Natsamrat

One of the best acting performed on screen. Nana Patekar is simply superb. The story and the performances by the cast is emotionally moving and made me immediately rate this movie and write a review. The movie makes you question the harsh reality of relationships and standing up for what you believe in. I felt like evaluating my life and check the motive of your existence. The poems are beautifully written and portrayed. This movie is a mixture of all emotions - love,sadness,anger,trust,surprise, etc. It perfectly balances and portrays the happy and sad moments in life alternately and surprises the audience all the times. Enjoy this powerful performance by a great actor.

Masterpiece. No word else can describe what I had just witnessed. Nana Patekar is a great favorite of mine and he has captivated me in films like Parinda(1989), Prahaar(1991), Angaar(1992), Krantiveer (1994), Agni Sakshi(1996), Ghulam-E-Mustafa(1997) Yeshwant(1997), Ab Tak Chhappan (2005) and sequel Ab Tak Chhappan 2(2015), Tarkieb(2000) and Aanch(2003). He has starred in a lot of other films, but these above are a good guide. Back to the film. This film concerns the later years of a great and accomplished actor Ganpat Ramchandra Belwalkar (Nana Patekar), who has retired from the stage with the honorific Natsamrat (King of the Theater). He finds life out of stage awkward. He often makes rude and crude jokes in front of his family and friends. This often leads to a great deal of embarrassment afterwards. Also Ganpat is fond of liquor and gets drunk on many occasions. One day he teaches his grand-daughter a rude nursery rhyme which causes a great stir at school when it is overheard by her teacher. This immediately causes friction between him and his daughter-in-law. Ganpat wills his house to his son and all his money to his daughter. He says he does not need any wealth as he is very old and wants his son and daughter to take care of him and his wife. But however a great tragedy is out to befall him which will test him till the very end. William Shakespeare was a great English playwright specializing in tragedies like Hamlet/Romeo And Juliet/Julius Caesar and many others. This film can be compared to a Shakespearean tragedy and those of you who are of an emotional nature will be driven to tears by what befalls this Natsamrat. The film deals with a major topic not only in India but I feel all over the world. Our parents, who have given birth to us and have taken care of us till early adulthood, suffering all the hardships to make ends meet - should we abandon them in their old age? In American, children rarely live with their parents. The elderly are only seen living in their own homes or at an old age home/institution. The core of the Hindu family revolves around the whole family staying together. Lately, due to the great increase in cost of living and healthcare, due largely to the fact of world overpopulation, a single man of low income can't earn enough money to feel his parents and his children. Thus more and more cases in India and the rest of the world, of the youth abandoning their parents. I think its high time that society need to think about the care of the elderly. Other tragedy films Do Bigha Zamin(1953-this is the film I love the most), Anand (1971 film), Mili(1975), Prem Geet(1981). Thank you for reading my review, live long and prosper.

Now This is called a Movie and this is called acting. Nana patekar acted the same way as he describes how an actor should act in the movie. This is my first review for any movie and I am writing this only because of this movie. No Matter how many times you watch the movie Nana patekar can make you cry each and every time. And so is the Vikram Gokhale and remaining cast and crew of the movie. Each and every scene between Nana patekar and Vikram Gokhale is spell bounding especially the Mahabharata scene. And Last 30 min of the movie belongs only to Nana Patekar and no other actor from India currently can even touch it. Hats off!!!!!!!! Current generation need such movies to understand the essence of acting in the world of just Glamour and money.

What a splendid movie… After so many years such a drama full of all sort of emotions Anger, Fear, Joy, Jealousy, sorrow, grief, fear, hope, love, hate, cruelty, greed, frustration, disappointment, desire, curiosity, surprise, gratitude, sympathy what was not there…. Such a lovely drama opening all the threads of all possible worldly relations naively narrating in an eloquent manner. I don't know how many times in the middle of the movie i just wanted a pause to capture all of it into my soul. Every scene every dialogue was building it's own impact/impression or sense in the parallel world, even if u leave behind the whole story plot. Be it Karn and Krishna Sequence or the king lear one. Nana Patekar no words to his performance, you can clearly see how this great actor has worked throughout his life, It looks like he has lived his own life in this movie. Still now these words "To be or not to be" are resonating in my mind.

