The much-awaited Marathi movie ‘Habaddi’ is all set to have its OTT premiere. Helmed by Nachiket Samant, the plot revolves around a 10-year-old boy named Manya. He is ready to do whatever it takes to meet the girl he loves. Even if it takes his participation in his village school’s Kabaddi team, going to Mumbai to compete in a Kabaddi competition. But here’s the twist. Our little Manya stammers. How will he play the game without stammering so much?
Samant debuted with Marathi film, Gachchi, released in 2017. The movie received positive reviews from critics with special praises directed at the performances of Abhay Mahajan and Priya Bapat. He last helmed Saqib Saleem and Shweta Basu Prasad’s ZEE5 movie, Comedy Couple.
Habaddi premiered on the opening night of the Melbourne Indian Film Festival 2020. Now, it is ready for its premiere on ZEE Marathi on July 17. And then, it will hit the Netflix streaming service a day later.
Apart from his directing duties, Samant also wrote the film’s screenplay along with Yogesh Vinayak Joshi. On the other hand, Saragama India served as its producer. It stars Rupesh Bane, Karan Dave, Niranjan Javir, Jayesh Kardak, Mayur Khandge, Vedshree Mahajan, and Arya Naik.
Samant revealed in an interview, “Habaddi’ is essentially an underdog’s story and yes, there are shades of ‘Oliver Twist’ and also a Chaplinesque quality that evokes smiles, tears but most importantly hope.”
“With the game of Kabaddi as the central theme, the film is about rising against all the odds and will teach people that nobody is ever weak or broken. The message of ‘Habaddi’ is that all of us can become the heroes of our own stories,” the director added.
Nachiket Samant’s Habaddi will release on Netflix on July 18. Stay tuned for more updates.