Let me add my review for the first thing that everyone else is criticizing:
SCRIPT: The script was well written. It is a heavy and serious movie because the topic itself is a heavy one. The dialogues are strong and punchy. No scenes are shown with over-emotion or too much focus. For example, if there's a blast happening then the blast is shown in slow motion and the story moves on. This is a very unique and great way of showing stories!
ACTING: Nawazuddin has carried this role fantastically! He stands with poise, he delivers dialogues coolly, and the best aspects I liked were his pauses. Nawazuddin has this way of carrying out pauses naturally and his natural cool persona suits the script very well. Great job done!
CAMERA SHOTS/SCENES: The movie is quite visually pleasing. The first half was shot in black and white while the second half was in color. The sets were beautifully created and it takes you to a different era successfully.
THE MAIN CHARACTER: This is the part where I didn't like the film. Whenever Thackeray commits an atrocity, it is shown in just a single scene. There have been thousands brutally murdered by him and that is shown in a flash.
Marathis deserve respect, as does any other race or religion. No race should be made fun of in the common media. According to this movie, Marathis weren't respected because they weren't doing much more than setting up tea stalls while "outsiders" were creating companies, and doing a lot of big work. This led to a bunch of jokes on Marathis.
Bal took this to heart and tried to get Marathis the respect that they deserve - by killing off other religions and races. He polarized the whole mass of Marathas against "outsiders". Although he verbally says "I have my nation first and my Maharashtra second" his actions show the exact opposite.
In the process of murdering people who were just doing their jobs and forcing them to create reservation for Marathis, in the process of using his goons to kill off other religions, to force them to celebrate Marathi festivals, Bal Thackeray became the very monster that he started the fight with. In his process of "winning respect for Marathas", he crumpled over several fundamental rights of several other races.
The only reason that I wouldn't give this movie a 10 star, is because it portrays Thackeray in a neutral aspect rather than monster that he was. Even today, the the racial divide that he did in Maharashtra still polarizes the masses and non-Marathas face disrespect, harassment and bullying in their day-to-day lives.
