The film begins on a dark night with the car of a notorious crime lord, Tatya Vinchu, and his sidekick, Kubdya Khavis, approaching the cave of a magician named Baba Chamatkar in Mumbai. Tatya Vinchu threatens Baba Chamatkar for the "Mrityunjay Mantra", a voodoospell that can transfer the chanter's soul into any living or non-living object, and Baba Chamatkar unwillingly provides Tatya Vinchu the mantra out of fear. Soon after, CIDInspector Mahesh Jadhav, who has been working on his mission to capture Tatya Vinchu, raids his warehouse and pursues him until Tatya Vinchu and Kubdya Khavis hide in a nearby post office. At the post office, Mahesh gets into a combat with Kubdya Khavis and ends up shooting Tatya Vinchu fatally in the chest in encounter. With the last breath, Tatya Vinchu discovers the parcel of a ventriloquist's puppet lying on the floor in the post office, and uses the mantra provided by Baba Chamatkar to enable his soul to possess the puppet. Meanwhile, Mahesh arrests Kubdya Khavis for his crimes and believes that Tatya Vinchu is finally dead.
A few days later, Mahesh's employer, Superintendent Jairam Ghatge, gets transferred to the village of Shrirangpur, Maharashtra and at the same time, his young daughter, Gauri, arrives in India from the USA to pursue doctor of philosophy in criminal psychology. Gauri meets her younger brother, Laxmikant Bolke, also known as Lakshya, who lives with his widowed mother, Parubai, in Shrirangpur and is a shopkeeper. Lakshya is also in a relationship with Aavdi, the daughter of Constable Tukaram, who has fixed her marriage with Constable Sakharam against her wishes. Due to his fondness for ventriloquism, Gauri sends Lakshya a puppet from the USA through courier but unfortunately, the puppet turns out to be the same one which is possessed by Tatya Vinchu. The puppet reveals himself to be Tatya Vinchu to Lakshya, who, however, believes it to be containing an audio tape recorder for the puppet being imported.
Later, Lakshya and Parubai's landlord, Dhanajirao Dhanavte, is offended after being publicly insulted by Lakshya via puppetry. Under the pretext of unpaid rent, Dhanajirao has all the furniture in Lakshya and Parubai's house (including the puppet of Tatya Vinchu) confiscated and stored in his warehouse. Shocked at learning this, Lakshya decides to teach Dhanajirao a lesson and angrily storms off to his warehouse. Meanwhile, Tatya Vinchu reveals his identity to Dhanajirao in the warehouse and threatens to kill him with a sickle, causing a horrified Dhanajirao to die of heart failure. In the moments immediately after Dhanajirao's death, Lakshya reaches the warehouse and is shocked to discover Dhanajirao dead, realising that the puppet of Tatya Vinchu is indeed a living thing. Just then, Mahesh too arrives at the scene with Gauri and the police, and arrests Lakshya for believing him to have committed Dhanajirao's murder in a fit of rage. In prison, Lakshya desperately tries to explain that the culprit is Tatya Vinchu, not him, but Mahesh refuses to believe him and considers him to be mentally ill. The next day, however, Dhanajirao's postmortem reports prove Lakshya innocent and he is released from prison by Mahesh.
Meanwhile, the puppet of Tatya Vinchu travels to Mumbai and meets with Baba Chamatkar, demanding him to explain to him how to migrate into a human form. Baba Chamatkar initially refuses to do so, but when Tatya Vinchu threatens to kill him, Baba Chamatkar explains to him that he must transfer his soul into the human body of the person whom he has confessed his identity first and that person is Lakshya. On learning this, Tatya Vinchu returns to Shrirangpur during the festival of Holi with the intention of possess Lakshya's body. One night, Tatya Vinchu enters Lakshya's house through the window and tries to chant the mantra on him, but Lakshya manages to lock him up inside the closet. The next morning, Aavdi takes the puppet of Tatya Vinchu out from the closet and buries it underground, but Tatya Vinchu succeeds in coming out by digging from inside, much to Lakshya's fear. Tukaram and Sakharam believe Lakshya to be mentally unstable and forcefully take him into a mental hospital in Shrirangpur.
That night, Gauri takes the puppet of Tatya Vinchu to her house when Tatya Vinchu reveals his true identity and attacks Gauri, who manages to escape from him, horrified, and meets Mahesh to inform him the reality about Tatya Vinchu. Having received the whereabouts of Baba Chamatkar's cave, Mahesh and Gauri arrive and confront Baba Chamatkar, who reveals that the only way to kill Tatya Vinchu is to shoot him right between his two eyebrows. Meanwhile, Tatya Vinchu tries to enter the mental hospital through the window to reach out to Lakshya, scaring Lakshya enough to escape from the mental hospital back to his house in the middle of the night. Tatya Vinchu then meets Kubdya Khavis, who has escaped from prison, and the two barge into Lakshya's house and capture him and Parubai. However, Mahesh arrives at the scene with Gauri on time and frees Lakshya and Parubai from the clutches of Tatya Vinchu and Kubdya Khavis.
