Almonds Creations’ Pawankhind (Marathi; UA) is a historical about the battle of Pavankhind in 1660. It was a rearguard last stand which took place on July 13,1660 at a mountain pass near Vishalgadh fort around Kolhapur in Maharashtra, between Maratha warrior Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Siddi Masud of the Adil Shah Sultanate.
Shivaji (Chinmay Mandlekar) is trapped in the Panhala fort. While Shivaji is escaping, his trusted lieutenant, Baji Prabhu Deshpande (Ajay Purkar), promises to engage a large army of Ali Adil Shah II till Shivaji reached the Vishalgadh fort to safety. It is now Baji Prabhu Deshpande’s endeavour to face the troops of Siddi Masud with 300 soldiers till he hears the cannon fire from Vishalgadh, signalling Shivaji’s safety.
Digpal Lanjekar’s story from the books of history underlines the bravery of the Marathas, and the value of a promise given by one Maratha to another. His screenplay is exciting in the second half although the pre-interval portion does get a bit slow. Nevertheless, the drama keeps the audience engaged in both the halves. The portion in which Shiva Kashid (Ajinkya Sanjay Nanaware) disguises to look like Shivaji and is ready to lay down his life by being captured by Siddi Masud’s soldiers so that Shivaji’s life could be saved is very good. Even better is Baji Prabhu Deshpande’s entire valiant fight till Shivaji reaches to his safety. Digpal Lanjekar’s dialogues are good.
Chinmay Mandlekar does a very good job as Shivaji Maharaj. Ajay Purkar performs excellently as Baji Prabhu Deshpande. Sameer Dharmadhikari is impactful as Siddi Johar. Aastad Kale is effective as Siddi Masud. Mrinal Kulkarni lends nice support as Shivaji’s mother, Rajmata Jijau. Harish Dudhade (as Bahirji Naik), Ankit Mohan (as Shrimant Rayajirao Bandal), Prajakta Mali (as Shrimant Bhavanibai Bandal), Kshitee Jog (as Badi Begum), Rishi Saxena (as Rustom-e-Jehan), Shivraj Waichal (as Harpya), Vikram Gaikwad (as Netaji Palkar), Vaibhav Mangale (as Gangadhar Pant), Ruchi Savarn Mohan (as Matoshri Soyarabai), Surabhi Bhave (as Matoshri Sonai Deshpande), Ujwala Jog (as Bayobai Deshpande), Dipti Ketkar (as Dipai Aau Bandal), Akshay Waghmare (as Koyaji Bandal), Madhavi Nimkar (as Matoshri Gautamai Deshpande), Ajinkya Sanjay Nanaware (as Shiva Kashid), Bipin Suresh Surve (as Shambhu Sinh Jadhavrao), Rajan Bhise, Jayendra More and Sushant Mankani lend decent support.
Digpal Lanjekar’s direction is praiseworthy. His handling of the war scenes is especially wonderful. Devdutta Manisha Baji’s music and background score are good. Lyrics (Sant Tukaram Maharaj, Digpal Lanjekar and Devdutta Manisha Baji) are of a good standard. Song picturisations (choreographed by Kiran Borkar, Siddhi Potdar, Digpal Lanjekar and Akshay Gupta) are quite nice. Amol Gole’s camerawork is wonderful. Babbu Khanna’s action and stunt scenes afford thrill. Pratik Redij’s art direction is of a fine standard. Pramod Kahar’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Pawankhind is an entertaining fare.
Released on 18-2-’22 at Plaza (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: fairly nice. Opening: quite good. The Shivaji Jayanti holiday tomorrow (19th February) should help boost the box-office of the film because it glorifies Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
