Swargandharv Sudhir Phadke

Watched it on the first day as a movie is about Babuji. I want to mention one thing here. If you are a devotee of Babuji or if you want to feel the nostalgia of that era, then do dare to watch this movie. Because if you go to evaluate the movie even a little, you will be disappointed. Good about the movie: 1. Music: What to say about Babuji's music? . Babuji's original voice along with newly recorded instrumental music or background music is very well used in the movie. So it doesn't feel like you're listening to old records.

2. Friendship of Babuji and Ga Di Ma: This is another pleasant side of the movie.

3. Not taking unreasonable cinematic liberties is also a plus point Now let's move on to whats bad: 1. Story: Making a film on a man so big and whose life is so full of drama, the story should be overwhelming. However, the story of this movie is not even acceptable. Very convoluted and simple plot.

2. Flawed Screenplay: This screenplay is an example of how not to write a screenplay. In some cases, there is no advance or hindrance.

3. Poor acting: People act better in school plays than this.

4. General Dialogue: Here in 1-2 instances young Sudhir Phadke speaks very impure Marathi (Me Gelelo .. etc ) We all know how conscious Sudhir Phadke was about language. In general the dialogue writing is also bad.

5. Wrong Casting: The actor who played Prabhakar Jog's character looks closer to Sudhir Phadke in real life. Sunil Barve does not look like babuji at all. The actor who plays Tarun Sudhir Phadke is very chubby. And in some cases (Sudhir, you have become thin from starvation), there is no time to laugh or cry while listening to dialogues like this. Characters like Kishore Kumar, Rafi, Ashok Ranade etc. Seem like clowns.

6. Makeup: How did Sunil Barve's hair stay intact till the end? Babuji had lost a lot. Also the makeup team has failed to show Sudhir Phadke leaning from youth to old age. Babasaheb Purandare is clean bearded in one scene, and shows a thick beard in the next scene. Well, this incident is for one night.

Anyway, I don't see such a good subject waiting so long.

Unlike typical biography, the movie has good storyline. The cast selection resembling the actual real-life characters is amazing. Usually Makeup and dressing are given less importance. But the movie has performed exceedingly well on those aspects. Though for Sudhirji's fans all of his songs are great, but what is extra-ordinary is selecting a song appropriate for the situation in the story. All credit goes to the producer and director.

It has covered all aspects of his life - his struggle at the young age, his principles, honesty, patriotism, popularity of his GeetRamayan and freedom struggles. It has compounded the respect for him!!

I really enjoyed this nostalgic trip down the memory lane, especially the part that showcases the the partnership between the duo, Sudhir Phadke the great composer/singer and G. D. Madgulkar, the prolific lyricist.

The movie does great justice to the super melodious creations of this composer by including them in original with much improved sound. In the surround sound system of the movie theater, the songs alone are enough to make this show thoroughly enjoyable.

What I didn't like was the lengthy depiction of Babuji's initial struggle days, and the unnecessary inclusion of the part related his participation in some freedom fight. As a result, the movie became too long. After all, if the makers gave it a title of Swargandharv, they should have kept those things out of the movie.

Other than that, all the anecdotes related to G. D. Madgulkar and the early days of other famous singers and personalities were quite interesting. The performances by all the main characters were great and helped relive the nostalgia.

Another thing that I didn't like was the fact that the talents of his wife were underplayed even though she was also a non-trivial artist before marriage and sacrificed her fame for the family. On the same lines, although it was interesting to know that young Mohammed Rafi actually sang mangalashtak on their wedding, the script failed to mention or stress the fact that Rafi participated as a friend of the bride and not of Sudhir Phadke. I found this out later when I searched the web to verify the authenticity of this interesting anecdote of Rafi singing Mangalashtak.

All in all, I would like to watch the movie again some time and that really tells how much I liked it.

The movie involves too many flashbacks so it doesn't seem like a smooth narration.

The story moves too fast in some places. For example, it is not clear why the young protagonist faces financial hardships though he is the son of a well-to-do professional. At another place, the protagonist is charged with stealing bread but this very short episode is left unresolved.

Mr. Sudhir Phadke was involved in the creation of many extremely popular Marathi songs, but very few are touched upon in this movie. This is a big shortcoming of the movie. His involvement in the India Heritage Foundation could have been shown in detail.

Apart from being seemingly jerky and incomplete, this biographical movie is entertaining to watch. All the actors have done their job well. The filmmakers have taken a lot of effort to recreate the scenes of the period.

This movie is a great musical nostalgic experience.

Babuji and his hardships to get recognized as an established composer and singer is aptly portrayed.

Please do watch this movie.

Especially post reading his autobiography you can relate the movie much more. ( Autobiography- Jagachya pathiwar)

The dedication and struggle for almost 25+ years leads to Babujis entry in composing for marathi movies.

The relations are very nicely put by the director.

The Friendship of Ga Di Madgulkar and Babuji is shown in a great manner.

A treat for those who have experienced Babujis live singing and on records too.

A must watch !