Panorama Studios, Mangesh Pawar & Company and Shivoham Creations Pvt. Ltd.’s Phullwanti (Marathi) is the story of renowned danseuse Phullwanti who arrives in Pune to perform in the Peshwa’s court. Her performance is overshadowed by a nasty comment made by the court scholar, Venkat Shastri. Angry and determined to seek justice, Phullwanti challenges him. The stage is then set for a competition between art and intellect. Who proves victorious?
The story is based on Baba Purandare’s novel of the same name. The story is appealing and keeps the audience’s interest alive. Pravin Vitthal Tarde’s screenplay is alright but it doesn’t keep the viewers engaged all through. There are portions in the drama which appear stretched. Besides, monotony sets in at times because there are no diversions in the script. Light moments and emotions are conspicuous by their absence. Pravin Vitthal Tarde’s dialogues are very nice.
Prajakta Mali does a very fine job as Phullwanti. Her dances are extremely graceful. Gashmeer Mahajani is good in the role of Venkat Shastri. Snehal Tarde is alright as Laxmi. Vaibhav Mangale lends fair support as Martand Bhairavacharya. Kshitish Date is adequate as Shrikant Sawai Madhavrao Peshwa. Deepti Lele is okay as Peshawinbai. Prasad Oak is alright in the role of Bakhare Sarkar Naik. Hrishikesh Joshi makes a mark with his entertaining interludes as Pant Chitnis. Sunil Abhyankar is average as Nana Fadnavis. Nikhil Raut acts well as Bayja. Chinmayee Sumeet leaves a mark as Minakshi Devi. Sukhada Khandkekar provides average support as Ragini Devi. Vibhawari Deshpande is so-so as Avanti Devi. Mir Sarvar lends ordinary support as Badshah. Mangesh Desai is average as Subhedar Mankar. Savita Malpekar (as Radhakka), Jaywant Wadkar (as Vitthoba), Samir Choughule (as Wamanrao), Vanita Kharat, Gaurav More, Chetana Bhat, Prithvik Pratap (as Chimanrao), Rohit Mane, Siddheshwar Zadbukke (as Anand Shastri), Vijay Patwardhan (as Narayan ) and the others are passable.
Snehal Pravin Tarde’s direction is okay but there’s nothing in the drama which makes compelling. Avinash-Vishwajeet’s music is truly appealing. Umesh Jadhav’s choreography is eye-filling. Mahesh Limaye’s cinematography is nice. Eknath Kadam’s art direction is of a nice standard. Mayur Hardas’ editing is reasonably sharp.
On the whole, Phullwanti may be a fairly well-made film with good performances but its box-office prospects are ordinary because it is not a regular masala film of the kind which the Marathi film-going audience like.