj but he relents once he starts valuing the latter’s thinking. Mughal emperor Afzal Khan wants to kill Shivaji but the reverse happens. Now, Siddhi Johar takes it upon himself to murder Shivaji, and for this, he and his men surround the Panhala fort where Shivaji, Bajiprabhu Deshpande and many others are stationed. How Bajiprabhu and Shivaji Maharaj plan Shivaji Maharaj’s escape, and how the plan is carried out form the crux of the story.
Abhijeet Shirish Deshpande has written a story based on chapters from history books. The story is interesting as it presents people’s hero, Shivaji, in very good light. Of course, several earlier films on Shivaji Maharaj have covered the same chapters of history and, therefore, the story lacks novelty. Deshpande’s screenplay is entertaining and fast-paced due to which there is not a single boring moment. The screenplay has ample scope for drama, melodrama, emotions, action etc. The tension in the proceedings keeps the audience hooked on to the drama from the start till the end. Abhijeet Shirish Deshpande and Prajakt Sampatrao Deshmukh’s dialogues are excellent, many of them even clapworthy.
Sharad Kelkar shines in the role of Bajiprabhu Deshpande. Subodh Bhave lives the role of Shivaji Maharaj. Amruta Khanvilkar is effective as Sonabai, wife of Bajiprabhu Deshpande. Milind Shinde performs ably as Siddhi Johar. Hardik Joshi makes his presence felt in the role of Abaji Vishwanath. Ashok Shinde leaves a fair mark as Phulajiprabhu Deshpande. Nitish Chavan (as Dhanaji Bhaskar), Nishigandha Wad (in a brief role as Rajmata Jijau), Sayali Sanjeev (in a tiny role as Shivaji Maharaj’s wife, Maharani Saibai), Sharad Ponkshe (as Deshmukh), Mohan Joshi (as Dhondiba), Kishore Kadam (as Tavji) and the rest of the artistes provide fantastic support.
Abhijeet Shirish Deshpande’s direction is pretty impactful. Although Hitesh Modak’s music is so-so, his background music has a wonderful impact on the drama. Mangesh Kangane and Mandar Cholkar’s lyrics are fair. Tribhuvan Babu Sadineni’s camerawork is excellent. Pradyumna Kumar Swain’s action and stunt scenes afford a lot of thrill to the viewers. Art direction (Satish Chipkar, Rakesh Kadam, Bhushan Raul and Sachin Patil) is of a good standard. Kshitija Khandagale’s editing is crisp.
On the whole, Har Har Mahadev is an entertaining fare and will, therefore, score at the ticket windows in spite of the fact that it lacks novelty.
Released on 25-10-’22 at Plaza (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Zee Studios. Publicity: good. Opening: very good. …….The film has been dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. While the Hindi dubbed version opened today (25-10-’22), the South language dubbed versions will release on Friday (28-10-’22).