Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi
Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi (translation: This Is Being Street-Smart) is a 1988 Indian Marathi-language comedy film directed by Sachin Pilgaonkar and produced by Kiran Shantaram. Released in Maharashtra on 23 September 1988 and now considered to be a cult film in Marathi cinema, the film stars Ashok Saraf, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Laxmikant Berde and Siddharth Ray opposite Ashwini Bhave, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Priya Arun Berde and Nivedita Joshi Saraf along with Nayantara, Viju Khote and Sudhir Joshi in supporting roles.[1] The film revolves around four friends who are searching for rented accommodation when a landlady insists only on married couples, so two of the friends are forced to dress as women and pretend to be the wives of the other two. The film borrows the basic plot from the Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Biwi Aur Makan (1966) which was based on the Bengali film Joy Maa Kali Boarding,[2] and was remade in Kannada as Olu Saar Bari Olu (2003), in Hindi as Paying Guests (2009), in Punjabi as Mr & Mrs 420 (2014) and in Bengali as Jio Pagla (2017).[3] The film was also an inspiration for the 1991 Telugu film Chitram Bhalare Vichitram which was remade in Kannada as Bombat Hendthi (1992) and in Tamil as Aanazhagan (1995).
| Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Sachin Pilgaonkar |
| Produced by | Kiran Shantaram |
| Written by | Vasant Sabnis |
| Starring | |
Production company | V. Shantaram Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 156 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Marathi |
| Box office | ₹3 crore |
Plot
Dhananjay Mane (Ashok Saraf) is a street-smart salesman in a cosmetics store in Pune and is in love with his employer Madhuri (Ashwini Bhave). He is the tenant of a stingy landlord named Mr. Vishwas Sarpotdar (Sudhir Joshi) and is soon joined by his younger brother Shantanu (Siddharth Ray), who is a medical student. Though prohibited by Mr. Sarpotdar, Dhananjay and Shantanu allow their Kolhapur-based childhood friends Sudhir (Sachin Pilgaonkar) and Parshuram (Laxmikant Berde), also known as Parshya, to secretly live with them as they both have come to Pune in search of jobs. Sudhir has been kicked out by his abusive uncle (Suhas Bhalekar) where he also worked to earn money and pay for his singing classes. Meanwhile, Parshya has been kicked out by his employer Chhaburao (Jairam Kulkarni), a drama contractor, because he finds out that Parshya is in love with his daughter Kamli (Priya Arun Berde). One midnight, Dhananjay, Sudhir and Parshya insult Mr. Sarpotdar in a drunken state and are taken away from his house by Shantanu who arrives at the scene a little late. Enraged by his harassment, Mr. Sarpotdar orders the four friends to vacate the place within four days.
After several unsuccessful attempts in finding rented accommodation, Dhananjay and Shantanu finally come across the palatial house of a rich, old, kind and cataractic widow named Leelabai Kalbhor (Nayantara), who lives with her shrewd domestic worker Tanu (Gulab Korgaonkar) and is often harassed by her estranged nephew Bali (Viju Khote) for her money. She is willing to rent some rooms at her house provided that her tenants are married couples. In order to comply with Leelabai's condition, Dhananjay and Shantanu have no other option but to force Sudhir and Parshya to dress as women and thus begins the comedy of errors; Parshya shaves off his moustache and transforms himself into "Parvati", Dhananjay's wife, while Sudhir transforms himself into "Sudha", Shantanu's wife. Shortly after the arrival of the four friends at Leelabai's residence as married couples, Leelabai's niece Manisha (Supriya Pilgaonkar) and her childhood friend Sushma (Nivedita Joshi Saraf), who is also coincidentally Shantanu's girlfriend from Miraj, come to stay with Leelabai for some months.
Sudhir, now a successful singer and music educator, falls in love with Manisha and courts her in his original form, stating that he is the twin brother of Sudha and that he is disappointed with her marriage with Shantanu and is thus not on talking terms with both Sudha and Shantanu. On the other hand, Shantanu, having passed to become a successful doctor, cooks up a fake story of the deadly stomach cancer of Sudha in front of Sushma as she is deeply upset at his betrayal with her and his marriage with Sudha. Elsewhere, Parshya reunites with Kamli when she comes to Pune with Chhaburao's drama troupe and also shares the news of Parshya having become a successful playwright back in Kolhapur. Meanwhile, Madhuri is heartbroken to see Dhananjay married with Parvati during her visit at Leelabai's residence, but Dhananjay confides the truth in Madhuri through a letter and the two eventually confess their love for each other.
While the four friends develop a bond of motherly love with Leelabai, Tanu confides in Bali the truth about Parvati and Sudha's true identities after she notices Parshya's wig and Sudhir wearing earrings while jumping out from the window in his original form. Eventually, the four friends decide to leave Leelabai's house after finding a new accommodation with the help of Madhuri, but on their way out, they all are fatefully exposed by Bali in front of Leelabai, Manisha and Sushma and are handed over to the police called in by Tanu. However, at the police station, Leelabai surprisingly disowns Bali as her nephew and absolves the four friends of their deception instead because she genuinely feels that the four friends staged the drama out of their desperate need for a roof over their heads and that their intention was not to steal from her or take advantage of her cataract and that they treated her only like their own mother if anything. Hence, Leelabai decides to take them all in as her own sons with the marriages of Dhananjay, Sudhir, Parshya and Shantanu with Madhuri, Manisha, Kamli and Sushma, respectively. The film ends with the all four newlywed couples taking a family photograph along with Leelabai.
Cast
- Ashok Saraf as Dhananjay Mane
- Sachin Pilgaonkar as Sudhir / Sudha (fake)
- Laxmikant Berde as Parshuram (Parshya) / Parvati (fake)
- Siddharth Ray as Shantanu Mane
- Ashwini Bhave as Madhuri
- Supriya Pilgaonkar as Manisha
- Priya Arun Berde as Kamli
- Nivedita Joshi Saraf as Sushma
- Nayantara as Leelabai Kalbhor (landlady)
- Viju Khote as Bali Kalbhor (Leelabai's estranged nephew)
- Sudhir Joshi as Mr. Vishwas Sarpotdar (landlord)
- Lata Thatte as Mrs. Vishwas Sarpotdar (Mr. Sarpotdar's wife)
- Gulab Korgaonkar as Tanu (Leelabai's shrewd domestic worker)
- Jairam Kulkarni as Chhaburao (Kamli's father)
- Suhas Bhalekar as Sudhir's uncle
- Bipin Varti as Police Inspector
- Madhu Apte as Sudhir's visitor
Soundtrack
The lyrics were penned by Shantaram Nandgaonkar and Sudhir Moghe. Well known Marathi song Hridayi Vasant Phulta Na was sung by Anuradha Paudwal, Suresh Wadkar, Sudesh Bhosale, Uttara Kelkar, Shailendra Singh, Amit Kumar, Suhasini, Aparna Mayekar, and Sachin Pilgaonkar.