Just got home after watching the movie (English translation - Heart cleaved by dagger, pardon my translation skills, if you have a better and crisper title, do comment!), and I must say that I exited the cinema fairly happy. For non-Marathi speakers, the movie conveniently has English sub-titles, and while the translation is not exactly high quality (in many later sequences, Raj Gayak is translated as Royal Poet instead of Royal Singer - which is actually a different person), it is quite serviceable.
The movie is about the rivalry (one-sided) between the reigning Royal Singer (Pandit Bhanushankar played by Shankar Mahadevan) and Khan Saheb (played by Sachin). For a Marathi movie, the production quality is quite good and the sets and costumes don't look as if any expense has been spared. One definitely needs to watch it in a cinema with good quality audio as otherwise the main USP of the movie would be lost.
Coming to the actual movie, the acting is sort of average, Shankar Mahadevan has a couple of good moments and Subodh Bhave (Sadashiv) is earnest but some sparks are provided by Uma (Mrunmayee Deshpande) and Zareena (Amruta Khanvilkar). As for Sachin (Khan Saheb), the man is a natural overactor and hams it to the gallery all through. That is the one jarring note in the acting department which otherwise is quite competent.
As for the singing, there are two ways of looking at it, either standalone, where one watches the movie without having heard the songs earlier (particulary by the original singers, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki and Vasantrao Deshpande) or where one is reminded of the originals. Again, there are two more ways of looking at it, when watching, you can forget what is heard in the theatre and in your mind hear the originals, or else hear what is being played. If one tries to compare, the songs are good but connoiseurs will always go back to the originals. Those who are likely to enjoy the songs the most are probably those who haven't heard them before or who have not seen the play (in its various avatars).
The movie does mess with the plot and there is a gratuitous Britisher added, which is completely unnecessary. Khan Saheb is also painted much darker than the play, but these can be excused as creative liberties.
Now, coming to the singing, imho, Shankar Mahadevan should have sung for Khan Saheb and Rahul Deshpande for Panditji, to my untrained ear, Shankar Mahadevan's voice does not have a truly classical feel and which might have suited the histrionics of Khan Saheb whereas Rahul Deshpande is a trained classical singer who might have done better justice to the more purist Panditji. But I suspect the decision was primarily influenced by the fact that Rahul Deshpande has played and sung Khan Saheb's part in the play and it might have seemed more logical to stick to it.
The only reason to watch the movie multiple times would be the songs, but then again, if you like them so much, you are better off finding audio recordings of the originals! A word to those who don't understand what a sangeet natak (musical play) is, a significant part of the movie is devoted to songs and if you don't like it then this movie may not be for you.
Nostalgia plays a large role in the audience who would go for such a movie and in the case of my screening, the average age in the hall was quite likely well north of 45+ (in which I fit quite nicely, thank you!). I think the movie is well worth watching for anyone who speaks Marathi and who has at least some ear for classical music but it is likely to appeal to a larger non-Marathi speaking audience (however those who fall in the same age demographic!).
I won't give stars to the movie, however I would strongly recommend giving it a look-see, it is well worth your time.
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