#Actor#-writer # Girish Kulkarni turns #director

Girish Kulkarni 

The national award winning actor cum writer has proved his mettle through landmark films like Valu,Gandha,Vihir,Deool and Gabhricha Paus and Masala.

The multifacted actor cum writer who is best known for his powerhouse performances and ability of telling a story in an engaging manner is now making his debut in direction through Marathi film "Jau Dya Na Balasaheb".

Girish has written the story of the film and also plays the main protagonist in the film.

Jau Dya Na Balasaheb is produced by Ajay-Atul, Prashant Pethe, Poonam Shende, Vinay Ganu and Umesh Kulkarni.

When asked about his decision of venturing into direction,Girish says“ Before entering into films,I used
to write, direct and act in plays,so direction was not new to me. But Cinema is a different medium and since my friend Umesh Kulkarni has been formally trained in filmmaking and I am an untrained filmaker, so it was natural that Umesh had directed most of the movies that we have directed in the past .But when I wrote the story of Jau dya na Balasaheb,Umesh encouraged me into directing this film single handedly".

Girish's look in the film Jau Dya Balasaheb

Girish also added ,in order to direct a film it is very necessary that one should like the story and the urge to direct the film should come from within. “I always wanted to know the problems and pains the director goes through during making of a film. Plus when you take the whole responsibility of a film, you get to learn so much from the entire process of filmmaking. I got to
learn in detail about all the technical aspect of filmmaking such as production, editing, mixing, and post-production, sound et al. I had great fun learning these technicalities. “He reminisces.

Girish confesses that acting and directing at the same time was a bit difficult. However he also says“since I had already written
screenplay it didn’t clash with direction and acting.But giving equal attention to both acting and direction was tad challenging. Fortunately I had a great team of artists and technicians working along with me. At times,I used to feel that I am unable to give enough attention to acting due to my responsibilties as a director. Although, it was a bit hectic at times,but it gave me total satisfaction and joy.” Says Girish with a smile.


Talking about the challenges he faced during making of the film, Girish says, “Understanding the grammar of the film and searching for aesthetics while handling camera was definitely challenging. I also had to develop my own language of narrating a story. As a journey it was very exciting,offcourse the results are not in my hands. Only the audience will decide the fate of the film.”

According to Girish,Jau Dya Na Balasaheb is a comedy which is completely different from the films he has done earlier. “The film takes off in the rural area. It’s a story of a political leader's son. Although the father is a leader and the son an addict,he can’t seem to find his own path in life.  Meanwhile certain incidences take place which changes his life. It’s a story about his journey, to search and find his inner self.I have tried to attempt a new experiment in the film and also to tell the story in a very simple manner, so that it reaches to more people."

While Girish plays the main protagonist in the film ,the rest of the star cast of the film includes prominent actors such as Mohan Joshi,Sai Tamankar,Reema Lagoo,Nandakishore Chogule,Shrikant Yadav,Manava Naik and Bhau Kadam.

Although Girish’s films generally are sans songs, but Jau Dya Na Balasaheb is an exception. “There are five songs in the film and the music plays a vital role in the film."he informs.
Most of the films Girish has done in the past except Masala were directed by Umesh Kulkarni. Umesh is also one of the producers of the film.

When asked, did he take any tips from Umesh while directing his debut film.He said “Definitely,at times I used to consult Umesh. However it being my type of cinema, the style of Jau Dya Na Balasaheb was altogether different” informs Girish.

The Maverick actor, writer turned director had acted earlier in a Hindi film "Ugly" is now working in a another Hindi film Dangal with Aamir Khan. When asked "Was there any pressure of working with Aamir Khan who is known as Mr.Perfectionist"? He replied “He didn’t give me any such feeling or pressure. He is a very disciplined actor and I got to learn a lot while working in the film. It was a learning experience.”

When asked, if he plans to direct any other film in future,Girish says, “I never plan anything, I always act spontaneously. I just want to live in the moment but if there is any story that will touch my heart, then I might consider directing the film “he concludes.

Jau dya Na Balasaheb is slated for a release on October 7th.

Mein Hoon Yusuf Aur Yeh Hai Mera Bhai

The on-going conflict between Israeli and Palestinians over the Gaza strip has been going on since decades. The conflict which was started in mid-20^th century is adversely affecting both the countries and its citizens. When such a wide ranging conflict goes on endlessly between two warring countries who are hell bent on playing power games its mostly the common people who are suffering due to the century old war.Aasakta, theatre group from city which is renowned for staging experimental plays tries to bring forth the plight of the common people and how their lives are affected due to decade old conflict through the Hindi-Urdu play Mein Hoon Yusuf Aur Yeh Hai Mera Bhai.”

Mein Hoon n Yusuf Aur Yeh Hai Mera Bhai is a Salima Raza’s Hindi-Urdu translation of Amir Nizar Zuabi’s play,directed by Mohit Takalkar.Winner of META 2016 , “Mein Hoon Yusuf Aur Yeh Hain Mera Bhai” has won many  awards such as Best play, Best director, best actor, best sound design and best light design and was staged at prominent festivals such as Rang Shankara festival,Prithvi festival,META,Vinod Doshi Festival,B V Karanth festival,Navrang festival,Genius festival,Rashtriya Rangostav, Rang-E-Mahaul festival et al. “ It was well appreciated in all these festivals. We have done 18 shows of the play all over India  in cities like Delhi,Jaipur,Banglore,Begusarai,Gulbarga and Nashik .  When it was staged in Pune during Vinod Doshi festival in February, the auditorium was jam packed ”informs Mohit.

Talking about how he thought of staging the play based on the decades old international conflict, Mohit says, “It is originally a Palestinian play and we have translated it in Hindi and Urdu. I found the script when I was in London. I was planning to adapt the play in Marathi. Initially I thought that it should revolve around today's Kashmir which is going through similar conflict. We wrote the draft in Marathi but after writing the draft we realized Marathi language is not suitable for that particular socio-political scenario.so last year we modified the draft. We also realized though the conflict in Kashmir and its social scenario, cultural and political references are very different from Palestine. Keeping that in mind instead of drafting it on the backdrop of Kashmir, we just translated the play in Hindi and Urdu.” 

The play is set in 1948 Palestine and the story is told through the point of view of Yusuf, an adult who has an IQ of a child. The play is not only about the international politics and power games which keeps the war going but it is also about the people who scapegoat of the war and how they are living in the constant fear.

“Initially we were little apprehensive about whether the layman will get the politics that is shown in the play which is the crux of the story, but even in small towns like Gulbarga, common people understood  and appreciated the play. Today people are very aware about the latest happenings in the world and read about the scene in Palestine on social media.”

While usually Aaskata’s most of the plays have actors from their own theatre Group, this play is an exception “We have casted two actors from Jaipur. Amit Singh one of them portrays the main protagonist Yusuf.” The cast also includes Marathi actors Jitendra Joshi, Mrunmayee Godbole and Sandip Shekhar.

Though the play talks about the conflict and how it affects the socio-political scenario in Palestine, however it doesn’t try to convey any message. “It’s an account of what happened in 1948, how lives are torn, villages razed, loved ones dead. It asks us to get up and feel for the people of Palestine, to question the politics and to be more humane and sensitive.” explains Mohit.

You can catch the play “Mein Hoon Yusuf Aur Yeh Hain Mera Bhai”on Sunday September 18^th at 9pm at Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium, Kothrud.