J Five Entertainments, Phoenix Groups and Initiative Films’ Reel Star (Marathi; UA) is the story of a man who loses his motorcycle in a bomb blast. In his quest to recover the cycle, he uncovers a world of corruption which he then exposes.
Bhanudas (Bhushan Manjule) buys a motorcycle on loan. But his bike is stolen one day. While Bhanudas tries to recover his stolen motorcycle, he unearths a murky world of corruption and deceit. Bhanudas now decides to expose the corrupt people and for this, he seeks the help of a television reporter, Sumit (Prasad Oak).
Sudhir Kulkarni’s story doesn’t have much to talk about. It is quite routine. The screenplay, penned by Sudhir Kulkarni and Robin Varghese, is average. While portions of the drama are fairly engaging, there are other parts which are quite dull. The portion showing Bhanudas exposing corrupt politician Laxmikant (Swapnil Rajasekhar), police and BMC officials is so routine that it just doesn’t have the desired impact. Sudhir Kulkarni and Robin Varghese’s dialogues are good at places.
Bhushan Manjule is okay as Bhanudas. Prasad Oak does well as TV reporter Sumit. Urmila Jagtap is okay as Bhanudas’ wife, Anita. Milind Shinde is alright as Tatya Kamble. Swapnil Rajasekhar does a fair job as politician Laxmikant. Arjun Gaykar (as Bhanudas’ son), Tanishka Mhadshe (as Bhanudas’ daughter) , Ruchira Jadhav (as Sumit’s girlfriend), Shubhangi Latkar (as Sumit’s mother), Vijay Patkar (as Katkar), Ananth Mahadevan (as TV channel head Mukund Joshi), Mahesh Subhedar (as the police inspector), Shivaji Patne (as Javed), Ganesh Revadekar (as Bunty) and the others provide routine support.
Simmy Joseph and Robin Varghese’s direction is average. Music (by Vinu Thomas and Shubham Bhatt) is so-so and so are the lyrics (Guru Thakur and Mandar Cholkar). Suraj Prakash Gaikwad’s song picturisations are below the mark. Background music is routine. Shinoob T.C.’s camerawork is nothing to shout about. Jackie Johnson’s action and stunt scenes lack thrill. Rahul Sharma and Samir Chitnis’ production designing, and Nilesh Rasal’s art direction are just about passable. Dejo’s editing should’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Reel Star is a flop show.
Released on 14-11-’25 at Metro Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Cinepolis India. Publicity: so-so. Opening: dull.