Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi

''Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi'' () is a 1988 Indian Marathi-language comedy-drama film directed by Sachin Pilgaonkar and produced by Kiran Shantaram. The film stars Ashok Saraf, Laxmikant Berde, Sachin Pilgaonkar and Siddharth Ray opposite Ashwini Bhave, Priya Arun, Supriya Pilgaonkar and Nivedita Joshi along with Nayantara, Viju Khote, Sudhir Joshi and Jairam Kulkarni in supporting roles. Remade in several Indian languages, the film is considered as a cult classic comedy in Marathi cinema.

Plot

The film begins with Dhananjay Mane (Ashok Saraf) as a poor but street-smart salesman in a cosmetic store in Pune and is in love with his employer Madhuri (Ashwini Bhave). He is the sole tenant of a stingy landlord Vishwas Sarpotdar (Sudhir Joshi), until he is joined by his younger brother Shantanu (Siddharth Ray) who is a medical student. This causes an irked Sarpotdar to charge an additional rent of Rs. 35/-. Dhananjay's childhood friends Sudhir Joshi (Sachin Pilgaonkar) and Parshuram Kulkarni (Laxmikant Berde), also known as Parshya, are shown living in Kolhapur who strive hard to make enough money for their daily life. Sudhir participates in village dances in order to earn money for his singing classes, while Parshya works as a servant for drama contractor Chhaburao ( Jairam Kulkarni).

Soon, Sudhir's old uncle ( Suhas Bhalekar) banishes Sudhir from his house due to his participation in village dances, while Chhaburao also fires Parshya from his job on learning about Parshya's affair with his daughter Kamli (Priya Arun). The duo travels to Pune and decides to live with Dhananjay and Shantanu, who are forced to keep them in the house secretly, or else they will have to pay more rent to Sarpotdar. However, Sudhir gets a job as a music teacher and celebrates by going out to drink along with Dhananjay and Parshya. That night, the drunk trio accidentally enters Sarpotdar's house and ends up insulting him harshly on believing him to be Shantanu. They are taken away from the house by Shantanu who reaches the scene a little late. Enraged by this harassment, Sarpotdar visits the quartet the next day and orders them to vacate the house in four days.

After several unsuccessful attempts, the helpless Dhananjay and Shantanu come across the palatial house of a rich, old, kind and cataract-affected widow Leelabai Kalbhor (Nayantara) She lives with her shrewd servant Tanu (Gulab Korgaonkar) and is often harassed for money by her evil nephew Bali (Viju Khote). Also, Leelabai is willing to rent some rooms to married couples only to support her from both her illness and Bali. In order to succeed in renting the house, Dhananjay and Shantanu force Sudhir and Parshya to pose as females, and thus begins the comedy of errors. Parshya transforms himself into Dhananjay's wife "Parvati" while Sudhir transforms himself into Shantanu's wife "Sudha". The four eventually come to live at the house of Leelabai who does not suspect a thing, and is instantly convinced that "Parvati" and "Sudha" are the wives of Dhananjay and Shantanu, respectively.

Shortly after the quartet's arrival, Leelabai's niece Manisha ( Supriya Pilgaonkar) comes to stay at her house for 4-5 months along with her childhood friend Sushma (Nivedita Joshi), who is coincidentally Shantanu's girlfriend from Miraj and is distraught to see him married to "Sudha". In order to not let her abandon him, Shantanu narrates a fake story to Sushma that "Sudha" has serious stomach cancer and that she would not live for more than six months; she is the daughter of his father's deceased friend and although aware of her illness, Shantanu's father asked him to promise that he will marry "Sudha" while he was on his deathbed. This provokes a regretful Sushma to be sympathetic towards Shantanu about his marriage with "Sudha".

Around the same time, Sudhir, having fallen in love with Manisha, meets her in is original form and lies to her that he is the twin brother of "Sudha", and that he disapproves of her marriage with Shantanu and is thus not talking terms with both "Sudha" and Shantanu. Manisha soon confesses her love for Sudhir and they decide to marry with Leelabai's consent. Sudhir also ends up successful in his profession of teaching music.

