An artist should never be consumed by ego: Renuka Shahane

 

 

 

“An artist should never be consumed by ego. Theatre teaches humility and keeps one grounded,” stated renowned noted film, television and theatre actress Renuka Shahane. She was speaking as chief guest at the 25th year celebration of the Nagpur Mahila Club on Saturday. Vilasini Nair, President of the Nagpur Mahila Club; Anita Bose, Vice-President; Dr Dini Menon, Secretary; Bharati Disawal, Joint Secretary; and several other club members also were present.

 

As a token of appreciation, the club presented Shahane with a traditional ‘Paithani’ saree and a portrait made of coffee, crafted by artist Neha Munje. A major highlight of the celebrations was the felicitation of 25 distinguished women from diverse fields with ‘Rajat Gaurav Samman’. The awardees included Leelatai Chitale, who was a part of the Indian freedom struggle; Major Dr Shreya Gupta (Defence Services); Padmini Jog (Yoga and Meditation); Dr Dipti Andhare (Science and Technology); Meera Kulkarni (Social Welfare); Dr Saroj Vyas (Literature); Dr Saroj Desai (Environmental Conservation); Prabha Deoskar (Theatre Arts); Dr Harsha Jharia (Fashion Technology); Urmila Deshpande (Playwriting and Direction); Guru Ratnam Janardhanan (Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam); Rekha Nair (Teaching); Guru Srimathy Madkholkar (Bharatanatyam); Poonam Rathi (Culinary Arts); Ritu Chanekar (Architecture); Shubhalaxmi Vazalwar (Entrepreneurship); Resmi Umesh (Music); Manjusha Jog (Hospitality); Jyoti Nair (Teaching); Dr Manjiri Jawdekar (Women’s Rights); Archana Bendre (Chess); Latha Raman (Special Needs Education); Dr Dini Menon (Teaching); Vaishnavi Jagdale (Astrology); and Seema Joshi (Photography). One of the most anticipated segments of the evening was a candid conversation between Renuka Shahane and veteran theatre artist Prabha Deoskar. Shahane fondly reminisced about her early career days, starting with her role in the Doordarshan’s superhit show ‘Surabhi’ in the 1990s, where her team would receive an overwhelming number of postcards and letters from viewers. Shahane also shared experiences from her debut stage play, her appearance in the TV series ‘Circus’ alongside actor Shah Rukh Khan, and her early film projects including the Gujarati film ‘Hun Hunshi Hunshilal’ with actor Dilip Joshi and the Marathi movie ‘Hach Sunbaicha Bhau’.

 

When asked how she bagged her role in the popular film ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’, Shahane revealed that director Sooraj Barjatya was in search of an actress who could resemble Madhuri Dixit’s sister. “Interestingly, three different people suggested my name to Soorajji in a day. That is how I was called in. I auditioned three times in different looks before the role was finalised,” she recounted. Shahane also spoke about her foray into direction with her Marathi film ‘Rita’, based on her mother Shanta Gokhale’s novel ‘Rita Welingkar’. The conversation concluded with Shahane sharing about her recent work, including the Marathi film ‘Devmanus’ and the Hindi web series ‘Dupahiya’. The club also felicitated its founder members and executive committee during the event. Dr Dipti Andhare conducted the proceedings, and Anita Bose proposed a vote of thanks.