''Balak-Palak'' (''BP''; ) is a 2013 Indian

Marathi-language Marathi (; , 𑘦𑘨𑘰𑘙𑘲, , ) is a Classical languages of India, classical Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra and is also spoken in Goa, and parts of Guj ...

comedy drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

on the topic of

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

. The film was directed by

Ravi Jadhav Ravindra Jadhav (born 22 September 1971) known professionally as Ravi Jadhav is an Indian film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Marathi musical drama ''Natarang'' in 2010. Ravi studied in Sir J.J ...

and produced by

Riteish Deshmukh Riteish Deshmukh (born 17 December 1978) is an Indian actor, filmmaker and television presenter who predominantly works in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Marathi cinema, Marathi films. Known for his comic portrayals, Deshmukh is a recipient of several ...

, Uttung Thakur, and Ravi Jadhav. This is the first film produced by actor

. The story was written by Ganesh Pandit and Amber Hadap. ''Balak Palak'' was shot by Mahesh Limaye. The initials "BP" formed by the title of the film also make a secondary reference to a blue picture or low-quality

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

videos that were available on videotape in the 1980s in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. The film deals with the topic of

of adolescents and is rated UA (Parental Guidance). With the positive reviews the film received, Deshmukh planned to make a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

remake of the film. This film was supposed to be remade into

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

by director Srikanth Velagaleti. The movie was the inspiration for

Malayalam film Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both the mainstream film industry ...

''Swarnamalsyangal'', directed by quizmaster G. S. Pradeep. The film was released with English subtitles, which was done by Shivkumar Parthasarathy.

Cast

* Shashwati Pimplikar as Dolly Gavaskar *

Madan Deodhar Madan Deodhar is an Indian actor prominently featuring in Marathi films. Career Deodhar started his acting career as a child actor in the Hindi film '' Mahek'' (2007), a coming-of-age film directed by Kranti Kanade. The film won Best Feature ...

as Bhagya/Bhagyesh Rege * Bhagyashree Shankpal as Chiu/Aarti Puranik *

Rohit Phalke Rohit Phalke (born 10 October 1997) is an Indian actor. He made his debut with '' Balak-Palak'' film in Marathi cinema. Career Phalke has acted in Marathi movie '' Balak-Palak'' and also in a show on Star Pravah named ''Be Dune Daha''. He ha ...

as Avya/Avinash Gandhe *

Prathamesh Parab Prathamesh Parab (born 29 November 1993) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Marathi-language films. He made his acting debut with '' Balak-Palak'' in 2013 before stepping into the lead role in '' Timepass''. The following year, he clinc ...

as Vishu *

Kishor Kadam Kishor Kadam (born 9 November 1967) is an Indian actor and poet who has acted prominently in Marathi and Hindi movies. He has also acted in Tamil movies and has appeared in some television serials as well. He is a veteran Marathi poet, writin ...

as Kadam Kaka * Avinash Narkar as Vidyadhar Gandhe, Avinash's father *

Sai Tamhankar Sai Tamhankar (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əiː t̪aːmɦəɳkəɾ born 25 June 1986) is an Indian film and television actress known for her work primarily in Marathi language, Marathi, as well as in Hindi language, Hindi films. She h ...

as Neha Sawant *

Vishakha Subhedar Vishakha Subhedar (born 22 March 1976) is a Marathi television and film actress. She is known as a comedian, particularly when working in commercial Marathi cinema and drama. She began her acting career in 2004, when she started acting in dramas ...

as Pednekar Kaku *

Supriya Pathare Supriya Pathare is a Marathi television, theatre, and film actress. She is known for her portrayal in '' Pudhcha Paaul'' as Kanchanmala & '' Honar Soon Mi Hya Gharchi'' as Mothi Aai. She had participated in '' Fu Bai Fu'' as a contestant. Curren ...

as Mrs. Puranik, Aarti's mother * Anand Ingale as Pandharinath Rege, Bhagyesh's father *

Anand Abhyankar Anand Abhyankar (2 June 1963 – 24 December 2012) was an Indian Marathi people, Marathi film, television and theatre actor. He starred in films such as ''Spandan'' (2012), ''Balgandharva'' (2011), ''Matichya Chuli'' (2006), ''Vaastav'' (1999) ...

as Ashok Gavaskar, Dolly's father * Madhavi Juvekar as Mrs. Gavaskar, Dolly's mother *

Subodh Bhave Subodh Bhave (born 9 November 1975) is an Indian actor, writer, producer and director who is known for his work in Marathi cinema. He has acted in many commercially successful and critically acclaimed Marathi movies. He is best known for his wo ...

as older Avya *

Amruta Subhash Amruta Subhash is an Indian actress who works in Marathi and Hindi films, television, and theatre. She is a graduate of the National School of Drama, National School of Drama, New Delhi. She has received several awards, including a National Fil ...

as older Dolly * Satish Tare as Ramesh * Dhanashree Parab as Sampada

Music

The songs of the film are composed by the duo

Vishal–Shekhar Vishal–Shekhar are an Indian music composition, production, singing, and songwriting duo consisting of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani from Mumbai. Known predominantly for their work as music composers in Hindi cinema, Vishal–Shekhar h ...

. Known for their music compositions in Bollywood films, this is the first Marathi film venture of the duo. The track "Harvali Pakhare" was remade in Hindi by the same team, with lyricist

Manoj Muntashir Manoj Shukla (born 27 February 1976), better known by his stage name Manoj Muntashir Shukla, is an Indian lyricist, poet, dialogue writer, screenwriter & Co founder oT-Series Prarthana The Sound of Sanatan He wrote several Hindi songs for films ...

filling in as a replacement for

Guru Thakur Guru Thakur is an Indian poet, lyricist, scriptwriter, actor and playwright from Mumbai (Maharashtra), known for his contributions in Marathi and Hindi film industry. Early life Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Guru started his career at the a ...

, as the song "Kehkasha Tu Meri" in the 2016 film '' Akira''.

Reception

The film was screened at the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in November 2012. The newspaper ''

Daily News and Analysis The ''Daily News and Analysis'', abbreviated as ''DNA'', is a Hindi-language news program on Zee news that was earlier an English-language newspaper with multiple local city editions across India. ''DNA'' was first launched as a broadsheet newsp ...

'' gave 3.5 stars out of 5 in their review and called it a "must watch for parents!" The newspaper ''

Mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

'' appreciated Jadhav for the direction of the film and keeping it on a UA-rated course despite the boldness of the subject".

Feature

On 3 January 2013,

announced they were planning a Hindi remake of ''Balak Palak.''

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 2391514, Balak Palak Indian comedy-drama films Indian children's films Sex education Films about the education system in India Films directed by Ravi Jadhav 2013 comedy-drama films 2010s Marathi-language films 2013 films