In the ensuing fight, Tatya Vinchu pursues Lakshya up to the roof to possess his body. Mahesh injures Kubdya Khavis and reaches up to the roof, but Tatya Vinchu nearly drops Mahesh down the roof, leaving him hanging on its edge, and begins chanting the mantra on Lakshya. Just as Tatya Vinchu is about to utter the last verse, Mahesh manages to get back on the roof and uses his gun to shoot Tatya Vinchu right between his two eyebrows. The puppet falls down the roof, now lifeless, and the police arrest Kubdya Khavis once again. Finally, Tukaram and Jairam also agree for Lakshya and Mahesh's marriages with Aavdi and Gauri, respectively. The film ends with a renowned ventriloquist and puppeteer, Ramdas Padhye, presenting Lakshya a new puppet as a bravery award, and Lakshya screaming at Mahesh due to his fear of puppets since the incident of Tatya Vinchu.
Dinkar Inamdar as Dhanajirao Dhanavte (Lakshya and Parubai's landlord)
Ramdas Padhye in a cameo appearance as himself in the ending scene
Production
Inspiration
This film was inspired from the 1988 Hollywood movie Child's Play, a film by Don Macini. It was a horror film. As in Zapatlela, it opens with a serial killer (Charles Lee Ray) transferring his soul into a doll, Chucky after being shot dead by a police officer, and is given to a child, Andy Barclay, who is not believed to when he claims that the doll is alive. Chucky goes to meet his old voodoo master John in a similar manner Tatya Vinchu confronts Baba Chamatkar and learns that the only way to become human again is transferring his soul into the body of the first person he told his true name to, who happens to be Andy, which puts him in the same danger Lakshya is subjected to by the living doll. Tatya is also shot dead by the same police officer that originally killed his human self after the cop was instructed by John that Chucky's weakness is his heart, just like how Baba does by telling Mahesh to shoot Tatya between his eyebrows to kill him.[7]
Development and casting
Mahesh Kothare said he wrote the story of Zapatlela in a hotel room in a week. Name of the main antagonist, notorious criminal Tatya Vinchu, Kothare developed from the amalgamation of his make-up man's name 'Tatya' and 'Red Scorpion', which he had seen in his childhood.[8] The evil puppet Tatya Vinchu and Lakshya's naughtiest puppet Ardhavatrao are both created and operated by Ramdas Padhye, a ventriloquist.[9] The voice of Ardhvatrao was dubbed by Ramdas Padhye. Dilip Prabhavalkar performed the voiceover for Tatya Vinchu puppet.[10]
Laxmikant Berde signed in the lead role, making his fifth collaboration with Mahesh Kothare. Kothare wrote the role of Gauri with Nivedita Joshi-Saraf in mind, but turned down the offer due to she got married and the offer went to Kishori Ambiye. Priya Arun was the first choice for the role of Aavdi but she also turned down and the offer went to Pooja Pawar.[11]Dilip Prabhavalkar made a cameo appearance in the role of Tatya Vinchu, the antagonist in the film.[10]
Ventriloquism is an act of stagecraft in which a person speaks in such a way that it looks like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing, and in English it is commonly called the ability to "throw" one's voice.
Laxmikant Berde was an Indian Marathi language film actor who appeared in Marathi and Hindi movies. Known for his highly energetic slapstick performances, Berde started his career as an employee in the production company Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh and then played supporting roles in a few Marathi stage plays. In 1983–84, he first became famous with the Marathi play Tur Tur.
Pachadlela is a 2004 Indian Marathi-language comedy horror film directed and produced by Mahesh Kothare under the banner of Jenna Films International, the film stars Bharat Jadhav, Shreyas Talpade, Laxmikant Berde, Vandana Gupte, Dilip Prabhawalkar. The music is composed by Anil Mohile and VFX by Binoy Samuel.
De Danadan is a 1987 Indian Marathi-language action comedy film directed and produced by Mahesh Kothare under the banner of Jenma Films International. The film stars Laxmikant Berde, Mahesh Kothare, Nivedita Joshi, Prema Kiran, Jairam Kulkarni, Deepak Shirke and Ambar Kothare.
Mahesh Ambar Kothare is an Indian film actor, director and producer of Marathi and Hindi films. He started his acting career as child artist. Kothare acted in well-known movies such as Raja Aur Runk, Chhota Bhai, Mere Laal, and Ghar Ghar ki Kahani. The well known Hindi song Tu Kitni Achhi Hain from the film Raja Aur Runk features Kothare as Master Mahesh.
Ek Hota Vidushak is a 1992 Marathi film directed by Jabbar Patel and produced by National Film Development Corporation of India. The film stars Laxmikant Berde, Madhu Kambikar, Nilu Phule, Varsha Usgaonkar in lead roles and Mohan Agashe and Dilip Prabhavalkar in supporting roles.
