Johnny in a Marathi Movie!!

Pune, November 3: Marathi might not be their mother tongue but that does not stop them from using the language to express themselves artistically, be it on celluloid or on the stage. The number of non-Marathi actors and directors in the Marathi film and theatre industry is growing and in turn, raising the bar for others.

The king of comedy Johnny Lever hails from Andhra Pradesh but has been seen in several Marathi films — Bhootacha Bhau, Khatarnak, Ghanchakkar. "I was born and brought up in Mumbai and hence have an affinity for the language. I will continue doing Marathi films."

Theatre too has been witness to non-Marathi actors and directors effecting a change. Veteran directors like Satyadev Dubey and Jayadev Hattangadi — they speak Hindi and Konkani respectively — chose Marathi theatre almost right after completing their studies at the National School of Drama, New Delhi.

"I got acquainted with Marathi actress Sulabha Deshpande and her sisters at the Calcutta Festival and they helped me with my play Andayug. Our madness for Marathi theatre was common and so, we started working together," says Dubey, whose first play was Aadhe Adhure.

Hattangadi, on the other hand is no stranger to Marathi, having been brought up in Mumbai. "My interest in theatre made me direct plays in Marathi." His directorial venture was Changuna (good qualities), a Marathi adaptation of Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca's 'Yerma'.

Now, having trained and being the creative mentor to several Marathi actors — Sayaji Shinde, Ashwini Bhave, Pratima Kulkarni, Mahesh Manjrekar and Kishore Kadam — over the years, he says: "Marathi actors are very dedicated and have a lot of passion for their work and hence I enjoy working with them."

Having composed jingles and music for Hindi serials for long, 'doing' music for a Marathi film was a challenge but the reviews that Pak Pak Pakaak received was encouragement enough for Ashish Rego and K C Loy. Rego, who also is the producer of the film has enjoying the experience. "Having done a lot of western numbers, it was a challenge to tune and direct Marathi music. I learnt to play the folk instruments — dholki, lezim, dhol — for it."

Says Loy: "It is easier to work with the Marathi industry as it is smaller than Bollywood. We are now working on another Marathi movie — Aai No 1 — which will be released by the end of this year."