Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi
DVD cover
Directed bySachin Pilgaonkar
Written byVasant Sabnis
Based onBiwi Aur Makan by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Produced byKiran Shantaram
Starring
CinematographyRam Allam[1]
Edited byAvinash Thakur
Chintu Dhavale
Music byArun Paudwal
Production
company
Release date
23 September 1988 (Maharashtra)
Running time
156 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMarathi
Box office₹3 crore[2]

Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi (translation: This Is Being Street-Smart) is a 1988 Indian Marathi-language comedy buddy film directed by Sachin Pilgaonkar and produced by Kiran Shantaram under the production banner of V. Shantaram Productions. Released in Maharashtra on 23 September 1988 and now considered to be a cult film in Marathi cinema, the film stars an ensemble cast of Ashok Saraf, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Laxmikant Berde, Sushant Ray, Ashwini Bhave, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Priya Arun Berde, Nivedita Joshi Saraf, Sudhir Joshi, Nayantara and Viju Khote.[3]The film borrows the basic plot from the Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Biwi Aur Makan (1966) which was based on the Bengali film Joy Maa Kali Boarding, and was remade in Kannada as Olu Saar Bari Olu (2003), in Hindi as Paying Guests (2009), in Punjabi as Mr & Mrs 420 (2014) and in Bengali as Jio Pagla (2017). The film was also an inspiration for the 1991 Telugu film Chitram Bhalare Vichitram, which was remade in Kannada as Bombat Hendthi (1992) and in Tamil as Aanazhagan (1995). [4][5]

Plot

Dhananjay Mane (Ashok Saraf) is a street-smart salesman in a cosmetics store in Pune and is secretly in love with his employer, Madhuri (Ashwini Bhave). He is the sole tenant of a stingy landlord, Mr. Vishwasrao Sarpotdar (Sudhir Joshi), and is soon joined by his younger brother, Shantanu (Sushant Ray), who is a medical student. Though prohibited by Mr. Sarpotdar, Dhananjay and Shantanu allow their childhood friends, Sudhir (Sachin Pilgaonkar) and Parshuram (Laxmikant Berde), who is also known as Parshya, to secretly live with them since they have both come to Pune from Kolhapur in search of jobs. Sudhir has been miserably disowned by his old abusive uncle (Suhas Bhalekar) for his negligence towards job and income and participation in the typical village dance programs out of interest. Meanwhile, Parshya worked as a domestic worker for Chhaburao (Jairam Kulkarni), a theatre contractor, who fired him from his job after he discovered that Parshya is in love with his daughter, Kamli (Priya Arun Berde). One midnight, Dhananjay, Sudhir and Parshya insult Mr. Sarpotdar in a drunken state and are taken away from his house by Shantanu who arrives at the scene a little late. Enraged by the harassment and deceit, Mr. Sarpotdar angrily storms into the room of the four friends the next day and orders them all to vacate the place within four days.

After several unsuccessful attempts in finding rented accommodation, Dhananjay and Shantanu finally reach the bungalow house of a rich, old, kind and cataractic widow, Leelabai Kalbhor (Nayantara), who lives with her shrewd domestic worker, Tanu (Gulab Korgaonkar), and is often harassed for her property by her estranged nephew, Bali (Viju Khote). She is willing to rent some rooms at her house provided that her tenants are married couples. In an attempt to comply with Leelabai's condition, Dhananjay and Shantanu have no other option but to force Sudhir and Parshya to dress as women and thus begins the comedy of errors. Parshya shaves off his moustache and transforms himself into "Parvati", Dhananjay's wife, while Sudhir transforms himself into "Sudha", Shantanu's wife. Shortly after the arrival of the four friends at Leelabai's bungalow as "married couples", Leelabai's niece, Manisha (Supriya Pilgaonkar), and her childhood friend, Sushma (Nivedita Joshi Saraf), who is coincidentally Shantanu's girlfriend from Miraj, also arrive to stay with Leelabai for some months.

