Ashtavinayak (film)

Ashtavinayak
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rajdutt
Written by	Manorama Films Story Section
Produced by	Sharad Pilgaonkar
Starring	Sachin Vandana Pandit Padma Chavan Vasantrao Deshpande Suryakant Mandhare Raja Gosavi
Cinematography	Girish Karve
Edited by	Telang Gupte
Music by	Anil-Arun
Production company	Manorama Films
Release date	9 February 1979 (1979-02-09)
Running time	115 Minutes
Country	India
Language	Marathi

Ashtavinayak is a Marathi-language film released on 9 February 1979. The film was directed by Rajdutt and produced by Sharad Pilgaonkar under the banner of Manorama Films.^[1] The film is based on the family from Ichalkaranji which took place in 1975.^[2][3][4]

Nana Inamdar is the owner of a paper mill and a devotee of lord ganesh. The wealthy mill owner's son, Bal, returns from studying abroad with a grudge against God. He blames a cruel fate for his mother's death and a cold stepmother. Taking over the family business, Bal clashes with tradition by canceling the annual Ganesh festival, to complete increased orders but this decision angers the workers. Nana is not happy with Bal's decision but he keeps calm. Tragedy strikes when his father dies due to heart attack.

Soon Bal falls in love with Veena, daughter of a veteran singer. He soon proposes her. She accepts it and promises lord ganesh that they both will complete the pilgrimage of 8 famous ganesh temples after marriage. Despite his atheism, Bal soon marries Veena, a devout believer. With blessings from their elder, Sathe Kaka (manager at mill), they begin life together. However, tensions rise as Bal removes the Ganesh temple from the mill for its expansion. Veena is not happy with this decision. The couple's strained relationship is further marred by a miscarriage and Veena's health deteriorates. Doctors too lose any medical hope in her case. As misfortune continues with a fire at the mill and Bal is in serious debt. Bal's stepmother gets a psychotic attack hearing the news as she too is partner in mill. Sathe Kaka urges Veena to seek divine help by completing the pilgrimage, she had promised before marriage.

The reason behind Bal's atheism is revealed here. Bal's mother had died due to some serious ailment despite Nana providing best medical treatment. But Bal, then studying in a boarding school, is unaware of this fact and he had seen his father praying to Ganesh during last days of his mother. He had false belief that he lost his mother due to negligence and unnecessary faith in God.

They both start the pilgrimage even if Bal is hesitant in the beginning. As the pilgrimage continues, Veena's health starts improving. At the last temple, Sathe kaka arrives with a good news that they have won the suit against insurance company and their claim will soon get accepted and they would remain their lost wealth. Bal then realises the divine power of God and starts believing in it.

• Sachin as Bal Inamdar
• Vandana Pandit as Veena Inamdar
• Padma Chavan as Mrs. Inamdar
• Chandrakant Mandare as Mr. Nana Inamdar
• Vasantrao Deshpande as Veena's father
• Raja Gosavi as Naru Mama
• Sharad Talwalkar as Sathe Kaka

• Ashok Saraf
• Jayshree Gadkar
• Usha Chavan
• Asha Kale
• Ramesh Bhatkar
• Shama Gosavi

The lyrics were penned by Shanta Shelke, Jagdish Khebudkar, Shantaram Nandgaonkar and Madhusudan Kalelkar. The songs were sung by Vasantrao Deshpande, Anuradha Paudwal, Rani Varma and Jaywant Kulkarni.^[6][7]

• Ashtavinayak at IMDb