Maaydesh Media and Subodh Bhave’s Aatpadi Nights (Marathi; UA) is the story of a physically weak young man who lives in a village called Aatpadi, and his sexual dysfunctioning.
Vasant Khatmode (Pranav Raorane) is physically weak and manages to keep his wife sexually satisfied by taking sex pills. But one day, he realises that he is unable to perform. His wife, Haripriya (Sayali Sanjeev), takes him to the doctor (Subodh Bhave) who advises him to stop taking tablets and to take it easy. How Vasant gets over his phobia of non-performance is the crux of the story.
Nitin Sindhuvijay Supekar’s story is interesting because it is written in a comic style. His screenplay is quite engaging, especially in the first half. The drama becomes less gripping once Vasant admits about his problem before wife Haripriya. The post-interval portion is, therefore, not as engrossing. Nitin Sindhuvijay Supekar’s dialogues are funny.
Pranav Raorane suits the character of Vasant Khatmode and he performs ably. Sayali Sanjeev acts well as Haripriya. Subodh Bhave lends very good support as Dr. Sushil. Sanjay Kulkarni makes his presence felt in the role of Vasant’s father, Bapusaheb Khatmode. Chhaya Kadam has her moments as Vasant’s mother, Lakshmi Khatmode. Sameer Khandekar (as Vasant’s brother, Vilas), Aarti Wadagbalkar (as Vasant’s sister-in-law, Manisha), Vitthal Kale (as Parshuram), Yogesh Iratkar (as Abba Mane) and Jatin Inamdar (as Jeetu) are ordinary.
Nitin Sindhuvijay Supekar’s direction is fair. Music (Vijay Gavande and Siddharth Dhukate) comprises one well-tuned number and two ordinary songs. Lyrics (Kamlesh Kulkarni and Narayan Puri) are okay. Rahul Thombare and Sanjiv Hawalkar’s choreography is quite alright. Vijay Gavande’s background music is fairly effective. Camerawork (Nagraj Diwakar and Veerdhawal Patil) is good. Sandeep Inamke’s art direction is functional. Nilesh Gawand’s editing is reasonably sharp.
On the whole, Aatpadi Nights may have a fairly good comic flavour but its chances at the box-office are weak because of lack of face value.
Released on 27-12-’19 at Bharatmata (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Sunshine Studios. Publicity: so-so. Opening: poor.