Natsamrāt (roughly translated as The King of Theater or The Actor King) is a 2016 Indian Marathi-language drama film starring Nana Patekar in the leading role. The film depicts the life of a stage actor who has retired from acting but is unable to forget his fond memories of theater and the stage.
It is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and produced by Nana Patekar and Vishwas Joshi under the banner of Great Maratha Entertainment, Gajanan Chitra and Fincraft Media and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.The film was officially released in India on 2016 New Year and became the highest-grossing film in Marathi cinema to date until Sairat occupied that place
Cast
Nana Patekar as Ganpat Ramchandra Belwalkar/ Natsamrat/ Appa (alias)/Baba
Medha Manjrekar as Kaveri Ganpat Belwalkar/Sarkar
Vikram Gokhale as Rambhau
Mrunmayee Deshpande as Vidya Ganpat Belwalkar/Vidya Rahul Barve, Ganpat's daughter
Ajit Parab as Makrand Ganpat Belwalkar, Ganpat's son
Neha Pendse as Neha Makrand Belwalkar
Sunil Barve as Rahul Barve / Vidya's husband
Sarang Sathaye as Siddharth
The film is a tragedy about a Shakespearean veteran theater actor Ganpat Ramchandra Belwalkar a.k.a. Appa (Nana Patekar) who has been an acclaimed theater actor during his day, garnering fame and fortune by acting in plays based on various works, especially of William Shakespeare and he also won the award and the highest title of NAT-SAMRĀT (emperor of acting in the theater).
Subsequently, Appa bequeaths all of his wealth to his children. He never keeps anything to himself and expresses his views very frankly. He does not mind adding expletives while expressing his views. Only his wife Kaveri (Medha Manjrekar), whom he fondly calls as 'Sarkar' and his close friend Rambhau (Vikram Gokhale) and are able to understand his nature. His daughter-in-law Neha (Neha Pendse) and son Makrand (Ajit Parab) do not seem to appreciate his frank nature, which at times causes embarrassing situations for them when they have guests or when their daughter hurls expletives in school. The high point in their relationship comes when their granddaughter performs a folk dance taught by Appa, which is not appreciated by her mother Neha. An argument follows between them and when they return home Neha slaps her daughter. Next day, Neha proposes to part ways with them by moving out, a play in which she anticipates Appa to grant them their space. Appa sees through her plan and decides to move out while passing on a comment to his son "The whole world is a stage and unfortunately my part is a sad one."
Sandeep Pathak
