Birthday special: Five must watch movies of Makarand Deshpande

Makarand Deshpande is one of the renowned and respected names in the Marathi film industry, who has gained name, fame, and love of the audience by his phenomenal films. Not just a director, he is also an actor, writer, and director. He has delivered many memorable performances which won the hearts of the audience. Whether it is action, romance or a comedy movie, he never fails to entertain the audience. On the occasion of his 53rd birthday, we bring you his five best movies which will surely entertain you.

Makarand Deshpande's directorial debut, film 'Saturday Sunday' is the story of eight gangsters who are forced to spend a weekend in a house. The bold and witty dialogues add more masala to the already spicy film. Such is the power of the story that you will keep guessing what the intention behind all the action is. It features stars like Murli Sharma, Neha Joshi, Amruta Subhash, Amruta Sant, Aseem Hattangadi and Makarand Deshpande. 'Saturday Sunday' calls for a one-time watch for Makarand Deshpande's gripping plot.

A Chandrakant Kanse directorial, 'Daagdi Chaawl' has everything; action, drama and romance. The story is about the life of Daddy gangster ‘Arun Gawli’and Ankush Chaudhari who plays a son of a police constable who gets dragged into the underworld. Makarand Deshpande is playing the major role in the film as 'Daddy'. Through a very contained performance, Deshpande, who is otherwise known for his eccentric roles, brings out the nuances of Daddy’s character beautifully. If there’s one person who can match Daddy in physical appearance as well as the body language, it’s Deshpande. Makarand's one of the most anticipated releases and marked a big day for the Marathi film industry.

First-time filmmaker Pramod Pawar’s 'Truckbhar Swapna' is about one man and his dream. Raja (Makarand Deshpande) harbours a dream of educating his son Sunny (Sahil Gilbile) in the best school and making him a lawyer. For that, he leaves behind his agricultural land in Konkan and shifts into a slum in Mumbai with his wife (Kranti Redkar) and two kids. It featured Makrand Deshpande, Mukesh Rishi, Kranti Redkar and Yatin Karyekar as lead characters. As Raja, Makarand Deshpande did a commendable job with his brilliant performance along with Kranti Redkar and Smita Tambe that shine in this film. The movie did well in the box office and it's worth watching.

Renuka Shahane's directorial 'Rita' based on Shanta Gokhale's critically acclaimed Marathi novel 'Rita Welinkar'. It featured stars like Pallavi Joshi, Jakie Shroff, Renuka Shahane, Dr Mohan Agashe, Tushar Dalvi, Suhasini Mule, Sai Tamhankar, Makarand Deshpande, Medha Jambotkar, Tucha Vaidya, Rajashree Nikam. Rita Welinkar is the main character in this film. Pallavi Joshi and Jackey Shroff had played roles of Rita and Salvi excellently. Makarand Deshpande as Eric played his respective character artistically. This movie is an example of an ideal and sensible Marathi movie.

'Ajintha' is directed by acclaimed art filmmaker Nitin Chandrakant Desai. It narrates a love story between a Marathi Buddhist tribal Paro (Sonalee Kulkarni) and British Major Robert Gill (Wallace), an artist, while he visited India to paint the historical monuments and scriptures. It also showcases the historic Ajanta caves and the beautiful scriptures on the walls of the caves depicting the ancient Buddhist culture. Makarand Deshpande as Daulatya did a commendable work with his role. This family entertainer deserves a watch.