Bhonsle (2018) User Reviews

Watch it purely for Manoj Bajpayee's brilliance!

[nidhunmoviebuff · 7/10 · 26 June 2020]

#MovieReview #Bhonsle #ManojBajpayee #Hindi #SonyLiv #SpoilerFree

It is truly criminal that this tour de force performance from one of India's finest actors, Manoj Bajpayee took two years after its initial release in 2018 to get aired on OTT. It just goes to show the actor's sheer ability that even with minimal dialogues, Bajpayee manages to tell us a spellbinding story of anguish, loss and sorrow with his impeccable mannerisms and body language.

Santosh Javekar and Ipshita Chakraborty are also terrific in their side roles, ably complementing what is at its core, a pure Manoj Bajpayee show.

In Ganpat Bhonsle, Bajpayee has found a character that makes great use of his immense acting range, perfectly portraying the broken life of an unmarried, lonely police officer post-retirement. Bhonsle requires a patient watch due to its slow narration, but leaves you satisfied in the end purely due to the actor's gravitas in each scene.

Strictly for Bajpayee fans this one!

Real Masterpiece 👌🏻

[jprashant00 · 8/10 · 28 June 2020]

Makhija again did overwhelming job with his dark mind starting from opening showcase of movie Ganeshji getting ready for festival and on the other hand Bhonsle stripped offs his uniform as he is reluctantly ordered to retire shows the contrast between celebrations during Ganesh Chaturthi and the disquietude that exists in character Bhonsle till climax which is shot in bathroom with great cinematographic excellence. Most of the film is shot in Chawl of Mumbai which is raw and real actually creates the isolate experience while watching. Bajpayee's powerful performance with minimal dialogues is just beyond his talent and rest of the cast too did extremely well job. Movie uplifts the dark issue of migrants in Maharashtra without any extraneous drama.

A cinematic experience !! Not for commercial audience

[subhasshnayak · 7/10 · 29 June 2020]

A cinematic masterpiece !! Manoj at its best and Rahul juvekar shines after sacred games ..... A bit slow but can be overlooked coz of a cinema canvassing. Such movies are loved by all cinema lovers. Gr8 experience

Negative Reviews, Positive Reviews

[murthysaphr · 26 June 2020]

Bhonsle is a commendable piece of art and it rightfully portrays the message. However, if you genuinely don't like art films or you just can't bear slow paced cinema, this is definitely not your cup of tea.

The film definitely holds its flaws but it also raises a few questions which seems to hold no answers. A few scenes invoke an imbalance in the film and ruins the chemistry with the audience forcing you to skip. But, sitting through those flaws is completely worth it.

The film is a commendable piece of art and it rightfully portrays the message. However, if you genuinely don't like art films or you just can't bear slow paced cinema, this is definitely not your cup of tea. But, for a change you could definitely try to make an exception for a unique film.

Good movie best of luck

[dy38493 · 7/10 · 26 June 2020]

Good movie to watch for especially the great acting from manoj bajpayee the movie tells the story of migrants and ask us that who is migrants.

Desi Gran Torino

[bkvora · 7/10 · 21 January 2022]

A slow movie but very good acting by Manoj Bajpayee. The Marathi North Indian dispute in Mumbai has been depicted well. Somewhere after 30 mins into the movie I got the impression of watching the desi Version of Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. Both movies also end in the same way.

Hats off Manoj Bajpayee (10* by debojyoti)

[debojyotichakraborty-24116 · 10/10 · 25 June 2020]

Manoj Bajpayee is a living acting school.I am speechless seeing his performance in Bhonsle.movement, body language,stillness,timing, control,facial expression,eye contact, listening, expression of mood,interaction with other performers all are perfect.Hats off.🙏🙏

A slow paced gripper.

[yogeshevolution · 7/10 · 27 June 2020]

The movie is a reality check with slow paced gripping performances by manoj bajpayee and santosh juvekar. The basic reality of human being as human not as bihari or maharashtrian or anything else is coveyed beautifully.A good watch.

Watch This For MANOJ BAJPAYEE.

[MandalBros-5 · 9/10 · 29 June 2020]

Be it any character Manoj Bajpayee pull off the role with perfection. Santosh Juvekar and Ipshita Chakraborty are also very good in the film. This is a very slow pace movie, that's why may be very few amount of people will watch it. This movie will remind you of 2016 short film Taandav in some moments. This type of movie need to be cherished by all.

Available on Sony LIV.

© MandalBros.

