Happy Birthday Dr Mohan Agashe: Five Must watch Marathi movies of the veteran actor

A Jabbar Patel directorial, this thriller-drama starred Mohan Agashe, Nilu Phule, Shriram Lagoo, Smita Patil and Vilas Rakate. This film was selected for the 25th Berlin Film Festival. 'Samna' brought to light the politics of rural Maharashtra. Maruti Kamble (Mohan Agashe) is a soldier who is back home from battle and challenges Dhonde Patil politician for his exploitative practices and after this, he suddenly disappears, what happens after this is worth watching. The performances and sharpness of dialogues by each character in the film deserves thumbs up. It thus became a landmark film of the Marathi film industry.

Dr Jabbar Patel’s 'Sinhasan', written by Vijay Tendulkar, is one of the sharpest political dramas in Indian cinema and is based on two novels by journalist Arun Sadhu. It starred Nilu Phule, Arun Sarnaik, Shriram Lagoo, Mohan Agashe, Reema Lagoo, Nana Patekar, Usha Nadkarni and others. The plot shows Maharashtra's political corruption and its effects on the common man. Mohan Agashe, as MLA Bhudhaji has done complete justice to the role. The film is in Black and White yet wonderfully shows all shades of colours of Indian Politics and the society.

'Valu', a Umesh Kulkarni directorial, starred Atul Kulkarni, Mohan Agashe, Bharathi Acharekar, Girish Kulkarni, Veena Jamkar, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Nirmitee Sawant, Nandu Madhav and Renuka Daftardar. 'Valu- the wild bull’ cherishes audiences with genuine and true humour. This black comedy was an all-time hit. The characters did a justice to the roles played and were adorned with praises by the audiences. It has successfully presented suppression of a common man. This film has already been presented in various international film festivals.

'Astu- So Be It', directed Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Suktankar, starred Mohan Agashe, Iravati Harshe, Milind Soman and Amruta Subhash in lead roles. The story revolved around Dr Shastri aka Appa (Mohan Agashe). He is highly respected for his wisdom and deep knowledge about the Vedas and is suffering from Alzheimer. The film captures an old man in decline, degenerating physically. It’s about his gradual fading away. But the twin fulcrums of the film are Mohan Agashe strong one minute, childlike the next. It is Mohan Agashe’s acting that helps the film to rise at such a level. He is simply outstanding in a role and can be hugely challenging for any actor. Thus, this super hit film deserves a watch.

National Award winning 'Kaasav' is directed by Sunil Sukthankar and Sumitra Bhave and starred Irawati Harshe, Kishor Kadam, Alok Rajawade and Dr Mohan Agashe. The film is about the depression, its effects and how to overcome it. Janaki (Irawati Harshe) on her way to Konkan finds a young boy, Manav (Rajwade) who is running a high fever has ran away from the hospital to commit suicide and she takes him home along with her for his treatment. The film subtly shows how one gets into depression and what kind of help and care is needed to get him out of it. Dattabhau's (Dr Agashe) experience with life, all point of views help solve the riddle of life. Dr Agashe's role is very fine and amazing. This movie is truly a masterpiece and deserves a watch.