Subodh Bhave : Badshah of Biopics!

#SubodhBhave who has been a prominent personality in the #MarathiFilmIndustry has been taking his career graph higher with each new release. He takes pride in being part of the Marathi film industry and doesn’t believe in the need to be part of Hindi film industry just for the heck of it. He respects every language film, including Hindi films. Despite being part of a regional movie circuit, he has strong views on mother tongue films, just like south actors respect their own language films. He believes that Marathi films are not inferior to any films and in fact he is proud that they are respected worldwide for it’s content and issue based subjects. Subodh Bhave has always supported genuine film makers and has been part of multiple genre films. Taking a look at his #filmography, it’ll be noticed that there are hardly any genre he has not been part of. During the promotions of his latest outing, “#Phulrani”, he interacted with our Sr Editor Keerti Kadam.

With each passing year, you are getting better roles and younger heroines….
Well, I am grateful to the makers that they are offering me such movies and I do not have any complaints. In Hindi film industry Salman Khan too is doing the same so I think my presence in such roles should too get a backing. In Hindi films too, higher age bracket stars are romancing younger heroines. I am happy that I am relevant still today. Marathi audience still tolerates me (laughs). All of you do see Salman Khan films (laughs again). No but jokes apart, Salman Khan has earned that stature. He is a huge star, superstar. As far as I am concerned I urge filmmakers to make movies on older hero and a younger heroine. I want to keep working and even after twenty years hence I would love to romance younger heroines. So producers, directors, take note (Laughs).

But seriously speaking, this is not a deliberate attempt. Talking about younger heroines, they get cast according to the requirement of the script. And that applies to my roles too. I will not do a college going young guy because that won’t be justifiable. In fact it is more challenging to pull off these roles and as I enjoy playing difficult characters It’s satisfying.

Frankly, I never wanted to be an actor. I came to this industry by chance. In my college days I was keen on modelling. When I was in college I used to do fashion walk but was never given a chance because I was very skinny. The important thing about fashion walking is that when you walk the ramp, all eyes are on you. In cinema you have background score, settings, angles etc which helps performers. But on the ramp the model has to capture attention single handedly. He has to look flawless and absolutely attention grabbing. Ramp walk looks easy but it’s extremely difficult. But destiny had other things in mind and I turned to acting and it’s my life now.

‘Phulrani’ is based on an iconic Pygmalion. How you got attached to it and since when?
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw is a world famous play which was later adapted into a Hollywood film, My Fair Lady. Even noted playwright and Maharashtra’s most loved personality Pu La Deshpande adapted the same play into a Marathi Natak ‘Ti Phulrani’ which is considered a cult classic and many reputed and talented actors want to be part of that play. But our movie ‘Phulrani’ has nothing to do with the marathi play. Frankly, play and cinema are both diversely different mediums. If one wants to follow the play on screen then one might record the play. Mixing play and cinema is inappropriate. Writer, director Vishwas Joshi has based the film’s story on an original English play. He has made it more modern and has incorporated something extra from his side. There is no pressure on any one of us about the comparison.

Subodh Bhave hails from Pune and after completing his graduation from Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce in Pune he successfully acquired a Masters Degree in commerce. Like he stated he never thought of acting at that point in life, he took up a job as a salesman in an IT company in Pune. But something was amiss and he came to Mumbai and later moved to acting. After doing a few films, his Sanai Chaughade, which was a multi star-cast as such, became a huge hit. Take a look at the actors the film had, Subodh Bhave, Shreyas Talpade, Saie Tamhankar, Santosh Juvekar, Shilpa Tulaskar, Tushar Dalvi, Bharti Achrekar, Chinmay Mandlekar, Anita Date – Kelkar. All of them are very big star-actors at this juncture. Subodh turned director with Katyar Kaljat Ghusali and received immense support from the audiences.

Katyar Kaljat Ghusali, in which Sachin Pilgaonkar debuted as an antagonist and singer Shankar Mahadevan debuted as an actor, depicts the story of the art of music suffering, which is uncannily narrated by a Dagger (Katyar). It was based on a famous play by the same name and Subodh Bhave hit the bull’s eye in his very first directorial venture. In his illustrious career some of the films stand out. Ani ….Dr Kashinath Ghanekar was based on the life of Maharashtra’s most loved actor Kashinath Ghanekar. His life was full of controversies but there was a time he ruled Marathi Natak arena by having Housefull boards most of the time. The film had Subodh Bhave playing Dr Ghanekar and Abhijit Deshpande debuted as a director. This movie too rattled the box office. Fashion designer turned director Vikram Phadnis’ debut directorial Marathi film ‘Hrudayantar’ had Mukta Barve and Subodh Bhave playing leads. Subodh played a role of an estranged husband but a doting father to their only daughter battling cancer.

