Meet Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj...

STAR India recently launched the new Marathi channel Star Pravah and has unveiled eight new shows, Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj being one of them in which Amol Khole is seen donning the avatar of the famous Maratha king.

 

Amol Khole is a doctor by profession but has done a number of Marathi shows earlier. When asked how he bagged this role he says, "I was doing a play called Chatrapathi Shivaji and was playing his younger brother, Sambhaji. It was there that I learnt about the audition of this show. 86 people were selected to audition and we were asked to perform various tasks like horse riding, sword fighting etc.  After passing all this, I was selected to play the role."

 

Giving an insight on his choice of acting as a career he says, "I was interested in acting right from my childhood. I belong to a middle class family and I had to complete my graduation before doing anything else. I scored well and hence decided to pursue medicine. I practiced in KM Hospital. Whilst I was there, one of my senior doctors encouraged me to pursue a career in acting." Is it tough playing the role of such a great historian? "I think playing the role of Shivaji is both tough as well as easy. It's easy because people already know the character, so they know what to expect. But it's tough since every person has a different perception of him and I have to match up with their expectations", he quips.

 

And what about your medical career? "I am associated with Aastha, which is an NGO and I work there as a Medical Counselor", he concludes.

Reporter and Author: Ranjini Nair