''Zenda'' (Meaning: ''Flag'') is a 2010 Indian

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

-language

Political drama A political drama can describe a play, film or TV program that has a political component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a politician or series of political events. Dramatists who have written political dramas in ...

film produced and directed by

Avdhoot Gupte Avadhoot Gupte (Marathi pronunciation: �ʋəd̪ʱuːt̪ ɡupt̪e born 19 February 1977) is an Indian singer, musician, writer, music & film director, film producer, television presenter and actor who works primarily in Marathi Cinema. He sta ...

. The film stars Pushkar Shrotri, Rajesh Shrungarpure,

Santosh Juvekar Santosh Juvekar is an Indian film, television and stage actor. Known for his work in Marathi films. He has also acted in Hindi films. Career Juvekar started with his acting career in 2004 with the Marathi play ''Aani Makarand Rajadhyaksha'' ...

in lead roles. Gupte who is a singer and music director has also composed the music for the film. The film depicts the journey of four young ambitious scholars to succeed in life and the impact of a split in a major political party on their journey caused by a feud between two cousins in rival political parties. The story is inspired by the real-life feud between

Raj Thackeray Raj Shrikant Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ ʈʰaːkɾeː born Swaraj Shrikant Thackeray; 14 June 1968) is an Indian politician and the founding chairperson of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a regional political party. Raj wa ...

, chief of

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (translation: Maharashtra Reformation Army; MNS) is a Regionalist far-right Indian political party based in the state of Maharashtra and operates on the ideology of "Hindutva" and "Marathi" Manus. It was founded ...

(MNS) and his cousin,

Uddhav Thackeray Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: d̪ʱːəʋ ʈʰaːkɾeː born 27 July 1960) is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022. He was also the president of Shiv Sena prior to ...

, President of

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...

Plot

The movie is based on actual life of party workers who have aligned their loyalty towards a particular political party and also loosely based on the political family of Balasaheb Thackeray. It highlights the glorious past of party and strong organisation fighting for Marathi community in Maharashtra, India. The storyline depicts the plight of party workers who have aligned their loyalty towards a particular political party based on its apex leader. When the leadership baton is passed on to the next generation, one of the new leaders breaks away from the core. What follows is the rift between friends who were once bonded together by the cause led by the party and now finding themselves opposing each other. The movie also touches on the part where political images have been built completely based on media and PR exercises. Under pressure from the media campaign managers and in an attempt to please the monitory vote banks, the ideologies behind the parties are sacrificed, leaving the purists and youth betrayed. Amongst the betrayed are also the youth who break away to establish themselves from under the shadow of the older leadership, only to find that their good work left aside when it is time for an election ticket allotment.

Cast

Siddharth Chandekar Siddharth Chandekar (born 14 June 1991) is an Indian actor. He is known for his work in Marathi cinema. At the age of 19, he made his debut in Marathi cinema with Avadhoot Gupte's 2010 political drama movie '' Zenda''. Career Siddharth Chand ...

as Umesh Jagtap *

Neha Joshi Neha Joshi (born 7 December 1986) is an Indian actress who was born and brought up in Pune. Her work includes '' Zenda'' (2010) and '' Poshter Boyz'' (2014). Joshi plays B. R. Ambedkar's mother Bhimabai in the ''Ek Mahanayak - Dr.B.R. Ambedk ...

as Pooja *

as Santosh Shinde *

Chinmay Mandlekar Chinmay Mandlekar (born 2 February 1979) is an Indian actor, writer and stage director, mostly active in the Marathi entertainment industry. He is known for his work in Zenda, Morya, ''Farzand'' (2018), ''Fatteshikast'' (2019), ''The Kashmir F ...

as Avinash Mohite *

Sachit Patil Sachit Patil is an Indian actor, director, writer and theatre director. He is known for his work in Marathi cinema. He made his debut in the Bollywood film ''Kyon?'' (2003). He made his Marathi film debut with Avdhoot Gupte's '' Zenda'' (2010), ...

as Aditya Pradhan *

Tejashri Pradhan Tejashri Pradhan (born 2 June 1988) is an Indian television and film actress who has appeared in multiple Marathi films and television serials. She is better known as ''Shubhra'' and ''Janhvi'' from the Zee Marathi television serials ''Aggaba ...

* Pratham Patkar *

Pushkar Shrotri Pushkar Sudhakar Shrotri is a Marathi, Hindi film & theatre actor, producer, and director. Early life and education Shrotri was born in Mumbai in 1970. He graduated with a commerce degree from M. L. Dahanukar College in Mumbai. Career Pushkar ...

as Prashant Sarpotdar *

Rajesh Shringarpure Rajesh Shringarpure (born 29 October 1977) is an Indian film and television actor who appears in Hindi cinema and Marathi cinema.He is currently playing the role of Malhar Rao Holkar in television serial ''Punyashlok Ahilyabai'' on which is bei ...

as Rajesh Sarpotdar *

Shubhangi Gokhale Shubhangi Gokhale (born 2 June 1968) is an Indian Marathi and Hindi theatre, film and television actress. She is the wife of late Hindi/Marathi actor Mohan Gokhale who played the title role on the Doordarshan show '' Mr Yogi''. She has complete ...

as Santosh's Mother * Williemgc * Ujwala Jog as Umesh's Mother * Ramesh Vani as Bhate

Music

The music for the songs is composed by

Release

Set to release earlier, the film was stalled by protests by Swabhiman organisation headed by

Nitesh Rane Nitesh Narayan Rane (born 23 June 1982) is an Indian politician and a member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the Kankavli vidhansabha constituency. He is the head of the non-governmental organisation "Swabhiman Sanghatana". He is the ...

, son of then Maharashtra Revenue Minister

Narayan Rane Narayan Tatu Rane (born 10 April 1952) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He currently serves as Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Second Modi ministry. He has previously held Cabinet Minis ...

, for showing his father in a poor light.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2343847, Zenda 2010s Marathi-language films Indian films based on actual events Thackeray family Shiv Sena Maharashtra Navnirman Sena