One day, "Parvati" is nearly attacked by Bali but Dhananjay reaches the scene on time and chases Bali away. This prompts the four friends to stage the pregnancy of "Parvati", so that Parshya will be able to stay at home away from Bali. Also, Parshya reunites with Chhaburao's daughter Kamli when she arrives in Pune along with her father's drama troupe. Soon, Dhananjay's employer Madhuri visits Leelabai's house and is upset with Dhananjay on meeting his wife "Parvati". Dhananjay tells her the truth and they both confess their love for each other.

Eventually, Tanu and Bali learn about the true identities of "Sudha" and "Parvati", after Tanu had noticed Parshya's wig and even saw Sudhir wearing earrings while secretly jumping out from the window in his original form. Meanwhile, Dhananjay, Shantanu, Sudhir and Parshya succeed in finding a new place with Madhuri's help. In order to escape, the four stage that "Sudha" who has cancer, is close to death and needs to be hospitalised immediately.

While leaving the house, the quartet is confronted by Bali and his gang members, who attack them all and end up exposing Sudhir and Parshya's true identities in front of Leelabai, Manisha and Sushma. As a result, Dhananjay, Shantanu, Sudhir and Parshya are arrested by the police called in by Tanu and are sent to prison for fooling Leelabai. At the police station, Leelabai arrives with Bali and meets the quartet who shamefully apologise to her in guilt and remorse. However, Leelabai asks the police to drop all the charges against them, as she genuinely feels that the four cheated on her and took advantage of her illness out of helplessness, and that their intention was to not steal from her or to cause any harm to her. Hence, she decides to take them in as her sons and forgives them wholeheartedly. In the end, Bali is seemingly arrested and sent to prison for his crimes while Dhananjay, Shantanu, Sudhir and Parshya respectively get married to Madhuri, Sushma, Manisha and Kamli. The film ends with the four newlywed couples taking a family photograph with Leelabai.

Cast

* Ashok Saraf as Dhananjay Mane
* Sachin Pilgaonkar as Sudhir Kulkarni / Sudha Mane (fake)
* Laxmikant Berde as Parshuram Joshi (Parshya) / Parvati Mane (fake)
* Siddharth Ray as Shantanu Mane
* Ashwini Bhave as Madhuri Pawar
* Supriya Pilgaonkar as Manisha Deshpande
* Priya Arun as Kamli Shinde
* Nivedita Saraf as Sushma Sawant
* Nayantara as Leelabai Kalbhor (landlady)
* Viju Khote as Bali Kalbhor (Leelabai's nephew)
* Sudhir Joshi as Vishwas Sarpotdar (landlord)
* Jairam Kulkarni as Chhaburao Shinde (Kamli's father)
* Gulab Korgaonkar as Tanu (Leelabai's servant)
* Lata Thatte as Mrs. Sarpotdar (Sarpotdar's wife)
* Madhu Apte as Sudhir's visitor (Cameo Appearance)

Soundtrack

The lyrics were penned by Shantaram Nandgaonkar and Sudhir Moghe. Well known Marathi song ''Hridayi Vasant Phulta Na'' was sung by Anuradha Paudwal, Suresh Wadkar, Sudesh Bhosale, Uttara Kelkar, Shailendra Singh, Amit Kumar, Suhasini, Aparna Mayekar, and Sachin Pilgaonkar.

Remakes

* ''Chithram Bhallare Vichithram'' (1991) in Telugu
* ''Olu Saar Bari Olu'' (2003) in Kannada
* ''Paying Guests'' (2009) in Hindi
* ''Mr & Mrs 420'' in Punjabi
* ''Jio Pagla'' (2017) in Bangali

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0267277, Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi

Movie Stills

1980s Marathi-language films
Indian comedy films
Marathi films remade in other languages
Marathi remakes of Hindi films
1988 comedy films
1988 films
Films directed by Sachin (actor)
Indian buddy films
1980s buddy films