Starlight Box Theatres, Ganraj Studios, Sanjay Dawara Experiences and Nitin Vaidya Productions’ Mana Che Shlok (Marathi; UA) is the story of a young man and a young woman.
Shlok’s (Rahul Pethe) family gets a marriage proposal for Shlok from Manava’s (Mrunmayee Deshpande) family. The two families meet. Manava, who loves trekking, is against the institution of marriage or so it seems. She, therefore, behaves in a way that Shlok would doubt her character. But Shlok later learns that she had purposely behaved badly when they had met. The two start getting close to one another, but a misunderstanding threatens to separate them just as the families feel, they are ready for marriage. It soon emerges that Shlok and Manava are not just against marriage but also against having too many guests at their marriage ceremony. The two are also desirous of spending a life far away from the hustle-bustle of city life.
Mrunmayee Pratibha Deshpande’s story is a bit confused. It is not clear whether Manava and Shlok are against the institution of marriage — and therefore, talk of being in a live in relationship — or are not in favour of too many guests attending their marriage or are against the idea of spending their married life in a cramped atmosphere. If they are against marriage itself, the other two points — too many wedding guests, and living in a peaceful atmosphere — have no meaning. And if one or both of the above are their conditions, why are they against marrying each other? Mrunmayee Pratibha Deshpande’s screenplay is average. The track of Hrishikesh (Pushkaraj Chirputkar) looks forced but it, nevertheless, does evoke the desired comedy. Otherwise also, the comedy portions are quite entertaining. Mrunmayee Pratibha Deshpande’s dialogues are okay.
Mrunmayee Deshpande does an excellent job as Manava. Rahul Pethe is good in the role of Shlok. Pushkaraj Chirputkar lends decent support as Hrishikesh. Uday Tikekar is alright as Shlok’s father. Shubhangi Gokhale is fair as Shlok’s mother. Mangesh Kadam is alright as Manava’s father. Leena Bhagwat is average in the role of Manava’s mother. Master Malhar Limaye is adequate as Manava’s brother, Mihir. Karan Parab is okay as Manava’s friend, Abhishek. Suvrat Joshi (as Honaji), Siddharth Menon (as Anna), Harish Dudhade (as Nana), Gautami Deshpande (as Madhavi), Sayali Sanjeev (as Radha) and the others pass muster.
Mrunmayee Pratibha Deshpande’s direction is so-so. Music (Siddharth Mahadevan and Soumil Shringarpure) lacks hit songs. Lyrics (Prajakt Deshmukh and Gautami Deshpande) are alright. Megha Sampat’s choreography is nothing to dance about. Background music should’ve been better. Abhijit D. Abde’s camerawork is okay. Poorva Pandit’s art direction is passable. Pravin Jahagirdar’s editing is reasonably sharp.
On the whole, Mana Che Shlok does not have the masala to score at the box-office. Flop.
Released on 10-10-’25 at Jai Hind Mukta A2 (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Panorama Studios. Publicity: so-so. Opening: poor.
