Farzand – An Untold Story of Maratha Warrior Kondaji Farzand
Digpal Lanjekar is a producer/director at Sawai Productions Pune. With the film Farzand, which tells the story of a Marathi warrior who goes by the name of Kondaji Farzand, the young director is set to make his debut. The story is also written by Lanjekar. The film stars actor Ankit Mohan in the lead role. It also features popular Marathi actors such as Mrinal Kulkarni and Chinmay Mandlekar in pivotal roles. The film is set to release on May 11. The one and a half minutes long official teaser has been uploaded on YouTube. The cinematography, along with the look and the feel, surely give off a very positive vibe.
Farzand will establish another milestone for Marathi cinema as far as the making of period drama is concerned. The film captures a bygone era where heroism, undaunted courage and struggle for supremacy were the standard codes of conduct. Marathi Theater has always had an inclination towards the eponymous warrior king Shivaji Maharaj. This film, however, is not going to deal with Shivaji head on. Rather it will throw some light on the famous warrior Kondaji Farzand, who was a prominent member of Shivaji’s military force and aided the king in capturing the fort of Panhala.
Panhala Fort was an important site in that it was strategically located between the main land and the coastal region. Capturing it was synonymous to the opening of important routes that would have allowed easy transportation. Shivaji tried to conquer the fortress 13 years ago but failed. After a decade he made a second attempt with the ferocious warrior Farzand. Kondaji Farzand took only 300 horsemen with him, even though he knew that Adil Shah’s soldiers would have easily outnumbered him. Still, he managed to defeat the enemy soldiers and win Panhala fort. Here is where his military acumen came to the fore. He laid camp at Ratnagiri and waited there for two months. In the meantime he gathered all the information about the fort till he knew it inside and out. He found the loopholes and attacked the fortress at night. The enemy soldiers were caught off guard and had little means to defend themselves. Finally the fortress became a part of King Shivaji’s domain. This is how the real story goes like. Now we are all waiting to see whether Lanjekar stays at par with the real story or whether he uses some artistic license and weaves an exclusive screenplay.
It is too soon to predict anything. So, let us wait till the movie releases.