Manoj Bajpayee rocks in a dark disturbing arty movie

[nadkarnisumeet · 6/10 · 27 June 2020]

Bhonsle review :

First things first; if you are looking for typical Bollywood entertainment here, Bhonsle will probably doze you off to sleep within first half hour or so. Be aware, this is pure unadulterated Indie arthouse cinema with long repetitive scenes of its main lead doing mundane household chores and a pace slower than your garden snail.

Ganpat Bhonsle (Manoj Bajpayee) is a retired police hawaldar who stays alone in a dilapidated Mumbai chawl named after Churchill (probably belongs to that era). Its residents are divided in to the Marathi folks on one side and the North Indians largely considered 'outsiders' on the other end.

Vilas (Santosh Juvekar), a cabbie cum goon affiliated to the regional political party with strong anti migrant stand, tries to create ruckus during the ongoing Ganesh Festival in the chawl. Bhonsle is unwittingly drawn in to the mess.

Speaking volumes through silence, Manoj Bajpayee is simply brilliant in the titular role. He hardly gets any dialogues and yet owns the film completely. Kudos!

Santosh Juvekar is absolutely convincing as the local ruffian. Abhishek Banerjee, fresh from success of 'Paatal Lok', has a small role and does well with what he gets.

Director Devashish Makhija keeps the proceedings dark and disturbing just like his previous film 'Ajji' (2019). However, the pace is super slow most of the time and the climax may not appeal to one and all. There was scope to add further dimension to some characters like Vilas' boss and the reason why he ignores him. On the positive, the anti migrant issue in Mumbai is highlighted effectively without taking sides.

Interestingly, Devashish had collaborated with Manoj Bajpayee for a short film 'Taandav' (2016) which was about a hawaldar losing his cool and breaking in to an impromptu dance in a stressful situation. Bhonsle seems to be that same character carried forward. Try it if you love arty type movies.

Regards Sumeet Nadkarni

Sorry to say, it is a very disappointing film.

[snehildandwate-12238 · 4/10 · 4 July 2020]

I absolutely do not mind movies with hard-hitting or negative plots. But they ATLEAST should make sense. The narrative is very slow & things don't add up together.

Not meant for the faint hearted.

[pritambag · 9/10 · 26 June 2020]

From the directors of Ajji here comes another film which is much much darker with its concept, highlights numerous social issues with its tonality and narrative. The main highlight of the whole film was the narrative. The narrative itself is written in such a manner where you will find each and every character highlighted in a unique manner, and each one having their own shades. The performances were solid including the ensemble cast. Each and every performance stand out in various ways. Be it Ipshita Chakraborty Singh & Virat Vaibhav as the sister-brother duo or even Abhishek Banerjee in a short role as a Kattar Bihari. But the showsteller were Manoj Bajpayee as Bhonsle, a retired cop and Santosh Juvekar as an over-ambitious Kattar Marathi. The colour palate and the realistic sound design used in the whole film made it more dark and gritty. There are few sequences where there is no dialogue but the actions of the characters conveyed a lot about their nature which was truely a great approach. The film is mainly shot using the close up frame that too in a man-handed manner which made the audience connect with the character. Last thing which was exceptional was the constant relation between the deity of Lord Ganesha and the main character Bhonsle. The plot of the film is realistic and not meant for the faint hearted. I personally loved the film and will surely recommend this. Do give it a watch if you like it raw and dark.

Very good movie

[shovonbhattacharjee · 7/10 · 11 October 2020]

The concept of this movie is just amazing. This is not only Bihar and Marathi culture but it teaches us many things

Worst movie

[sainarvekar · 1/10 · 2 July 2020]

The movie is very slow. Manoj Bajpayee at its worst. Don't waste your time watching this pathetic slow movie. Zero stars

Absolutely stupid movie

[prakashahuja-90898 · 6 July 2020]

In comparison to old art movies of Om puri, Farouk sheikh, Bhosle was absolutely disgusting movie. It has no story line. I wasted by 1.53 minutes

An expression of lived realities that get hidden by bollywood's gloss

[ashwinisharma777 · 7/10 · 18 February 2023]

Stories like that of 'Bhonsle', even though fictional, are as real as they could be in bringing the common social tensions of Indian lives upto the fore.

Bombay's birth was pursuant to colonial imperatives of the British rule. The Britishers wanted to set up an industrial city that could help them expand their international trade in textiles. Bombay's choice happened to be a natural one because of it being a port city. In the wake of its industrialization during the British Raj of the 18th and 19th century itself, Bombay has acquired cosmopolitanism, not because of fancy urbanity, but because of its need to draw in people from different parts of the country to serve as hands towards propagation of past imperial designs.

