Just like music, taste for films is different for everyone. Some people find  relief in comedy, some of them love romcoms. Crime thrillers catch the fancy of a few while some gravitate towards films with social cause or message. That’s why the single list of “Best Movies” will always be contested. Even this list will be challenged by my fellow film enthusiasts or film lovers. However, If you want to know what I think about Modern Marathi Films, these 5 are the best bets to pick. 

My top picks for Marathi Films that you shouldn’t miss

Every Marathi movie fan will pick 1988 classic Ashi Hi Banawa Banawi in the top movie lists. There are few modern entries which are obvious to the list like Sairat, Dhurala, Farjand etc. However, they are not in the list. One point in not picking them is that they already have their fame and fans. These are a few movies which I think should also get their fair share of fame out of Marathi hearts. This list is not the ranking like most to least favorite. आप इनकी क्रोनॉलॉजी समझीये!

Checkmate (2008)

2008 Marathi crime thriller directed by Sanjay Jadhav which follows a bunch of young guys who lose millions in a gamble to make easy money in a ponzi scheme. Film tells us the story of their attempts to recover the lost money by tracking and manipulating the mastermind behind the scheme with their intelligence. For me, this film actually marked the change in Marathi films by bringing them out from the run of a mill commercial comedy film-making trend. Go to Zee5 to watch this pathbreaking film.

Harishchandrachi Factory (2009)

Paresh Mokashi, a wonderful director, decided to make a film about the father of Indian Cinema and created this amazing film. Later it became the official entry of India for the Academy Awards of that year. Film narrates a story of a journey of Dadasaheb Phalke from him discovering the cinema tent to producing India’s first feature film. Knowing about the new industry, getting knowledge of techniques and equipment to make a film, struggles to put together a team of actors and technicians are portrayed in the film so beautifully in a humorous way. I simply love this film. You can watch it on Netflix now.

Narbachi Wadi (2013)

Adapted from a Bengali short story, Manoj Mitra’s “Chajjano Bagan”, Aditya Sarpotdar directed Narbachi Wadi. This funny story is all about generations of landlords trying to grab a piece of land from Narba. Landlord has gifted this land to Narba’s father for saving a landlord’s life. It takes you to the beautiful coastal land of Konkan. Dilip Prabhavalkar’s Narba and Manoj Joshi’s portrayal of landlor Story is full of the quirks of the land.

Happy Journey (2014)

Happy journey is a story of Niranjan and Janaki, a brother and sister duo. Niranjan is a very dry person, practical, detached from a family who is working in gulf. However he meets a spirit of his sister who has hardly seen him when she was alive. Both of them take this journey to rekindle their bond in a very unique way. I simply love the movie because of it’s cinematography in Goa, choice of colour pallets for different characters and songs from the film. One thing which always remains with you is “Happy Journey” the van which they revive for the journey from its scrappy slumber. Amazon Prime is streaming this one.

Faster Fene (2017)

Faster Fene is a legendary character created by B. R. Bhagwat who is always wandering around to solve the mysteries and do adventures around. Aditya Sarpotdar brought this character to today’s world through this 2017 film. The publicity campaign was unique in itself just like a film. In this film he tries to solve the muder mystery. He gets involved in this scene when he comes to Pune for a medical entrance exam. Amey Wagh has built the character of Faster Fene superbly. It stands strongly against the powerful villain portrayed by Girish Kulkarni. You guys can watch this murder mystery on Zee5.