Varsha Usgaonkar’s journey from glamour to spirituality
| Date :05-Jun-2019 |
By Rajendra Diwe:
There were a number of people, very famous, very glamorous, very rich, successful, great leaders, reputed actors, eminent directors, famous artists, etc. came and lived on this earth. Each one was very egoistic, intolerant and thinking self not less than God. All these so called demi gods walked on the earth and went away without doing anything for humanity. This is the reason, live life humbly, sincerity and always do good work for the humanity, said Varsha Usgaonkar, the famous Marathi film actress and Director of Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal (ABMCM).
“Life is a journey from materialism to spirituality. One must identify his own limitations and live life to get pleasure out of it,” she added. Varsha Usgaonkar, known as first Glamour Girl of Marathi film industry was in city to inaugurate Shant Yantra Mandir at Chowki in Selu tehsil behind Kelzar. A glamourous actress now transformed to a spiritual person. Usgaonkar told about her transformation as; “As you grow old and when you read lot of spiritual scriptures by the spiritual masters, you will realize you are just a guest on this earth. This world is just an illusion. Your life is short and you cannot take money, ego, house, jewellery along with you. You came here empty handed, you will go empty handed.
You know this, but you are acting ignorant, and wasting your life.” “I have to do lot in my life. I want to sing, I want to learn dance, I want to serve society and I want to wipe the tears from the eyes of common people,” she told about her mission in life. Varsha stated, “My father Achyut Kashinath Sanai Usgaonkar was a leader of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
He served as cabinet rank minister in Shashikala Kakodkar ministry of Goa, Daman and Diu. He was deputy minister in Dayanand Bandodkar ministry and as deputy speaker of Goa, Daman and Diu Legislative Assembly. My father is very simple person. He is not like present politicians. He has his big library of books and he inspired me to read these books. He suggested me to read books on Bhagwan Nityananda, Swami Vivekanand, Yoganand etc. I also visited Prajapita Brahmakumaris Ishwariya Vishwavidyalaya in Mount Abu. All these activities have made me to realize self.” Varsha Usgaonkar is one of the elected directors of Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal (ABMCM).
She appreciated the present Marathi cinema which is handling different subjects like Science, technology, fictions, cybercrime etc. Content wise, Marathi cinema is matured. The advancements in technology like cinematography, choreography, fashion design etc have made Marathi cinema more advanced. In our days, people used to neglect Marathi actors or actresses, now; the cinema has been recognized on international level. Marathi cinemas are now going for Oscar awards. Despite of the advancements, the cinema has lost its simplicity, honesty with the language and the ‘basic Marathi’ touch. Marathi film industry is producing 150 to 160 films annually, but out of which only ten percent films get success. Therefore, the producers and directors should focus more on the improvement of quality.”
Stating that Nagpur has potential to develop its own film city, Usgaonkar said, “Development of film city could be a good initiative for Vidarbha development, but the existing film cities are facing lot of crisis. The senior actors, technicians, artists, stage artists etc are jobless. They are struggling very hard. There are many studios on the verge of closure. Each producer of Marathi film wants financial aid from ABMCM, which is not possible. The funds are limited and each produce cannot get the funds. ABMCM has organized workshops for producers, directors and senior workers in Marathi film industry. But these efforts are not sufficient. Some concrete steps are needed to take to ensure at least minimum livelihood to all working in Marathi film industry.”