Mumbai Movie Studios, Imens Dimension Entertainment & Arts Pvt. Ltd. and Dragon Water Films’ Mann Kasturi Re (Marathi; UA) is the story of two lovers and how a misunderstanding ruins their lives.
Siddhant (Abhinay Berde) belongs to a lower-middle class family. He lives with his mother (Veena Jamkar) who works as a house maid. Siddhant studies in a college and works part-time in a catering company. Shruti (Tejasswi Prakash) falls in love with Siddhant and even gets intimate with him of her own free will but she accuses him of rape when he doesn’t agree to marry her forthwith. Siddhant is jailed. Much later, Shruti realises that her father (Asit Redij) had tried to tear Siddhant and her apart, and had succeeded because of her foolishness. Does she have time to make amends or is it too late now?
Sanket Mane and Sumit Giri have written a story which is quite predictable. Their screenplay is not very effective. The part of voice acting is the weakest link in the drama. The voice modulation application track is also very convenient. Also, the drama is long-drawn and unnecessarily complex. Too many characters only dilute the impact. Sumit Giri’s dialogues are alright.
Abhinay Berde is okay as Siddhant. Tejasswi Prakash acts ably in the role of Shruti. Veena Jamkar performs well as Siddhant’s mother. Asit Redij is okay as Shruti’s father. Ajit Bhure lends routine support as advocate Deshpande. Rajshree Deshpande is average as advocate Dipti. Kishor Chougule just about passes muster as advocate Parab. Tushar Ghadigaonkar (as Siddhant’s friend, Pakya), Vinamra Bhabal (as Siddhant’s friend, Nayan) and Akash Mithbhavkar (as Siddhant’s friend, Mohammad) are alright. Kiran Tambe lends routine support as Shruti’s friend, Ankita. Dhanashri Antarkar (as Shruti’s mother), Praful Samant (as Sada Bhau), Anil Chhatre (as minister Raut) and Siddharth (as minister Raut’s son, Rahul) provide average support.
Sanket Mane’s direction is below the mark. More than a love story, the film looks like a courtroom drama. Shorr’s music is ordinary. Lyrics (by Shorr and Sumit) are nothing to shout about. Rahul-Sanjeev’s choreography is alright. Chinar-Mahesh’s background music is so-so. Camerawork (Rohan Madkaikar) is very ordinary. Moses Fernandes’ action and stunt scenes lack thrill. Satish Gawali’s sets are okay. Manish Shirke’s editing leaves something to be desired.
On the whole, Mann Kasturi Re is a flop show.
Released on 4-11-’22 at Movie Time Goregaon (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru UFO Cine Media Network. Publicity: so-so. Opening: dull.