Women filmmakers are a rarity in cinema. More so in regional cinema. In Marathi, Sushma Shiromanee stood out when she successfully produced a few films and cracked that elusive formula of delivering a hit film. She also directed one Hindi and 2 Marathi films.

Fatakdi is an out and out masala film. It uses time tested elements like lost and found, revenge, romance, comedy, not to forget hit songs and special appearances by Hindi stars including Rekha to catch the audience’s attention. There is never a dull moment. The film is directed by Datta Keshav.

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The Plot

The plot is predictable. The film starts with a court hearing concerning a land dispute between Narayan (Dr. Shreeram Lagoo) and Damu Sawkar (Nilu Phule). Damu Sawkar is accused of forcibly grabbing the land. Both parties present their claims in this regard. The judge rules in Narayan’s favour. An overjoyed Narayan goes to the local temple to seek the diety’s blessings. There he meets Damu Sawkar with his henchmen including Viju Khote. Damu Sawkar can’t accept the verdict which he treats as his insult. He considers himself the ruler of the village and things need to happen as per his will.

Narayan arrives home to share the good news with his wife Laxmi (Usha Kiran). Laxmi is desperately awaiting his return. They have 2 children. The son is Shirpa and daughter Indi. Laxmi is relieved to hear the news. They start cultivating the land and are blessed with a good crop.

The couple sing a duet Dharni aaichi maya while sharing this blissful moment. Also, Diwali is around the corner, and Narayan celebrates it with full force that year. On the other hand, Damu Sawkar is still licking his wounds and unable to enjoy the festive period. He is hoping to teach Narayan a lesson soon.

Out of frustration, Damu Swakar tries to damage the standing crop in Narayan’s field. But Narayan intervenes and asks him to leave.

As this is a lost and found drama, there has to be a subplot involving a birth mark or tattoo for easy identification. In this case it is a tattoo on Indi’s arm. Point to be noted!

Back to the story. A major tragedy awaits the happy family. Events happen in quick succession. Damu Sawkar goes after Narayan and forcefully tries to get the land documents signed and transferred in his favour. When Narayan refuses, he tortures him and eventually kills him. Shirpa tries to intervene and manages to kill Viju Khote with an axe. The mother Laxmi takes the blame on herself and is arrested by the police. She asks Shirpa to run away. The boy loiters in the mountains where he is captured by some dacoits. The sardar of the dacoits adopts him and names him Ranu Singh.

And what about Indi, the daughter? The poor girl is left alone wandering when she meets a childless couple engaged in the Kadaklaxmi tradition. They decide to take her with them. They will return her if the parents are traced and come looking for her. Of course, this doesn’t happen and she is brought up like their daughter.

So Indi grows up as a Kadaklaxmi performer. She sings, dances, whips herself and earns money for her family. She is now called Fatakdi (Sushma Shiromanee) and lives up to her name which means firecracker. 🧨

She gives her introduction through the song…Aali Fatakdi.

Other characters have grown up too. Her brother Shirpa / Ranu is a successful dacoit (played by Yeshwant Dutt). He is the new sardar after his foster father passes away.

Damu Sawkar’s son is Ramesh Deo. He is as spoilt as he can be. He has his eyes on Fatakdi but she knows how to keep him at bay. Pratap is getting married soon. The dacoits crash the marriage celebrations. Fearless Fatakdi tries to challenge them single handedly. She comes face to face with Ranu alias Shirpa. She doesn’t know he is her brother and vice versa. He praises her courage and leaves.

A random character called Bawlya (Ashok Saraf) is introduced suddenly. He behaves like an idiot and wants to be romantically involved with Fatakdi.

In between we see some masala elements popping up. There is a Ganpati celebration song (Ganpatichya mhora saare naachu gaauya) featuring Bhagwan and Kaajal Kiran in special appearances. And later, a lavani performance by Rekha!

Laxmi is released from jail early on account of good conduct. She goes to the village. She knows she has lost her husband and children. When she visits her farmland, she blurts out it is her land. Damu Sawkar and Pratap hear this and try to shoo her off. Laxmi and Damu Sawkar recognize each other. Damu Sawkar tells her that he is the rightful owner of the land and has the documents to prove it. Laxmi refuses to accept this.

Pratap pulls and pushes Laxmi and attempts to throw her out. Fatakdi steps in and saves Laxmi. She insults Pratap and takes Laxmi to her house for a meal. Fatakdi’s foster mother (played by Leela Gandhi) shouts at her for bringing strangers to the house and feeding them. A helpless Laxmi leaves quietly and settles in the temple.

Laxmi and Fatakdi meet again. They can feel the unknown connection between them. Laxmi tells her about Damu Sawkar and the document he claims to have in his possession. Fatakdi promises to serach for it. For this, she goes to Damu Sawkar’s house. She cooks up a story to convince the father and son that she is on their side. She is successful and is employed as a servant under the supervision of Pratap’s wife (played by Maya Jadhav).

One day, Damu Sawkar and Pratap’s wife leave to attend a wedding. Pratap is alone and waiting for this opportunity. He tries to molest Fatakdi but Ranu the dacoit arrives suddenly. He remembers Damu Sawkar very well and has been itching to seek revenge for his father’s murder all these years. He shoots Pratap. At the same time, the police arrive. The police inspector is none other than Bawlya. He was behaving like a simpleton but was actually on the lookout for the dacoits.

There are more songs as the story moves towards the climax…Herla ga herla ga and Aai mazi devi mazhi.

What will happen next? Will the family connections be revealed? Will Ranu be arrested by the police? And what about Damu Sawkar? Will justice prevail?

The Music

The music did well. Jagdish Khebudkar (lyricist) and Bal Palsule (music director) team up for some hit numbers. Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle lend their voices. The evergreen song is undoubtedly Kutha kutha jayache honeymoonla featuring Rekha.

My Thoughts

Sushma Shiromanee is the gutsy producer as well as the lead actress. She performs the role of Fatakdi in full spirit and is a complete package. The production values are good. She shrewdly casts many well known names like Shreeram Lagoo, Nilu Phule, Usha Kiran, Ramesh Deo, Yeshwant Dutt and Ashok Saraf who perform on expected lines. The appearance of the Hindi stars is a good strategy and adds that extra flavour. Overall, Fatakdi is an entertaining film and credit to Sushma Shiromanee for her efforts.