Curzon Films and Purushottam Studios’ Sant Tukaram is the story of the 17th century Marathi saint-poet.
The story is based on the life of Sant Tukaram who is a popular figure among Maharashtrians mainly. Hence it is certain that the story will not appeal to the pan-India audience, more so because the screenplay writer has not succeeded in appealing to viewers outside of Maharashtra. Aditya Om’s screenplay is terribly weak. The drama looks very disjointed and gives the feel of a documentary. The unfolding drama, therefore, leaves the viewers completely detached and disinterested. The screenplay also moves at such a terribly slow speed that it tests the viewers’ patience. Aditya Om’s dialogues are dull.
Subodh Bhave does an average job in the title role. Sheena Chohan is weak as his wife, Avali. Shiva Suryavanshi is earnest in the role of Mambaji. Shishir Sharma is ordinary as Rameshwar Shastri. Rupali Jadhav is so-so as Rakhma Bai. Dwaipayan Das is just about passable as junior Tukaram. Twinkle Kapoor is routine as Bahina Bai. Deeksha Thakur is ordinary as Savitri. Gauri Sankar is fair in the role of Bolhoba. Rahul Singh is adequate as Kanhoba. Nawab is alright as Shivaji Maharaj. Shwetank Jha is just about okay as Sawaji. Chandrakant Karale is quite natural as Tukaram’s brother-in-law. Naveen Verma is ordinary as the village Brahman. Kiran Patil lends average support as the messenger of Shivaji Maharaj. Child artistes Lalit (as Tukaram’s child), Yog (as child Vitthal) and Purandar are dull. Umesh Deshmukh is okay as Vaidyaji. Arun Govil is quite good in a special appearance as the mystic village man. Sanjay Mishra is natural in a special appearance as Vishwanbharji. Lalit Tiwari is effective in a special appearance as Baba Chaitanya. Hemant Pandey is dull in a special appearance as the fakir. Ganesh Yadav is impactful in a special appearance as Sant Namdev. Mukesh Bhatt is okay in a special appearance as the head priest. Akbar Sami is average in a special appearance as the Muslim army chief. Brijeshwar Singh, Hemal Dharia, Manveer Chaudhary, Yogesh Upadhyaya, Nitin Kumar, Faraz Khan and the rest of the artistes barely pass muster.
Aditya Om’s direction is unbelievably poor. Music (Nikhil Kamath for Vithoba Rakhumai; Ravi Tripathi for Mauli Mauli; Veeral-Lavan for Vitthal Vitthal) is quite tuneful, but the songs are far from being popular. The Mauli Mauli song is the best number. Other than making a film for all-India viewers by selecting a story with such sectional appeal, inclusion of original Sant Tukaram songs in Marathi is the most unintelligent thing to have been done. Lyrics (Aditya Om and Shiv Sagar Singh) are good. Sudesh Savant and Veeral-Lavan’s background music is functional. Madhusudan Kota’s cinematography is nothing to shout about. Sumit Mishra’s production designing is weak. Prakash Jha’s editing is loose.
On the whole, Sant Tukaram will meet with a disastrous fate. It will not even do well in Maharashtra.
Released on 18-7-’25 at Metro Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by Cinepolis India thru August Entertainment. Publicity: dull. Opening: terribly weak. …….Also released all over. Opening was miserable everywhere.