Another biopic which brought Subodh Bhave into limelight was ‘Lokmanya – Ek Yug Purush’ which was based on the life of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a social reformer and the one of the original freedom fighters of the Indian independence movement. Om Raut debuted as a director with this film who later directed ‘Tanhaji’ starring Ajay Devgn. Another play which was adapted into a film was ‘Savita Damodar Paranjpe’ which had Subodh Bhave playing the main role. Incidentally it was produced by handsome hunk John Abraham. Before that Subodh Bhave won hearts with his portrayal of Bal Gandharva. Bal Gandharva is a biopic of singer and stage actor Narayan Shripad Rajhans, famously known as Bal Gandharva. The female characters that he has played have been immortalised in history. Director Ravi Jadhav who had dished out an extremely successful film ‘Natarang’, made ‘Sound of Heaven: The Story of Bal Gandharva’ with Subodh Bhave in the role of Bal Gandharva. In earlier times when females were not allowed or available to act in plays, male artists used to play female parts. And Bal Gandharva was the most loved actor in female roles. In fact he used to look so beautiful in that get up that many wanted to marry him. Subodh aced the role and won laurels. Veteran actor Nana Patekar is very stingy in offering compliments. But after watching Subodh playing Bal Gandharva, he praised him no end. This proves how well Subodh must have portrayed that character. The film had won the National Award. Subodh Bhave turned producer with Pushpak Vimaan. And under his production house, Kanha’s Magic, several television serials are being produced.

Your last outing, Vaalvi, is a smash hit. Your views on that.
I am just a small part of Vaalvi. The entire credit for the success of the film goes to it’s director Paresh Mokashi and writer Madhugandha Kulkarni. It’s their labour of love and I, Swapnil Joshi, Shivani Surve and Anita Date – Kelkar played parts in it following the director’s vision. It’s again a reminder that good films do get audiences’ backing. But only one or two films running successfully isn’t enough.

You have played a variety of roles in numerous films. Are you partial to Biopics or historicals?
(Tongue-in-Cheek) No one offers me anything, so I get myself cast in biopics. But seriously, I like to explore various subjects. Whether it’s a biopic, a family drama or even a Masala film. I am game for any genre as far my character has something important to do in it. I do not entangle myself in anything particular. I always look out for something I haven’t explored earlier. I look for challenges in the characters and enjoy portraying exigent characters. Another aspect is I do not unnecessarily get bogged down by R & D of any role. I accept film only if I like the script. Then I trust my director’s vision. I don’t go beyond his perception because he has cinema in mind in totality. If I want to do a thing differently, I do it, but with the director’s permission. I always try to be true to the writer’s writing and the sphere of the director.

In recent times Subodh Bhave played Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in a historical ‘Har Har Mahadev’ which was made from the point of view of his loyal warrior soldier Bajiprabhu Deshpande which was played by Sharad Kelkar. Incidentally Sharad Kelkar has portrayed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s role in ‘Tanhaji’.

How did you manage to play Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj?
Initially I was sceptical about matching the physicality of Maharaj. But Shivaji Maharaj’s history is 400 years old and more than the physical aspects his ideology is of utmost important. Then I trusted the vision of the director Abhijit Deshpande. So I decided not to pressurise myself about the physicality and concentrate on the teachings and the doctrine of the great Maratha warrior King. Before start of the shoot, any shoot, my mind is full of various thoughts, sometimes nervous too. But on the day of the shoot I channelise all those thoughts in a singular tunnel and perform which helps me get over any anxieties present.

Moreover I believe in trusting my director. His passion should be visible in his eyes and actions then I become comfortable. I do not discriminate between a new or an old director. I gauge the director’s ‘madness’ towards his film. Likewise the script is the most important part so I talk to the writer to understand his way of thinking about the character. Frankly I do not ask for the script. During ‘Phulrani’ too director Vishwas Joshi shared his idea to me and I was in the project since then. Priyadarshini Indalkar, Sushant Shelar, Gaurav More, Gaurav Ghatnekar, Milind Shinde etc came on board later on. There’s late Vikram Gokhale too in the film, which unfortunately is his last film. His character was specially created and incorporated in the film and father-son generation gap is beautifully weaved in it and it’s worth watching.

‘Badshah of Biopics’, Subodh Bhave is coming up with another film which is an adaptation of a Marathi classic play ‘Sangeet Manapman’.