Sudhir, now a successful singer and music educator, falls in love with Manisha and courts her in his original form, stating that he is the twin brother of Sudha and that he had disapproved of her marriage with Shantanu and is thus not on talking terms with them both. On the other hand, Shantanu, having passed to become a successful doctor, narrates a fake story of the deadly stomach cancer of Sudha in front of Sushma since she is deeply upset at his betrayal with her and his marriage with Sudha. Elsewhere, Parshya reunites with Kamli when she comes to Pune with Chhaburao's theatre troupe and also shares the news of Parshya having become a successful playwright back in Kolhapur. Meanwhile, Madhuri is heartbroken to see Dhananjay married with Parvati during her visit at Leelabai's bungalow, but Dhananjay confides the truth in Madhuri through a letter and the two confess their love for each other. While the four friends develop a bond of motherly love with Leelabai, Tanu reveals Bali the truth about Parvati and Sudha's true identities after she notices Parshya's wig and Sudhir wearing earrings while jumping out from the bungalow window in his original form.

Eventually, the four friends decide to leave Leelabai's bungalow after finding a new accommodation with the help of Madhuri and stage a drama in front of Leelabai for their way out. However, in the process, the four friends are unfortunately exposed by Bali and three of his henchmen in front of Leelabai, Manisha and Sushma and are handed over to the police called in by Tanu. However, at the police station, Leelabai surprisingly disowns Bali as her nephew and absolves the four friends of their deceit instead. She states that she feels from the bottom of her heart that the four friends cheated on her out of their desperate need for a roof over their heads, and that their intention was not to steal from her or take advantage of her cataract and only treated her like their own mother. Hence, Leelabai decides to take the four friends in as her own sons with the collective marriage of Dhananjay, Sudhir, Parshya and Shantanu with Madhuri, Manisha, Kamli and Sushma, respectively. The film ends with the all four newlywed couples taking a family photograph along with Leelabai.

Cast

Cameo Appearances

Soundtrack

Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi
Soundtrack album by
Arun Paudwal
Released1988
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length22:17
LanguageMarathi
LabelIshtar Music
Official audio
Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi - Full Album on YouTube

The lyrics were penned by Shantaram Nandgaonkar and Sudhir Moghe. The song Hridayi Vasant Phultana was sung by Anuradha Paudwal, Suresh Wadkar, Sudesh Bhosale, Uttara Kelkar, Shailendra Singh, Amit Kumar, Suhasini, Aparna Mayekar and Sachin Pilgaonkar.[6]

Track listing

All music is composed by Arun Paudwal

No.TitleLyricsSinger (s)Length
1."Shirshak Geet (Title Track)"Shantaram NandgaonkarSachin Pilgaonkar, Suresh Wadkar, Sudesh Bhosle, Shailendra Singh4:18
2."Hi Duniya Mayajaal Manuja Jaag Jara"Shantaram NandgaonkarSuresh Wadkar, Sachin Pilgaonkar5:00
3."Banwa Banwi, Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi"Shantaram NandgaonkarSachin Pilgaonkar, Suresh Wadkar, Amit Kumar, Shailendra Singh5:01
4."Ga Kunitari Yenar Yenar Ga"Sudhir MogheAnuradha Paudwal, Uttara Kelkar, Suhasini4:40
5."Hridayi Vasant Phultana Premas Rang Yaave"Shantaram NandgaonkarSuresh Wadkar, Sudesh Bhosle, Shailendra Singh, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Anuradha Paudwal, Aparna Mayekar7:06
Total length:22:17

Remakes

Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi was remade in Telugu in 1991 as 'Chitram! Bhalare Vichitram!!', in Kannada in 2003 as 'Olu Saar Bari Olu', in Hindi in 2009 as 'Paying Guests', in Punjabi in 2014 as 'Mr & Mrs 420' and in Bengali in 2017 as 'Jio Pagla'.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi (1988)". Indiancine.ma. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "तुफान गाजलेल्या 'बनवाबनवी'चं तेव्हाचं तिकीट किती होतं ठाऊक आहे का? लागलेले हाउसफुलचे बोर्ड". Maharashtra Times. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "33 Years of 'Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi': Iconic Marathi Comedy Still Rules People's Hearts". News18 India. 24 September 2021. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  4. ↑ Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 9781135943257. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "अशी ही बनवाबनवी हा चित्रपट नाहीये ओरिजनल, या बॉलिवूड चित्रपटाचा आहे रिमेक". Lokmat (in Marathi). 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "हृदयी वसंत फुलताना..." Maharashtra Times (in Marathi). 18 November 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "33 years of 'Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi': FIVE Interesting facts about Sachin Pilgoankar and Ashok Saraf's iconic comedy film". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
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