''Deool'' () is a 2011 Indian

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni. The film stars Girish Kulkarni,

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, film maker, mainly working in Hindi language, Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi cinema. Widely regarded as one of the finest and most influential actors ...

, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Sharvani Pillai,

Sonali Kulkarni Sonali Kulkarni (born 3 November 1974) is an Indian actress, producer, and writer who primarily appears in Marathi, Hindi and few Tamil films. Kulkarni is considered as one of the most accomplished and highest-paid actresses in Marathi cinema, ...

in lead roles. The film is about the effect of

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

on India's small towns and the terrible state of Indian villages, with a political backdrop. ''Deool'' won the 59th

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

for Best Feature Film, Best Actor ( Girish Kulkarni) and Best Dialogue (Girish Kulkarni). The film also marks the debut of veteran Hindi film actor

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He was notable in Indian parallel cinema and has starred in various international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfa ...

in Marathi film industry.

Plot

In the rural areas of Maharashtra lies a peaceful village called Mangrul. Keshya (Girish Kulkarni), a simple village youth, who works for Bhau (Nana Patekar) as a cow stockman, takes one of Bhau's cows named "KARDI", to one of the hills in the village where there is an Audumber ( Ficus racemosa: Indian fig tree) tree present. KARDI scratches her head over that tree and by which Lord

Dattatreya Dattatreya (, ), Dattā or Dattaguru, is a paradigmatic Sannyasi (monk) and one of the lords of yoga, venerated as an avatar of Lord Vishnu. Three Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, who are also collectively known as the Trimurti, incarna ...

makes a presence and shows his Avtar to Keshya. Keshya, by experiencing God's Avtar, makes a hue and cry in the village saying God Dattatreya made an appearance for him. Anna (Dillip Prabhavalkar), most respected figure of Mangrul, advises him against announcing such personal matter as it's a question of faith. However, it is too late as a journalist (Kishor Kadam) with the help of a few other village youths who are more involved in politics, sensationalise the news about Lord Dattatrey making an appearance in Mangrul. There is now demand for a Dattatrey temple. Bhau doesn't approve it as he wants the funds to be used for better purposes, as Anna also has vision to build a Hospital in the village. But since Bhau, helpless looking at the village so demanding, the temple is built. And slowly the village becomes a holy place. Mangrul goes through a 360 degree change due to commercialization, but nobody is complaining except Anna. Soon, blinded by the commercial progress, God is forgotten. Every village has a right to progress commercially, but how ethical it is to use a temple and its good to achieve it?

Cast

as Bhau Galande * Dilip Prabhawalkar as Anna Kulkarni *

as Vahini * Girish Kulkarni as Keshav Rambhol * Jyoti Subhash as Kanta, Keshya's Mother * Jyoti Malshe as Pinky * Atisha Naik as Sarpanch (Village head) *

Usha Nadkarni Usha Nadkarni (née Kalbag; born 13 September 1946) is an Indian actress. She predominantly works in Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi industry. She is best known for her role of Savita Deshmukh in the show ''Pavitra Rishta''. She participa ...

as Sarpanch's Mother in Law *

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 Mahasangram * Shrikant Yadav as Appa Galande *

Hrishikesh Joshi Hrishikesh Joshi, born in Kolhapur, is a Marathi people, Marathi actor. He has acted in numerous Hindi, Marathi Movies, tele-serials and theater and has won applauds from many noted professionals. He has acted in award-winning films like Harish ...

as Tommya (Jambuwant Rao) * Shashank Shende as Ninety (Teacher) * Sharvani Pillai * Om Bhutkar as Yuvri * Mayur Khandge as Emdya * Suhas Shirsat as Poytya * Abhijit Khaire as Audience * Vibhavari Deshpande as Poytya's Sister in Law * Bhakti Ratnaparakhi as Appa Galande's wife Guest Appearance *

Mohan Agashe Mohan Agashe (born 23 July 1947) is an Indian psychiatrist and actor. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 in theatre. Early life Agashe was born in Bhor, Maharashtra. He studied in B. J. Medical College, Pune for his MBBS ...

as Aamdar Saheb *

as Dacoit * Neha Shitole

Release

''Deool'' was shown in

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

's South Asian International Film Festival, the

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

International Film Festival and MAMI in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. ''Deool'' had its theatrical release on 4 November 2011 with 404 shows across Maharashtra. Following its strong reception, the number of screenings was expanded to 464. In its second week, the film was featured in 307 theaters statewide, including 54 screenings in Pune.

Reception

Critical reception

Blessy Chettiar of ''

DNA India 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 newspa ...

'' rated 4 stars out of 5 stars, Chettiar praises ''Deool'' for its insightful and engaging portrayal of religion, politics, and rural life in Maharashtra. With strong performances, thoughtful writing, and effective use of humor and music, the film stands out as a significant contribution to Marathi cinema, despite its length. Namita Niwas of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' rated 3 stars out of 5 stars and commends the film for its engaging portrayal of how

and

materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...

impact a rural village, despite its familiar storyline. With strong performances and adept direction by Umesh Kulkarni, the film effectively highlights societal issues while keeping the audience engaged. Darcy Paquet of ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' praises for its skillful handling of a large ensemble cast and its effective portrayal of a village's rapid transformation. The film balances entertainment with deeper themes of economic development, corruption, and religious belief, allowing viewers to explore these issues without overt direction.

Box office

The film was collected in the first week.

Music

Music of ''Deool'' was composed by Mangesh Dhakade and lyrics were penned by

Swanand Kirkire Swanand Kirkire (born 29 April 1972) is an Indian lyricist, playback singer, writer, assistant director, actor and dialogue writer, who works in Marathi and Hindi film and television. Kirkire won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics twice: f ...

, Sudhir Moghe.

References

External links

* {{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilm 2011 films Films featuring a Best Actor National Award–winning performance Films whose writer won the Best Dialogue National Film Award 2010s Marathi-language films Hinduism in popular culture Marathi-language black comedy films