Bhave portrays ‘Lalya’ in ‘Ashroonchi Zali Phule’
   Date :05-Jan-2020

Bhave portrays Lalya in A
 Noted actor-director Subodh Bhave (centre) speaking at a press conference on Saturday, regarding drama ‘Ashroonchi Zali Phule’. Seema Deshmukh, director Pratima Kulkarni, Shailesh Datar, and Umesh Jagtap
also are seen. (Pic by Satish Raut)
 
Staff Reporter :
 
“We had decided that I shall not imitate the legendary Dr Ghanekar while portraying Lalya. I shall do it in my way. Accordingly, we launched drama, and receiving tremendous response,” says Subodh Bhave
 
After a long gap, the celebrated drama ‘Ashroonchi Zali Phule’ has been revived. This time, only 51 shows are planned across Maharashtra and in the US. Of these 51 shows, four are scheduled in Vidarbha. These include one at Chandrapur, two at Nagpur, and one at Amravati. The show at Chandrapur was held on Saturday evening. In Nagpur, there will be two shows at Dr Vasantrao Deshpande Hall -- one at 5 pm on Sunday, and another at 7 pm on January 7 (Tuesday).
 
The Amravati show is at 9 pm on January 6 (Monday) at Sant Dnyaneshwar Sabhagruha. “These are the first and last shows of the classic Marathi drama, featuring me and my co-actors,” said noted actor-director Subodh Bhave, who is playing the lead role of ‘Lalya’ in ‘Ashroonchi Zali Phule’. Bhave and director of the drama Pratima Kulkarni, co-stars Seema Deshmukh, Shailesh Datar, and Umesh Jagtap addressed a press conference at Press Club on Saturday. Jaiprakash Jategaonkar also was present on the occasion.
 
Bhave portrayed the legendary Dr Kashinath Ghanekar, who had originally played the role of ‘Lalya’ in the drama years ago in 1966, in the recent movie ‘Aani... Dr Kashinath Ghanekar’. Asked about it, Bhave replied, “We had decided that I shall not imitate the legendary Dr Ghanekar while portraying Lalya. I shall do it in my way. Accordingly, we launched the drama, and we have been getting tremendous response from the first show.” Shailesh Datar, who plays the role of Prof Vidyanand in the drama, felt that the drama portrayed the eternal conflict between good and evil. Hence, it was ever relevant.
 
Pratima Kulkarni, who has directed it, said that the content of the drama was so good that there was no need to give a different treatment while re-presenting it. “In fact, we had to shed our inhibitions on certain counts,” she added. Seema Deshmukh, who plays the role of Vidyanand’s wife Dr Sumitra, said that the character of Sumitra was the only one with firm opinions. Her character displays inner strength of a person. Umesh Jagtap, who plays the role of Shambhu Mahadev, was happy that he was a part of the drama. It was immortalised by three legends -- Prof Vasant Kanetkar (playwright), Dr Kashinath Ghanekar (protagonist), and Prabhakar Panshikar (director).