As far as the city of Bombay goes, no one can really lay claim to the city, as everyone has had a role in its shaping and formation. However, after the reorganization of Indian territories along linguistic lines, Bombay fell into the state of Maharashtra, which was formed as a political expression of the 'marathi' community.

This sense of 'marathihood' now seeks to cannibalize Bombay, a city of its own, with a larger than life background to its emergence and existence. This sense of marathihood intends to re-form Bombay as an imagination of the marathi expressions, and in this urge, perhaps, the origin stories of Bombay's cosmopolitanism is lost.

It's still debatable whether it'd be apt to call Bombay as the cosmopolitan city, and Mumbai as the super-imposition of 'marathihood' - something that 'Bhonsle' intends to portray. The juxtaposition of the frenzied crowd revelling in the streets around the Ganpati festival, with a traumatic event in the storyline betrays the director's desire to associate 'marathihood' as an expression of mob frenzy. This is nothing but coloniality, because it imagines Bombay's cosmopolitanism as a victim of 'marathihood', when a decolonial reading would imply the sea crawling back to claim reclaimed lands, i.e., the natives reclaiming ownership over the city's destiny.

Because the imperial rule ended up designing Bombay's life, one could say that the actual natives never got an opportunity to claim ownership over the shaping up of the city. In that sense, one can say that 'Bombay' will be forever lost to 'marathis', if they give up their claim on 'Mumbai', the marathi alter-ego of the city.

Sadly, Bhonsle, reeks of post-colonialism, because it does not intend to disturb the colonial legacy of Bombay's cosmopolitanism, while at the same time, the film wants to delegitimize the discontents of natives, who are unable to interact with a city of their own, but which feels as much alien as a foreigner. In castigating 'marathihood' the director chose a simplistic route of vengeance towards a denouement that could be subject to multiple interpretations as per one's personal taste.

No dialog only acting

[Zorawar_143 · 6/10 · 24 August 2020]

This is the retired policemen story. Main part of this movie is normal story, simplicity, no dialogue, great acting of Manoj V. The combination of Ganesha and bhonsle is too good. I didn't aspect this type of climax but its satisfying. Recommended

Every cinema lover should Watch this

[tpatoliya · 9/10 · 27 June 2020]

This film paints an accurate picture of the toxic environment in which we are. The film shows us that the canker of intolerance of divisive politics is slowly spreading in our society.

SonyLIV Bhonsle is a film whose value should not be measured by its content, but by the way, the content is presented. The story does not waste time to keep its point, but every scene tells a story of its own.

Mirat Trivedi, Devashish Makhija, and Sharanya Rajgopal have written an accurate and useful screenplay. The story also tells the truth of how politics operates in the lower classes.

The story is slow, and viewers find themselves wondering where the story is at one point. In the first half, there could be a boom. But not everyone will enjoy sitting through the film.

The film shows us that wily politicians have mastered the British art of division and governance that makes illiterate people wicked and turn on their fellow humans.

The story is rhythmic in its case and works more effectively than telling the essence.

It is primarily a one-person show. Manoj Bajpayee is quite outstanding. In his case, I would say that he did not choose the role, the role chose him.

Bajpayee is Bhonsle, Bhosle is Bajpayee. You can't close your eyes for a while to see them. Manoj Bajpayee is a symbol of acting in today's day and age.

The actor plays a character with bare minimum words. All other artists give adequate support with their restrained performances.

Bhonsle gets a lot of support from Ipshita and Virat Vaibhav. Both enhance Bajpayee's performance. We would have loved to see more of Abhishek Banerjee.

Devashish Makhija is the director of this film who does not attempt to promote. He only comes to tell a story, and he inspires Goosebumps.

Bhonsle is a film that is full of great technical aspects. The camera work in this film is excellent.

Jigmet Wangchuk's cinematography threaded, straightforward narrative and visual poetry together.

His camera and simple shots increase the seriousness of the story.

The background music gives the perfect touch.

The story of Bhonsle is not thick. This is a simple story that has been told in different ways. Every cinema lover should see the Bhonsle movie on SonyLIV.

Bit Slow But Last 15 to 20 minutes Saved The Film to an Extent.

