Davakhar Films’ Gondhal (Marathi; UA) is the story of a girl with three suitors.
Suman (Ishita Deshmukh) is married to Anand (Yogesh Sohoni). She was earlier going to marry the village Patil’s son, Sarjerao (Nishad Bhoir), but could not because Patil had demanded a huge amount of money by way of dowry. Suman is in love with Sahebrao (Anju Prabhu). The new couple’s Gondhal ceremony is due to take place. Sarjerao and Sahebrao are both present for the ceremony. Suman hatches a plot to eliminate Anand by asking Sarjerao to kill him. The aim is to have Anand out of her way so that she can marry boyfriend Sahebrao while Sarjerao would rot in jail.
Santosh Davakhar’s story is silly. Equally unconvincing is his screenplay. The drama simply doesn’t appeal to the viewers. The entire drama looks kiddish. Santosh Davakhar’s dialogues are ordinary.
Ishita Deshmukh is fair as Suman. Yogesh Sohoni does quite well as Anand. Nishad Bhoir is alright as Sarjerao. Anju Prabhu impresses in the role of Sahebrao. Kishore Kadam performs ably as Bhivaba. Suresh Vishwakarma is so-so as Sarjerao’s father, Patil. Maadhavi Juvekar is fair as Anand’s mother. Aishwarya Shinde lends average support as Anand’s sister. Kailash Waghmare is okay as Mhorkya. Prashant Deshpande is ordinary in a brief role as Anand’s father. Poonam Patil (as Suman’s mother), Sharad Jadhav (as Suman’s father), Vitthal Kale (as Mohan), Pravin Dalimbkar (as Vilas), Dhruv Thoke (as Bhivaba’s grandson, Vishnu), Prabhakar Mathapati (as Anand’s brother-in-law) and the rest pass muster.
Santosh Davakhar’s direction is proper but he is saddled with such a poor script (his own) that the narration fails to have an impact. Ilaiyaraaja’s music is average. Lyrics (by Ajay Gogawale and Santosh Davakhar) are fair. Background music is functional. Amalendu Chaudhary’s camerawork is reasonably nice. Sandeep Meher’s production designing, and Suyog Naik’s art direction are nothing to shout about. Ashish Mhatre’s editing should’ve been crisper.
On the whole, Gondhal is a weak fare.
Released on 14-11-’25 at Plaza (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: so-so. Opening: dull.
