Juna Furniture (Marathi) - "Unpaid" Movie Review

TL;DR - It is a must watch provided you don't have a troubled relationship with your parents. It is a bit dramatic / logically wrong in a couple of places which can be forgiven for everything else the movie offers. There is witty and situational humour too despite the serious theme. It is mostly for a mature audience. For a closest match in theme look at another Marathi movie named Natsamrat starring Nana Patekar. That one brought a tear to my eye. If you liked that, you are sure to like this.

Long Version -
The premise of the movie is what the trailer tells you - a father taking his son to court over negligence that led to his mother's death. While most people are quite attached to their parents, some have disconnected / broken relations with them for various reasons. If you are in the latter category, the movie will be painful to watch since it is made from a parents' perspective (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that perspective). You probably need to be born before the early 90s to appreciate this movie.

Mahesh Manjrekar's acting is amazing. He's the director and writer too. By the way, he's the same guy who directed the Sanjay Dutt starrer Vaastav which is a gem of a movie. In this movie, he's a stickler for righteousness which brings up very entertaining scenes. There are a few short monologues where he tears apart Instagram and the whole concept of influencers/followers and another where he rips into how cellphones will destroy the world. A particular scene where he recounts how parents feel ignored by kids who rarely visit them and spend their time glued to their phones hit me personally. Another one where he laments how kids snipe at their old parents for repeating something more than once while ignoring that they did the same during childhood was a gut punch too.

I personally came out of the movie realizing I can be a better son to my parents. I think that says enough about the movie. The supporting starcast has veterans of Marathi film industry and each play their role to a tee. Shivaji Satam and Sachin Khedekar as the judges, Upendra Limaye as a local henchman honcho, Girish Oak and Sharad Ponkshe as lawyers were all perfect. Only the casting of the wife Suhas was questionable and especially her old age make-up.

The movie has a twist in the second half which I am not going to reveal. So, there is suspense too. The movie ends on a positive note and thankfully doesn't leave you in tears like Natsamrat did. If you watch it with your parents, I am sure they will love it, laugh along and might even give you a few stares / taunts.

By the way, in matrimonial slang, the groom's parents are disrespectfully referred to as 'old furniture' and thus the title since old means juna in Marathi.