Well, we all know that there was a time when Underworld almost ruled Mumbai and
that enabled the terrorists to strike the dream city during early 1993. But,
after that many underworld dons have gone underground, some of them killed in
rival gang firing, while others were killed in Police encounters. New Marathi
film 'Matter' throws light on such underworld operations in Mumbai during that
period and how they influenced the unemployed youth, who were either in remand
homes or jail.
Director Satish Motling presents four young friends Pakya, Babya, Raja and Rony
( played by
Santosh Juvekar,
Jitendra Joshi, Sushant Shelar and
Rajesh
Shringarpure) and the happenings in their individual life, through his film
'Matter', which is an action packed drama on the backdrop of corrupt politicians
and their nexus with the underworld. The image of Police is however shown clean,
but it is shown that even they play their tricks when the time comes to
eliminate the most corrupt politician and the underworld dons, with a slogan
'Mumbai Saaf toh Sau Gunhe Maaf'.
So, you find a ATS Chief Vikramm Pradhan (Sameer Dharmadhikari) doing this
thankless job to achieve his motto. Sulbhatai (Usha Nadkarni) who is in power
in the state uses both the underworld gangs for her own benefit. So, the ATS
chief implements his plans after the death of his superior. But, even if you cut
the roots, there is no complete end to crime. The operators, who are lucky to
escape, take shelter in some other country to operate their business in Mumbai.
There is a character of Maxi (Minal Ghorpade), a girl living in a chawl, in
silent love with Babya. In most of the scenes, she keeps on giving the same
smile and looks to her favorite boy and suddenly reacts, when he admits his
love. Having known his background, she finally marries Babya, much against the
wish of her parents.
Pakya (Santiosh Juvekar), falls in love with ATS chief's sister (Yogini Chouk),
when he saves her life from the custody of his Don, as she is picked
up on mistaken identity. Rony (Rajesh Shrigarpure) is in love with a bar dancer (Megha Dhade) and Raja (Sushant
Shelar) who is offered shelter by a woman, active
in gambling business (Surekha Kudachi) is shown more focused on his work and is
self centred. He is shown as the most shrewd gangster, who gets his reward at
the end.
Sushant Shelar for the first time has a prominent role. Till now, in spite of
being a talented actor, he never had an opportunity to prove his mettle. But,
this film would certainly fetch him better roles in films. The other three
heroes - Rajesh Shrigarpure, Jitendra Joshi and Santosh Juvekar are at their
best, but there are no suitable dialogues offered to them to create greater
impact. Pakya utters the same slang on more than a dozen occasions. The villain
Bala instead of uttering much, keeps on tilting his neck to make the cracking
sound repeatedly. The conversation among the four friends does not create the
desired effect, as it should have been otherwise. However, Usha Nadkarni in her
own style has tried to make her presence felt, as a selfish politician. Sameer
Dharmadhikari is good, but he doesn't have much scope.
In the film, the female characters do not have much of importance, being a male
dominated film. However, Yogini Chouk and Megha Dhade have tried to give their
best through those few scenes to their credit. There are few other artistes like
Javed Hyder, Anita Vishwasrao, Digvijay Rohidas, Ashok Kulkarni, Mahesh Kokate,
Narayan Jadhav, Deepak Vetkar and Jitendra Awhad playing different characters.
There is no doubt about the excellent cinematography by the director himself;
but, the more than required songs on the same item style, diverts the attention
of the audience from the ongoing screenplay. Some of the scenes have been
unnecessarily extended, like the gang wars, the wedding scene of Maxi, the
police torture and those slow motion effects used on few occasions.
'Matter' is otherwise a true presentation of facts about the happenings in the
lives of people associated with the underworld and corrupt practices. At the end
of the film, the sensible audience is convinced that the director hasn't
glorified the underworld, like the way Bollywood films do. He has been realistic
in his approach, barring few scenes. 'Matter' can be called an action film,
filled with violence and rough language; and those who love to watch such films,
shouldn't miss it. For others, it is just another film on gangsters in Mumbai
and their lifestyle.