Zapatlela 2 is a 2013 Indian Marathi-language horror comedy thriller film written and directed by Mahesh Kothare. Produced by Kothare and Kothare Vision, it was distributed by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. A sequel to the 1993 film Zapatlela, it stars Adinath Kothare, Sonalee Kulkarni, Mahesh Kothare, Makarand Anaspure, Sai Tamhankar, Madhu Kambikar, Vijay Chavan, Deepak Shirke, and features Dilip Prabhavalkar providing the voice for Tatya Vinchu. This film is notable for being the first Marathi movie shot entirely with a 3D camera. Mahesh Kothare has also announced plans for a third installment, set for theatrical release in 2025.
Adinath Kothare is an Indian actor, producer, and director, who predominantly works in Marathi films. His directorial debut film, 'Paani', won the 'National Film Award for Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation' at the 66th National Film Awards and also won him the 'Best Actor' award at the New York Indian Film Festival. His father, Mahesh Kothare, is a veteran film director of Marathi films.
Dhum Dhadaka is a 1985 Indian Marathi-language comedy buddy film directed and produced by Mahesh Kothare under the production banner of Jenma Films International. The film stars an ensemble cast of Ashok Saraf, Mahesh Kothare, Laxmikant Berde, Nivedita Joshi, Surekha Rane, Prema Kiran and Sharad Talwalkar. The film is a remake of the Tamil movie Kadhalikka Neramillai (1964), which was also remade earlier in Telugu as Preminchi Choodu (1965), in Hindi as Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966) and in Kannada as Preethi Madu Thamashe Nodu (1979).
Khabardaar is a 2005 Marathi-language comedy film produced and directed by Mahesh Kothare and starring Bharat Jadhav, Sanjay Narvekar and Nirmiti Sawant.
Thartharat (transl. Tremble) is a 1989 Indian Marathi-language action comedy film co-written and directed by Mahesh Kothare and produced by Arvind Samant. The film stars Mahesh Kothare, Laxmikant Berde, Nivedita Joshi, Priya Arun, Deepak Shirke, Jairam Kulkarni and Rahul Solapurkar. The music was composed by Anil Mohile.
Dhadakebaaz (transl. Powerful) is a 1990 Indian Marathi-language action comedy film directed and produced by Mahesh Kothare under Jenma Films International. The film stars Laxmikant Berde in a dual role with Mahesh Kothare, Deepak Shirke, Prajakta Kulkarni, Ashwini Bhave, Bipin Varti, Ravindra Berde, and Chandrakant Pandya.
Majha Chakula is a 1994 Indian Marathi-language drama film directed by Mahesh Kothare. It stars Adinath Kothare (debut), Nivedita Joshi, Laxmikant Berde, Mahesh Kothare and Bipin Varti. The film was remade in Hindi as Masoom by same director.
Tatya Vinchu, also known as Tatya Bichoo, is a fictional character and antagonist from the Marathi-language comedy horror Zapatlela franchise. The character was created by Mahesh Kothare, designed by Ramdas Padhye, and is voiced by Dilip Prabhavalkar. Tatya Vinchu is a possessed puppet searching for the son Adinath Bolke of his previous prey Laxmikant Bolke, aiming to become human.
Lek Chalali Sasarla is a 1984 Indian Marathi-language drama film directed by N. S. Vaidya in his directorial debut. The film is produced by Annasaheb Deulgaonkar, who co-wrote screenplay and dialogues with N. G. Karmarkar. The film stars Mahesh Kothare, Alka Kubal, Laxmikant Berde. The film is about the problem of bride–burning for dowry has created a stir all over Maharashtra.
Khatarnak (transl. Dangerous) is a 2000 Indian Marathi-language action comedy film directed by Mahesh Kothare and produced by Vidya Bacchewar featuring Mahesh Kothare, Laxmikant Berde, Johnny Lever, Bharat Jadhav, Avinash Narkar, Nutan Jayant, Aarti Chandorkar, Sadashiv Amrapurkar in lead roles. The music is composed by Raamlaxman.
Ramdas Padhye is an Indian ventriloquist, puppeteer and puppet maker. He has performed in India and abroad for five decades. Ramdas did his first TV debut in 1972 along with his puppet 'Ardhavatrao' when Doordarshan called him to do a 15-minute show.
Kavtya Mahakal is a fictional antagonist from the 1990 Indian Marathi action-comedy film Dhadakebaaz. Created by Mahesh Kothare, the character was portrayed by Bipin Varti and Chandrakant Pandya, along with eight other uncredited actors. The name Kavtya Mahakal was inspired by Kavathe Mahankal, a village in the Sangli district of Maharashtra. Kothare cast Gujarati actor and friend Chandrakant Pandya after a chance encounter, and Pandya's creative input greatly contributed to the character's popularity, even though he remained largely unrecognized during his lifetime.
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