Zapatlela 2

Zapatlela 2

Zapatlela 2 has been in news for many reasons now. Its predecessor being one of the most successful marathi movies in this genre. The actors of the original flick were lifeline of the movie. Dilip Prabhavalkar as Tatya Vinchu, his dressing his abstract voice over to the puppet, the inimitable Laxmikant Berde as Lakshya, Mahesh Kothare (in a typical role) as Inspector Mahesh Jadhav & not to forget the lead actor of the movie the Puppet as Tatya Vinchu (again). Apart from the acting the storyline was also strong. The sequel is in news for obvious reasons. It’s the first sequel, the first 3D film & the first movie by Viacom in Marathi. The first part being humongous hit the popularity of the characters is still at the peak. No doubt it is awarded as the most awaited Marathi movie of the year by marathimovieworld.com. So the movie is released with huge expectations, but does the movie live up to all the hype? The answer to this question is a BIG NO!!!

The movie starts off with a strong voice over of writer director Mahesh Kothare. He tells the viewers about the Mrutyunjay Mantra & Parkaya pravesh & asks a question that what will happen if it still continues in the 21st century? The memories of the first part automatically pull you to the edge of your seat. The opening scene is promising where Kubadya Khavis enters in to a museum using a master key. The bats flying out of the museum assure you that technically no stone will be left unturned throughout this journey of 2 hours. I must mention that the 3D effects are really very good. May it be the bats flying out of the museum’s main gate, may it be Baba Chamatkar pointing a piece of bone towards the viewers while chanting a mantra (it feels like the bats are flying towards you & the bone is just a few inches away from your nose). This is followed by an action sequence between Kubadya Khavis & Baba Chamatkar which in turn puts life in to the puppet & in comes Tatya Vinchu. People are so mesmerized by the character that the crowd goes berserk with claps & whistles to welcome the deadly villain even after 20 years. Tatya Vinchu tosses his eyebrows up, takes a slide down over a railing of the staircase & the peculiar voice over of Dilip Prabhavalkar fills in the theatre. The audience gear up to witness the heroics of Tatya as their favorite character makes its entry in style. The perfect start sets the expectations high but soon after this they realize that this one is more about an average story of a guy Aditya (Adinath Kothare) in a village called Shrirangapur than the heroics of Tatya. Aditya is late Lakshya’s son who has done his diploma in Mechanical engineering & is doing nothing. Two scenes are included (forcefully) to show that Aditya is an engineer which are too superficial. I mean common every mechanical engineer does not have to fix things (by merely replacing a bolt!!!) or keep his kit (spanners etc) on display in his bedroom. Being a son of famous ventriloquist Aditya too aspires acquiring the skill from another famous ventriloquist Makrand Vatvate played by Makarand Anaspure. Aditya’s interaction with Makrand is delayed because of the comedy of errors, the scenes intended for which are not funny at all. The movie keeps crawling at a snail’s pace with no Tatya on screen & Aditya’s meaningless romantic scenes with Megha (Sonalee Kulkarni Jr.) & the so called comic sequences with Phokshya (Deepak Shirke). Audience keep waiting for Tatya to do something on screen & console themselves helplessly, this only leads to more & more disappointment. I too was praying that the movie will pick up, will offer some thrill & I won’t be leaving the theatre in disappointment, unfortunately which didn’t work. Finally Tatya meets Aditya after whole lot of meaningless stuff & as expected the movie ends with the victory of Good over Evil. The climax is also too dramatic & fails to pull the audience to the edge of their seats, instead they keep waiting for the movie to get over.

Adinath Kothare has not done a justice to his pivotal role, he looks good but acts bad. Many a times his expressions come out of over acting. Audience can’t help missing Lakshya while watching Adinath Kothare’s Aditya. Mahesh Kothare with his signature dialogue (Damn it) has done a good job. Sonalee is average, Makarand Anaspure has disappointed his fans a big time. Sai Tamhankar in her small stint looks beautiful; Vijay Chavan is good in a cameo. Madhu Kambikar’s acting is too loud for the viewers to continue watching her for more than a minute, you feel like running out of the theatre every time she starts yelling in her shrill voice. The character for which people go in to the theatre (our own Tatya Vinchu) has a negligible footage & hence even after seeing a technically superb film you keep wondering why is this one made in 3D? The only thing for which the movie gets thumbs up is the use of 3D technique.

The script, plot, acting, direction everything is childish yet is not for the kids. Mahesh Kothare we really didn’t want our first 3D, first sequel to be so disappointing.

One word for the movie: DISAPPOINTING

Rating: 1½*

PS: The head of Tatya Vinchu is still missing which hints addition of another part. I hope the writer, director will take a lesson from this one & will not let the fans down the next time.