Balak-Palak (meaning Children-Parents) (BP) is a 2013 Marathi language comedy-drama film on the topic of sex education. The film is directed by Ravi Jadhav and produced by Riteish Deshmukh, Uttung Thakur and Ravi Jadhav. This is the first film produced by actor Riteish Deshmukh. The story was written by Ganesh Pandit and Amber Hadap. Balak Palak was shot by Mahesh Limaye.
The initials formed by the title of the film (BP) also make a secondary reference to a 'blue picture' or low-quality pornographic videos that were available on videotape in the 1980s in South Asia. The film deals with the topic of sex education of adolescents and is rated UA (Parental Guidance). With the positive reviews the film received, Deshmukh planned to make a Hindi remake of the film. This film was supposed to be remade into Tamil and Telugu by Director Srikanth Velagaleti. The movie was the inspiration for Malayalam film Swarnamalsyangal directed by popular quizmaster G S Pradeep. The film was released with English subtitles, where Shivkumar Parthasarathy did the subtitling.
Cast
Shashwati Pimplikar as Dolly Gavaskar
Madan Deodhar as Bhagya/Bhagyesh Rege
Bhagyashree Shankpal as Chiu/Aarti Puranik
Rohit Phalke as Avya/Avinash Gandhe
Prathamesh Parab as Vishu
Kishor Kadam as Kadam Kaka
Avinash Narkar as Vidyadhar Gandhe, Avinash's father
Sai Tamhankar as Neha Sawant
Vishakha Subhedar as Pednekar Kaku
Supriya Pathare as Mrs. Puranik, Aarti's mother
Anand Ingale as Pandharinath Rege, Bhagyesh's father
Anand Abhyankar as Ashok Gavaskar, Dolly's father
Madhavi Juvekar as Mrs. Gavaskar, Dolly's mother
Subodh Bhave as older Avya
Amruta Subhash as older Dolly
Satish Tare as Ramesh
Dhanashree Parab as Sampada
Music
The songs of the film are composed by the duo Vishal–Shekhar. Known for their music compositions in Bollywood films, this is the first Marathi film venture of the duo.
The track "Harvali Pakhare" was remade in Hindi by the same team, with lyricist Manoj Muntashir filling in as a replacement for Guru Thakur, as the song "Kehkasha Tu Meri" in the 2016 film Akira.
Reception
The film was screened at the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) in New York City in November 2012.
The newspaper Daily News and Analysis gave 3.5 stars out of 5 in their review and called it a "must watch for parents!" The newspaper Mint appreciated Jadhav for the direction of the film and keeping it on a UA-rated course despite the boldness of the subject".
Feature
On 3 January 2013, Riteish Deshmukh announced they were planning a Hindi remake of Balak Palak.