Tanhaji-The Unsung Warrior

Directed by: Om Raut Produced by : Ajay Devgn, Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar Written by: Prakash Kapadia (dialogue) Screenplay by: Prakash Kapadia and Om Raut Story by: Prakash Kapadia and Om Raut Starring: Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, Jagapathi Babu, Sharad Kelkar Music by Songs: Ajay-Atul, Sachet–Parampara, Mehul Vyas Score: Sandeep Shirodkar Cinematography: Keiko Nakahara Edited by: Dharmendra Sharma Production company: Ajay Devgn FFilms, T-Series Distributed by: AA Films Running time:  131 minutes Release date: 10 January 2020

Premise: In the late 17th century, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb declares strategic hill fortress Kondhana as the capital of Southern India from which he planned to expand Mughal empire into South India. However, The Maratha Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj orders his General Tanaji Malusare to capture Kondhana at any cost to protect Southern India from Mughal invasion, while the Mughal emperor sends his trusted commander Uday Bhan to defend the fortress, thus leading to a battle between the two armies for control of the fortress. The Battle is known as the Battle of Sinhagad which decided the fate of Southern India.

Know more about the captain of the Ship, the director:
Om Raut is an Indian film director, writer & producer. He is best known for directing critically and commercially successful film Lokmanya: Ek Yug Purush (2015), which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director.The film starred highly acclaimed Marathi star Subodh Bhave. Om Raut has also produced films like City of Gold (2010 film) and Haunted – 3D, which was India’s first stereoscopic 3D film.

Om was born in Mumbai and raised in Mumbai & New York. His mother, Neena Raut is a National Award winner film and TV producer, and his father, Bharatkumar Raut, is a senior journalist, well-known author, and a successful member of The Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha). His grandfather J.S. Bandekar (1925-2017) was a renowned documentary film maker and editor, who has won several National Awards as well as acclaims and mentions at the Cannes Film Festival.

Om has worked as a child actor in a number of theater plays and ad films. He made his feature film acting debut with the lead role in Karamati Coat (1993). The film was loved by audience from across the globe and won various accolades in number of film festivals.

My Gut Feel (MGF) and comments:
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.— Sun Tzu

Battle of Sinhagad on which the Movie Tanhaji is based was fought and won strategically. So above quote holds true where it’s always imperative that courage should backed by apt planning and impactful execution. Creative team released two trailer of this movie and both are superb.  Off late we already seen good historic movies like bajirao mastani and padmavati so after watching the trailer of Tanhaji, few aspects seems reparative where creative team to be honest can’t do much. Prakash Kapadia the dialogue writer and co screenplay writer was associated with Padmaavat and Bajirao Mastani as writer and with Tanhaji it seems he have done good work as well. In a way Tanhaji is Ajay Devgn’s dream project and he has done well by bringing the intelligent creative team,  Om Raut the director, Prakash Kapadia the writer and Keiko Nakahara the cinematographer under one roof which resulted in an exciting final product. Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali khan and Kajol, all three specifically looking impressive in the trailer. Screen time of this movie is just over two hours which is good as this kind of work should be fast paced which goes in the favor of the movie. Budget of Tanhaji is 150 crore and movie is releasing with much awaited Chhapaak , still I am confident that Tanhaji would do good numbers.

Going by My Gut Feeling (MGF), I am giving this movie 3.5 stars out of 5 one weeks before the release. 3 stars for the story, screenplay and performances. An additional point five star for its visual effects.