‘Mogra Phulaalaa’ Review: Swwapnil Joshi Shines As Mama’s Boy, But For How Long? – Trending On Amazon Prime

INDIA. Mumbai, Maharashtra. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the unlock phase surrounding negativity and fear, this Amazon Prime movie cast in the backdrop of traditional Marathi culture brings a refreshing breath to those who’ve lived in Maharashtra.

This film was originally released on 14 June 2019 and had received a 3-star review rating out of 5. However, the viewership on the mega screen had given the family entertainer a thumping 82% viewership.

With Swwapnil Joshi (playing Sunil Kulkarni), a Marathi Superstar in the lead with veteran actress Neena Kulkarni (Sunil’s mother) and a debutante co-actress Sai Deodhar (Shivangi Gupte) bring out the veracity of the film intended on the big screen, now featuring on Amazon Prime movies. 

In the film, Sunil is being portrayed as mama’s boy, and practically all decisions from deciding about selecting the stream of college education for him, to his scooter’s speed, and eventually, fixing his engagement with her choice of marital partner, is all done by his mother. He and his mother had met 38 girls for wedding-purpose, but none of the alliances worked because of petty issues.

He was a businessman who had embarked on a business proposition of selling software for bankers. But the bank to whom he’d sold the version of the indigenously made software, didn’t function because of which the Branch Manager faces embarrassment with his esteemed customers. 

Luckily, the bank calls the software developer. Sunil and his friend quickly fix the bug in the software as a result of which the customers get correct passbook entries.

An interesting turn of events takes place at the bank when he meets Shivangi Gupte, an Assistant Branch Manager in charge of operations. Shivangi had fed manual information under the wrong heads of accounts in the software and hence the banking system showed errors on passbook balances. It becomes evident that there were no mistakes from Sunil’s side, the vendor of the software. Shivangi feels embarrassed and regrets her mistake.

At this juncture, there is a page-turner. Mama’s boy, who is now well grown up begins a romantic relationship with Shivangi. 

What happens later is truly a melodramatic series of events, which happen often in a middle-class Maharashtrian family. The head of the family usually has all the say. Then, the introduction of a veteran director, Chandrakant Kulkarni (Madhya Kaka) adds a flavor to this emotional melodrama.

Read also Beloved Marathi Actor, Swapnil Joshi, Extends Reach into Horror Genre

Without more revelation, it would be enough to say that this film suits every middle-class society, where power is held emotionally and convincingly for several decades by possessive mothers.  

Apart from Marathi, the film has English and Hindi subtitles available on Amazon Prime Videos. With just 4 songs sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Bela Shende, Jasraj Joshi, and Rohit Shyam Raut, in an inimitable style, bhavageeth (emotion poetry) in ghazal style, is an excellent addition that brings out the essence of the film’s title.

Story and Direction: Shrabani Deodhar, Producers: Arjun Singh Baran, Kartik Nishandar. Genre: Drama, International.

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