For Mahesh Manjrekar, friendship occupies a different status in his life. His close friend Sachin Khedekar and he not just started their careers together, the actor also plays the lead role within the filmmaker’s forthcoming Marathi project.
In fact, it was Khedekar’s idea to make this film within the first place. Speaking in their 25-year-old friendship, Manjrekar nostalgically says, “When we started off within theatre, we faced difficult days. Finding work was next to impossible since we both didn’t have any godfather in the industry. He turned to TV and that i continued doing plays.”
‘Salman’s a real friend’
Speaking about his other 4 am friends from the industry, the director refers to Salman Khan and Sanjay Gupta rather fondly.
Mahesh calls Salman a ‘true friend’ and likewise probably the most misunderstood person by the media. “He’s a type of guys who will come to your rescue it doesn't matter what. On this industry, he redefines the idea that of friendship. I THINK lucky, ” he says.
A tale of 2 Sanjays
Director Sanjay Gupta is another close friend. “Even if he calls me in the course of the night to do a film, I won’t say no.” But his tone changes when former buddy Sanjay Dutt’s name is mentioned. “We haven’t spoken to one another in additional than two years now, ” he gravely adds.
Cause for celebration
Elaborating on his forthcoming film where Khedekar plays lead, Manjrekar refers to it as ‘the best film of my life till date’. According to him, this film completes the trilogy, with Astitva and Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy being the primary two installations (both featured Khedekar).
Incidentally, the film is because of release tomorrow, with today marking the centenary of Indian cinema (Dada Saheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra released this day, exactly 100 years ago).
Speaking in regards to the collection of his release date, Mahesh says, “It was pre-planned, yes. But it’s also a tribute to experiments that are going down within the Marathi film industry. As of now, regional cinema is where originality lies.”
On the opposite hand, he’s vocally critical of Bollywood. He blames the creative vacuum on self-imposed regression.
“Earlier, Hindi filmmakers used to take a look at the West for ‘inspiration’ and steal blindly. Nowadays, they're busy picking up scripts from South India. In some cases, it’s a remake of a remake! How worse can it get?”
Courtesy: Mid-Day.com