[harishmadireddi · 7/10 · 1 May 2021]

Manoj Bajpai has nailed it. Manoj bajpai has to be appreciated for having trust in this script and producing it. He has lift the films impact on viewer with his performance. His performace has rescued us from the slowness of the Film and the Last 15 to 20 Minutes have brought some meaning to the pace of the movie. Ipshita Chakraborty and santhosh juvekar have been very good with their performances. Editing would have been better but coming to sound designing and usage of the sync sound technology has been top class. The way the emotions which a character goes through will be reflected through the simple day to day sounds we hear in our life's. For Example, in a scene where vilas(marati guy) goes to meet bauh bhayya (marati politician) in the party office which is being reconstructed, The sounds of carpentry behind vilas represents the clumsiness of his state of mind. Like this the sound design has been very impressive through out the film. Direction and screenplay have been good and could have been tight, but by the end of the film the incompleteness gets erased due to the last 20minutes.

Simply Grear Manoj Sir!!!

[avinashkate-02994 · 9/10 · 28 June 2020]

Movie's concept is very simple. No catchy dialogues, no songs, simple story. But this movie shows only a pure acting. Manoj Sir's acting is really great. Its called pure art. And the direction and detailing in movies are fantastic. If you want to watch pure acting then do watch this Masterpiece!!!

Bhonsle : A Marathi who stands up for a Bihari

[tanujpoddar · 6/10 · 13 June 2021]

I was excited to see this new offering from the director after watching his previous movie "Ajji". This one however, is not as impactful.

It shows another old silent protagonist, Bhonsle, a Marathi constable who has retired from the police service and is terminally ill. He lives a mundane life doing his daily chores and is trying to get an extension on his service by a couple of years. Not much is said about his life to build up his character. He is just shown as being a respectable figure amongst the residents of the chawl where he lives.

The chawl has some non-marathi dwellers and a wannabe political worker, Vilas, who wants to break away from his life as a taxi driver, tries to entice the marathi residents of the chawl to push out the non-marathi residents. He is doing this on behest of a local politician. He keeps failing in achieving his objectives through his wrongdoings.

A young bihari nurse moves into the room adjacent to Bhonsle. She and her brother slowly befriend Bhonsle by helping out Bhonsle with his ailing health. He in turn starts caring for them.

When another attempt of Vilas backfires and he ends up being humiliated, he decides to take revenge and that enrages Bhonsle to finally stop his menace.

The director generally makes short films and I think he decided to make a feature film with the script of a short film. He stretches the narrative with his long shots and has made this into an arthouse film. It could have been much more effective as a half an hour long short film.

MAMI Review: Bhonsle (5 Stars)

[nairtejas · 5/10 · 28 October 2018]

Bhonsle starts with a cinematically brilliant montage of the protagonist Bhonsle's (Manoj Bajpayee) ageing and gradual decay. And the crime drama repeats that cinematic brilliance a couple of times (including a 4-minute climax scene shot on a iPhone) in its 130-minute narrative of the man, an involuntarily retired cop, who is eagerly trying to get back to the service while completely disregarding the world that he lives in. Director Devashish Makhija's character Bhonsle does not speak much because he knows it won't have an affect. However, the slow movement of the plot CAN have a strong effect on your viewing experience, aggravated by the snoring of those who have already been impacted. But, not unless you stay with patience and watch director Makhija pull an Ajji (2017) on you. There's a stark resemblance between his Bhonsle and his Ajji, which also premiered at MAMI (in 2017). And especially towards the climax where the philosophy of an old person resorting to evil. Makhija tries to refer to several issues that has plagued the country - blind faith, racism, caste discrimination, and utter political violence - and those are what makes Bhonsle a socially relevant venture for me. The minute subtexts and symbolic references to these themes make it even more interesting until the protagonist sheds his developed idiosyncratic character and goes haywire just to make the film look punchy. Bhonsle tries not to be a regular Bollywood movie but unfortunately crosses the finish line without even knowing it. If you like Bajpayee and his performance and a setting that describes the "silent despair" of life, Bhonsle will be a better experience for you. Do note the subtexts surrounding the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi and the Marathis vs. Biharis issue in the Indian state of Maharashtra to make the most of it. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at its India premiere at the 20th MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.)

Brilliant

[indranujthakur · 8/10 · 26 June 2020]

As expected from actor like manoj sir brilliant performance bhosle bhau a man of few words

Watch it for superb actings

[emailakp · 7/10 · 13 April 2021]

It's a rather slow moving movie....however is a complete masterpiece as far as concept and performances by the cast. Manoj baypai is stupendous with his character play and has once again shown his exceptional acting skills. Supporting cast did an outstanding job with some brilliant performances as well. Don't watch this movie if you are looking for some commercial stuffs and pure entertainment. Watch it only for a magnificent drama.

BOARING MOVIE WITHOUT STORYLINE

[JangamVishal · 4/10 · 28 June 2020]

Completely waste of the time to watch movie very slow movie without story music . Only good thing in movie was performance