Mumbai Film Company’s Ved (Marathi; UA) is the story about madness of several people. Satya (Ritesh Vilasrao Deshmukh) wants to get into the Indian cricket team through the Railway cricket team. He falls in love with Nisha (Jiya Shankar). Satya’s life takes a turn when local politician Bhaskar (Raviraj Kande) enters it. Twelve years later, Satya is an alcoholic because Nisha is no longer in his life. Even though he is married to Shravani (Genelia Deshmukh), who secretly loved him since childhood, he can’t accept her as his wife because he still lives in the past. Satya’s life takes a turn when he meets Khushi (baby Khushi Hajare), daughter of Nisha.
As luck would have it, Satya starts training Khushi to be a cricketer. Soon, Khushi learns about Satya and her mother before she had married her father. Khushi’s parents, incidentally, had died in an accident. Satya and Shravani adopt Khushi. How Khushi brings them close to each other forms the crux of the drama.
The film is a remake of Telugu film Majili. Its story is written by Shiva Nirvana. The story may not be very fresh but it is, nevertheless, very interesting and talks of the madness of Satya, the crazy love of Shravani, the stubbornness of Khushi, etc. Since it has several tracks, all inter-related, there is so much happening that it doesn’t give the audience time to think. The screenplay, adapted by Rushikesh Turai, Sandeep Patil and Ritesh Vilasrao Deshmukh, is both, engaging and interesting. The drama has comedy, action, romance and emotions, all of which give the viewers the feeling of watching a wholesome entertainer. The audience fall in love with Satya and Shravani so much that they want them to be together and live happily. Prajakt Deshmukh’s dialogues are appealing and often touch the heart.
Ritesh Vilasrao Deshmukh lives the role of Satya and acts wonderfully. He makes his character so lovable that it’s a delight to watch him perform. Genelia Deshmukh performs with effortless ease. Her character is extremely endearing. Jiya Shankar does a nice job as Nisha. Ashok Saraf lends able support as Satya’s father, Dinkarrao. Vidyadhar Joshi is okay as Shravani’s father, Murli. Shubhankar Tawade is good in the role of Satya’s friend, Jaunty. Raviraj Kande has his moments as politician Bhaskar. Baby Khushi Hajare leaves a mark as Khushi. Vineet Sharma makes his presence felt as Nisha’s father, Kumar. Avinash Khedekar (as Ganesh) and Vikram Gaikwad (as the coach) are adequate. Salman Khan makes a special appearance in a song-dance number, adding tremendous star value.
Ritesh Vilasrao Deshmukh’s direction is pretty good. He has done justice to the script and made a fare which will entertain the masses and the classes. Ajay-Atul’s music is very nice. The title song is excellent. Lyrics (Ajay-Atul and Guru Thakur) are appealing. Ranju Varghese’s choreography is of a fine standard. Saurabh Bhalerao’s background music adds to the impact of the drama. Bhushankumar Jain’s cinematography is eye-filling. Manohar Verma’s action and stunt scenes are quite thrilling. Production designing (by Durgaprasad Mahapatra and Nilesh Wagh) is good. Chandan Arora’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Ved is a hit film as it has entertainment for all age groups and all classes of people.
Released on 30-12-’22 at Plaza (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru August Entertainment. Publicity & opening: excellent.