Ghar Banduk Biryani (transl. Home, Gun and Biryani) abbreviated as GBB, is a 2023 Indian Marathi-language actioncomedy film directed by Hemant Jangal Awtade in his directorial debut, starring Akash Thosar, Sayaji Shinde, Nagraj Manjule, Sayli Patil in the leading roles. It was jointly produced by Zee Studios and Aatpat Production.[4] In the film, Commander Pallam's (Sayaji Shinde) insurgency activities take place in the fictional village of Kolagad. Raju (Akash Thosar) meets his future wife Lakshmi (Sayli Patil) in a nearby hamlet. However, Lakshmi's father has a need that Raju have a house, which Raju cannot meet. Away from all of this, Inspector Raya Patil (Nagraj Manjule) is truly carrying out his duty in Pune, which gets him into problems and leads to his transfer to Kolagad.[5]
Principal Photography started in Dussehra 2021. The majority of the shooting took place in Gaganbawada, along with sporadic scenes filmed in Pune. Vaibhav Deshmukh provided the score, and AV Prafullachandra composed the soundtrack album. The film's makers held several events in college and universities throughout Maharashtra to promote the film.
Ghar Banduk Biryani was theatrically released on 7 April 2023.[6] The film received positive reviews from critics. Ghar Banduk Biryani grossed over ₹5.89 crore (US$740,000) in India and became one of the highest grossing Marathi films of 2023. Despite positive reviews, the film underperformed at the box office. It was released on OTT platform ZEE5 on 2 June 2023, along with Hindi, Tamil, Telugu dubbed versions.[7]
Plot
Kolagad region is terrorized by Dacoits led by commander Pallam whose mission is to eliminate the village MLA. But it becomes more of a personal when his lover Maria also a Dacoit is shot dead. A sincere cop Raya Patil transferred to the region after bashes sons of a top minister for harassing females, Raya's wife Namrata is not happy with his frequent transfers and honesty and decides to part ways from him. Raju a chef working for a small Dhaba falls in love with Laxmi but her father has a condition that he should have his own house within few months which looks quite impossible as he is an orphan. Pallam's aide George suggests him that as the cops are on prowl and running short of food they should part ways for sometime but Pallam who wants to revenge for Maria's death is in no mood to do so. Pallam and his gang kidnap Raju from his workplace along with edible items and keep him as a chef in their gang as the taste of his Biryani reminds the gang of Maria's. Raya takes charge of the Kolagad police station but isn't happy as his personal life goes for a toss and tries to make things better. While what crosses the part of three characters is Raya trying to save his house (Ghar) while being far away from his family, Raju desperately needs a gun (Banduk) so that he can pretend as a Dacoit and surrender to cops and settle down with Lakshmi after getting reward of sum and house as per government scheme, Pallam while taking his revenge desperately misses Maria and her Biryani and wants Raju to be in his gang for the same.
Akash Thosar and Sayli Patil were cast as the leads, which marks their second collaboration after Jhund.[13]Nagraj Manjule and Sayaji Shinde also playing pivotal roles in the film.[14] Initially Manjule planned to play the role of Naxalite commander, which is played by Sayaji Shinde.[15]Tanaji Galgunde were cast for the supporting roles along with Deepti Devi, Shwetambari Ghute, Vitthal Kale, Arbaz Shaikh.[16] Other actors revealed through the poster in March 2023 include Somnath Awghade and Suraj Pawar, both of whom were previously seen in Fandry with Manjule.[17] Some of Nagaraj Manjule's fellow police officers who play the role of cops in the film are real life cops.[18]
The film promotion crew visited colleges in different Maharashtra cities as scheduled beginning on 14 March 2023. In the first schedule, Baramati and Islampur (Sangali) were included. In the second schedule, Kolhapur, Jalna, Mumbai, Nagpur,[23]Nashik, and Chandrapur were visited. The last programme saw them arrive in Chatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pune,[24]Navi Mumbai, and Solapur.[25] Manjule and Sayaji Shinde spent time speaking with the Chandrapur police officers from the C16 Battalion who had dealt with the Naxalites directly during the promotion there.[26] Akash Thosar and Sayli Patil participated in the Dombivali Gudi Padwa Shobha Yatra 2023 on Gudi Padwa to promote the movie.[27] The team also travelled to Pandharpur, where they visited the Vithal temple, had a blessing from Vithoba.[28] The team then travelled to Mangalwedha, where Pandharpur MLA Samadhan Awtade was present.[29] The crew went to Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, where Sayaji Shinde's Sahyadri Devarai and Siddhivinayak Temple Trust together launched the Vriksha Prasad Yojana.[30]
