Yek Number Movie Review
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Plot: Pratap, a small time ambitious young gun, finds himself in an unusual challenge to win the love of his life, Pinky. Raj Thackeray indirectly becomes the catalyst in his quest.
Runtime: 140 Minutes
Director: Rajesh Mapuskar
Music: Ajay Atul
Cast: Dhairya Gholap, Sayli Patil, Pushkar Shrotri, Tejaswini Pandit
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Yek Number Marathi Movie Review.
About The Film:
I believe Cinema is the direct door to the masses, and The Maharashtra politics is leaving no stone unturned to keep knocking on this door, awaiting elections. This film is like a reply to last month’s similar release. Yek Number is a political thriller drama directed by Rajesh Mapuskar.
Yek Number became a meme sensation as soon as the trailer dropped. It then gained more popularity with the release of item number featuring Malaika Arora. The strong socio-political context and the heavy influence of the MNS leader Raj Thackeray have been major factors contributing to the hype of the film. The film also marks the debut of the newly formed producer duo, Tejaswini Pandit and Warda Khan Nadiadwala.
Plot Overview:
The film starts with Pinky (Sayli Patil) introducing the audience to her village in a quirky voiceover. She also introduces Pratap Sheth (Dhairya Gholap), a small-time young gun who has declared himself as the upcoming MLA. But due to his own irresponsibility, he fails to win the hearts and respect of the villagers.
Stuck between all of this socio-political drama, is his innocent and undying love for Pinky. He swears to do anything for her. Tired of his tries, Pinky sets an unusual condition for marriage. Pinky demands Pratap to get her political idol Raj Thackeray to visit the village. This gives Pratap a reason to visit Mumbai and get exposed to the real politics.
Pratap is unable to reach Raj Thackeray but gets himself involved in a situation, ending up in grave danger. Will he be able to escape and win Pinky over or will this be the end of his personal and political dreams? And is this how the film moves forward?
Technical Aspects:
Rajesh Mapuskar, known for the Marathi superhit film Ventilator, is back on the big screen after 8 years. But unfortunately, this wouldn’t be an outing he would want to be remembered for. He definitely manages to balance the deep political narrative along with some thriller drama. But loses his footing when it comes to driving the plot forward. The use of flashbacks becomes a gimmick after a point. It’s not easy to draw a line between a marketing campaign and a work of fiction, but Mapuskar sort of works it out.
The cinematography is decent. It manages to capture both the rural and urban tones quite well. The music by Ajay Atul is disappointing. The saving grace might be the item number featuring Malaika Arora. The production design and the overall production value look very heavy and high budget.
Performances:
Dhairya Gholap as the disoriented youth Pratap, manages to pull off a decent performance. Tejaswini Pandit doesn’t have much of an impact, and so does Sayli Patil. Other cameos from some veterans go unnoticed and bring no real value for their screen time.
Overall Verdict:
Yek Number is dominated by the Raj Thackeray narrative and forgets the original story somehow. The film tries to tackle real world political issues through socially relevant themes instead of using conventional narrative. The films daring exploration of political power dynamics, personal ambition, and public image is noteworthy. But all of it comes at the price of advertising the leader and his party, which at point gets too preachy and direct.
Yek Number is bold enough to be an open political marketing campaign for Raj Thackeray. But still takes its own sweet time to establish the plot, stretching it too long. This is a seeti maar film to Raj Thackeray fans but not as much for the rest of us.