Just finished the movie and what an emotional ride it has been for me. Yet another brilliant master-piece of Marathi cinema that makes u feel the immense potential of Marathi film industry and people involved in it ! A much needed message for Indian youth abandoning their duties toward their parents which is displayed in a way that guarantees to fill your eyes with tears of harsh truth that our society is facing. Most of the movie we can relate but few scenes were a bit stretched still story- line full of rich vocabulary and dazzling performance of Nana makes u hold your seat for non-stop 165 minutes. Very Well directed,acted and moreover beautifully scripted its a 10 out of 10 and i wish it could reach out to bigger audience through out the country.

The words uttered by Ganpatrao in Natsamrat feels like a religious discourse, falling on ears like a soothing balm. It is after many a long years that dialogues with such finesse have been put up on the screen. They seem nothing less than those featured in plays Ganpatrao cherishes and brings to life on stage. Screenplay writers nowadays dumb down their content in a disquietude that the audience will not comprehend the gems of emotions they hide beneath the curtains called words. Here, the writing is intelligent treating the audience with the reverence it is often penurious of. A forlorn Ganpatrao asks in an address to the characters he religiously brought into life 'When will my grief be considered worthy as yours?' Nana Patekar rises to this very question and breathes fire into this character. There are rare times when an actor just draws you into a movie, when he rises above the movie itself and well, puts you in a state of limbo where you are divested from your physical abilities to move. You just stare and get amazed. I hate to say it because I believe staunchly that every actor has untapped potential beyond realization, but this is a career-defining performance by Nana. He can't rise above this unfortunately and it is an amalgamation of sadness and joy when I come to this realization. As to the movie itself, it is left miles behind in the inter space between it and Patekar's performance. It is ridden with the very clichés I had expected it to be free from the shackles of. The premise, although bases on a play by V.V.Shirwadkar, brings back memories of a much-superior Tokyo Story(or a much inferior Baghban as well), which forever immortalized the theme of the neglectful children-old parents through the mastery of the profound Ozu himself . While being a compelling character-study, Natsamrat is lagging behind on adapting itself to the familiarity of its concept to the audience. But, with Nana Patekar's visceral performance the movie is aeons ahead of what it could have been without him. It is Manjrekar's ode to the purity and greatness of theater and its dialogues which remain forever etched in the minds of the audience, and peering through that field of vision, it is a beautiful and heartfelt ode, a one which should be watched at least once. Patekar's performance embodies every emotion that actors strive to put up on screen through courses of their lifetimes, which in most cases unfortunately, bears not even a dint of success.

What a movie by Nana Patekar!! He is at his best. It feels like watching the sequel of the legendary movie Wajood. Love it!!

Reasonable production, setting and photography. Storyline of family dramatic events but ultimately not particularly fascinating. Good acting but pacing was a real challenge to sit through. Persevered to finish due to the high rating but ultimately had to finish it over 4 sittings. Not memorable unfortunately.

This is a screen adaptation of a famous play from the 70s and 80s of the same name. I haven't seen the play and cannot comment on the authenticity of the adaptation. This film is a story of a stage actor who after retirement finds it difficult to adjust living with his children. It's a very long film which seems overindulgent. The same story if told in half the time would have been more effective. The performances are good but it's way too long and tests your patience.

I don't have good knowledge of Marathi language. But on a friends recommendation I have watched this movie. Believe me my first question to him "How many times you cried while watching this movie?". I could not control my emotions and cried like a child. Each and every characters have strong role to play. Each part of movie is not to be missed. This is masterpiece.Thanks to Mahesh Manjrekar, Nana Patekar and all cast to pour liveliness in character. I must have missed some core Marathi words to understand but acting says it all. Movie will not allow you to get disturbed while you watching it. I don't have words as I am still in influence of movie while writing this review. IMDb please don't force to write 10 lines :). Thanks. Must watch it.