Release
Theatrical
Ghar Banduk Biryani was theatrically released on 7 April 2023 in Marathi, along with dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.[31] The film's release date was initially set for 30 March 2023, but it was delayed to avoid competing with Bholaa. Munjule announced the new release date on 11 February 2023, is 7 April 2023.[6]
Priyanka Kulkarni of ABP Majha rated 4.5 out of 5 stars.[34] Yugandhar Tajne of Sakal rated 4 out of 5 stars and praised the director Hamant Jangal Awtade for his story, dialogues, acting, songs, music, composition and cinematography.[35]
Mihir Bhanage of The Times of India rated 3.5 out of 5 and addressed as a Big screen perfect entertainer experience and it's refreshing to see a Marathi film in the action drama zone.[36] Sarav Mahind of Urbanly gave 3.5 out of 5, Mahind praising and says the soundtrack itself sounds like a character in the film, While the cinematography gives you an idea of its purpose from the very first shot and the story slowly and gracefully gives you a taste of its characters and setting. What the film lacks is the dragged introduction of the characters in the first half. The first half is a stretch and the second half is a rollercoaster ride.[37]
Madhura Nerurkar of Maharashtra Times gave 3 out of 5 rating and write "This piece of art has been excellent at the levels of story, action, background music. However, some scenes are dragged out. Good acting by the actors, good cinematography, impressive background music have helped the story to carry."[38] Shrikrishna Iyer of Koimoi gave 3 rating praised performances of Sayaji Shinde and Nagraj Manjule while criticised old cliché action scenes, said "Despite a few oversights in the story, debutante director Hemant Awtade made an entertaining film to watch. If you like dark humour and action films, Ghar Banduk Biryani is a good watch."[39] The OTTPlay rated 3/5 and wrote "Even if loud, the film is entertaining for most parts. The music is rare and does not disturb your viewing experience."[40]
Scroll.in writes "Ghar Banduk Biryani, featuring a lovable rebel commander, an expert biryani cook and a principled police officer, may be the world's first song-and-dance Maoist comedy film. Debutant director Hemant Jangal Awtade anticipates almost black humour, elaborately choreographed action scenes and minor subplots."[41] Akhilesh Nerlekar of Loksatta gives a positive review and writes "Even though the tagline is "Aata Chalach Bhighadvaychiy..."(Now it's time to spoil it...), it cannot be confidently said that the movie film rich in the performances of Nagraj Manjule, Akash Thosar, Sayaji Shinde, has succeeded in diverting the audience to the theatres. In today's world of 30-second entertainment, it is not an easy task to keep the audience in one place for almost three hours. Director Hemant Avatade has achieved some success in this regard. Ghar Banduk Biryani will certainly be considered as a different experiment for the exciting setting of a simple story, but in terms of business, we sincerely feel that Nagaraj Manjule should not be subjected to a Jhund-like situation again."[42] Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint write "Ghar Banduk Biryani is a Marathi film that portrays the good and bad of an otherwise gray world."[43]
Box office
The film collected ₹62 lakh (US$78,000) on its opening day and weekend collection is ₹2.23 crore (US$280,000).[44] The film grossed over ₹5.89 crore (US$740,000) at box office in Maharashtra.[45][46]
AV Prafullachandra has given music and background score for this film.[47] The song "Gun Gun" was released first, all versions of this song crossed 4 million+ views on YouTube within a few days.[48] The second featured song "Aaha Hero" is choreographed by Ganesh Acharya.[49] The "Title track" is sung by Bollywood singer Mohit Chauhan and written by Vaibhav Deshmukh.[50]
