Last year, Subodh Bhave won over audiences for his portrayal of the late theatre superstar, Dr Kashinath Ghanekar in the latter’s biopic. Titled Aani… Dr Kashinath Ghanekar (2018), the film was directed by Abhijeet Deshpande and traced his journey from a prompter to one of the biggest names in Marathi theatre.
One of the most important periods in Ghanekar’s journey was the play Ashrunchi Zhaali Phule, in which his character Laalya became a rage with youngsters. Bhave imbibed the arrogance and style of the character in the movie.
Now, Ashrunchi Zhaali Phule is all set to be revived on stage and will see Bhave essay the role of Laalya again. The film had only a few parts with Bhave as Laalya. Phrases used by the character like ‘Usme kya hai?’ and ‘Kadak’ became popular after Aani… Dr Kashinath Ghanekar was released.
It would be interesting to see Bhave mouth these iconic lines for a live audience.
The makers of the play teased the audience to guess if Bhave would star in the play through a couple of videos on social media.
It was finally revealed today that he will indeed play Laalya in it.
Ashrunchi Zhaali Phule is written by Vasant Kanetkar, whose role in the film was essayed by Anand Ingle. Along with Bhave, this version of the play will star Shailesh Datar, Seema Deshmukh and Umesh Jagtap. It will be directed by Pratima Kulkarni.
Deshpande is one of the producers of the play along with Bhave’s wife Manjiri, Dinesh Pednekar and Rahul Karnik.
There will be only 51 performances of the play. The first performance will take place on Maharashtra Day, 1 May.