# Deool Band

Deool Band (IAST: Dē'ūḷa Banda; lit. 'Temple closed') is a 2015 Indian Marathi-language drama film directed by Pravin Tarde and Pranit Kulkarni in their directorial debut. It released on 31 July 2015. It stars Gashmeer Mahajani and Girija Joshi in the lead roles, with Mohan Joshi portraying Swami Samarth–considered to be an incarnation of Lord Dattatreya. It is the story of a scientist who does not believe in god.

## Plot

Dr. Raghav Shastri (Gashmeer Mahajani), Indian by origin, is NASA's youngest scientist. He returns to his motherland, only to find out that his country is full of God worshippers. However, Raghav is not one of them. He has been specially invited by the PM to work on a radio frequency project, which will strengthen the coastal security of the country. The people in-charge of his security, receive a tip-off from their sources that a terrorist group, led by Rashida and Hafiz, have arrived in Pune to kill Raghav Shastri and cripple India's coastal security project. Subsequently, they refuse to arrange his stay at a hotel, and relocate him to a posh society in Pune. He becomes agitated to find out a temple of Swami Samarth, a God whom his parents believed in a lot, within his society premises. Raghav, who has lied to his wife Radha and daughter Popo that his mother is dead, actually has an estranged relationship with her. For so many years, he has accused her of being responsible for the death of his father Damodar Shastri. Therefore, he decides to finish his project at the earliest and leave. In ISRO, he is warmly welcomed by his superior Dr. Vyas(Mohan Agashe). However, his rival Dr. Ballar (Sunil Abhyankar) who had previously failed in this project, is agitated at his inclusion in the group. Meanwhile, during a family outing of Raghav, Hafiz tries to kill him by bombing the mall. However, he forgets the bomb in the rickshaw itself, which is later confiscated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad, who begin a hunt for Hafiz and his teammates. The night before the submission of the project to ISRO, Raghav is upset to find out a festival, dedicated to Swami Samarth, being celebrated in his society. He angrily storms at the event and makes a scene. Subsequently, he is man-handled and beaten by the residents. In retaliation, he calls up Dr. Vyas and blackmails him into shutting down the temple permanently, in exchange of the frequency project. Dr. Vyas is forced to call the police and gets the temple shut down. However, unknown to Raghav, in his absence, his daughter accidentally ends up locking his project with a password, that Raghav is unable to remember. However, the big twist happens when God Swami Samarth (Mohan Joshi) himself comes to Raghav to test his atheism. Next day, Raghav confides his problem to ISRO, who give him a deadline of 3 days to submit it or else, be ousted from the contract. Raghav's colleague Dr. Deshpande recommends the name of Dr. Satyajit(Sunil Barve), a world-class hacker to him. He asks him to go to Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, to get his project unlocked. Meanwhile Raghav's mother comes and reveals herself to her daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Raghav, reluctantly, leaves with his family for Sriharikota, without informing his security personnel. God Swami Samarth helps him recover the password by giving various hints through a pilgrimage his father was willing to complete before his death at Akkalkot.

## Cast

* Gashmeer Mahajani as Dr. Raghav Shastri
* Girija Joshi as Radha Shastri
* Mohan Joshi as Swami Samartha
* Mohan Agashe as Dr. Vyas (ISRO Head)
* Nivedita Saraf as mother of Dr. Raghav Shastri
* Shweta Shinde as Raw agent
* Sharvari Jamenis as Rashida - Terrorist
* Ramesh Pardeshi as Hafiz - Terrorist
* Satish Alekar
* Kiran Yadnyopavit as undercover RAW agent
* Jay Agarwal
* Sanket Kotkar
* Pravin Tarde as Auto Driver
* Snehal Tarde
* Arpan Sheth
* Akshay Tanksale as Informer
* Sunil Abhyankar as Dr. Ballal
* Sunil Barve as Dr. Satyajeet / Fruit seller
* Vibhavari Deshpande as South Indian woman / Worker
* Sandeep Pathak as Vallabh (Garage owner) / Pujari
* Ravindra Mahajani as Gajanan Maharaj / Purohita (Performer of Yajña)
* Mahesh Manjrekar as Fakir
* Prasad Oak as Security Person / Boat Rider
* Sushant Shelar as Car parking attendant / Politician

## Release

The film was theatrically released on 31 July 2015 on around 110 screens throughout Maharashtra.

## Box office

Deool Band topped the box office in Maharashtra and grossed over ₹8 crore (US$920,000) in the first four days from its release. It collected around ₹20 crore (US$2.3 million) in its run.