Jai Jagdamba Productions’ The Maharashtra Files (Marathi; UA) is the story of a lone woman’s battle against the government for the low compensation she receives for her land which she loses to a government project.
Janabai Rathod (Usha Nadkarni) is an uneducated lady from the Banjara community. Her land is taken by the government for a project, just like the plots of land of many others. But the compensation she receives is not enough. She, therefore, decides to take on the government. Aiding her in her fight with the mighty are Ranveer Deshmukh (Mangesh Desai) and Nayana Patil (Veena Jamkar).
Sanjivkumar Rathod’s story and screenplay are quite interesting but they lack novelty. One has seen films about the underdog taking on the system. There are some scenes which gladden the heart, but they aren’t enough. Perhaps, the biggest drawback is that the drama often gets dull and drab. Dialogues, penned by Sanjivkumar Rathod, Sushil Rathod, Vikramsen Chavan and Ravi Dhanve, are quite nice.
Usha Nadkarni lives the role of Janabai Rathod. Mangesh Desai is very good as Ranveer Deshmukh. Sayaji Shinde is effective as Patil. Nagesh Bhosle makes his mark as Jay Patil. Veena Jamkar has her moments as Nayana Patil. Nitin Jadhav is quite nice as Sachin. Sunil Godse (as Vishwasrao Deshmukh), Shyamraj Patil (as the Collector), Pranav Ravrane (as Pakya) and Krutika Tulaskar (as Amruta Phadke) lend decent support. Sunny Leone, Sapna Chaudhary and Gautami Patil impress in song-dance numbers.
Sanjivkumar Rathod’s direction is alright. Music (Nitin-Ajit, Sanjay Londhe, Siddharth-Kashyap and Dr. Geetkumar Pawar) is quite nice. Lyrics (by Guru Thakur, Dr. Geetkumar Pawar, Vinayak Pawar, Sushil Rathod, Deepak Angewar, Sanjay Londhe, Anna Surwade and Shakeel Azmi) are good. Song picturisations (choreographed by Vishnu Deva, Rahul Thombre, Sanjeev Howladar and Pravin Suryavanshi) are eye-filling. Mangesh Dhakde’s background music is nice. Tanveer Mir and Nagaraj Diwakar’s camerawork is of a fine standard. Santosh A. Dahiphale’s action and stunt scenes are functional. Ulhas Bhalchandra Nandre’s art direction is okay. Sanjay Shrirang Ingle’s editing leaves something to be desired.
On the whole, The Maharashtra Files is too dull and dry to score at the ticket windows.
Released on 12-6-’26 at Jai Hind Mukta A2 (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: so-so. Opening: dull.
