Noted actor Subodh Bhave made his directorial debut with Katyar Kiljat Ghusali in 2015 – and struck gold. The Marathi musical, based on Purushottam Darvhekar’s play of the same name, explored the rivalry between two Hindustani classical singers. The reputation of Darvhekar’s play combined with a chartbusting score by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to propel Katyar Kiljat Ghusli to blockbuster status.
Bhave’s second film as director is once again based on a popular work of sangeet natak, as Maharashtra’s tradition of musical plays is known. Sangeet Manapmaan is inspired by Krushnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar’s 1911 play of the same name. The plot revolves around the complicated romance between the impecunious Dhairyadhar and the wealthy Bhamini, with ample meddling from Bhamini’s brother-in law Chandravilas.
In 2011, Sangeet Manapmaan was revived for the stage by the classical vocalist Rahul Deshpande. Bhave’s version has a soundtrack by Shankar-Ehsaan Loy that includes several light classical tunes. The Shree Ganesh Marketing and Jio Studios co-production stars Bhave as Dhairyadhar, Vaidehi Parshurami as Bhamini and Sumeet Raghavan as Chandravilas. The cast includes Nivedita Saraf, Upendra Limaye and Neena Kulkarni.
Sangeet Manapmaan has been in the making since 2019. “We took three-and-a-half years to finalise the script – the film that you will see is based on the 26th draft,” Bhave told Scroll.
The movie will be released in theatres on January 10. Bhave, a seasoned actor who appears in both Marathi and Hindi movies and series, hoped that his new effort will strike a chord with viewers in the same way as did Katyar Kiljat Ghusli.
Excerpts from an interview.
After Katyar Kaljat Ghusli, what drew you to yet another musical play for your new film?
I have always been inspired by musicals. I was also thinking of Western musicals like Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music, which were based on plays.
I knew about the Sangeet Manapmaan play, especially since I had played Bal Gandharva [in Ravi Jadhav’s biopic of the same name from 2011]. Bal Gandharva had acted as Bhamini in the original play. After Shankar Mahadevan and I decided to make another musical, I thought about Sangeet Manapmaan.
There aren’t too many options for Marathi audiences who want to see fairy tales or musical fantasies on the big screen. There are films with songs but not musicals – where the music moves the story of the film ahead.
The original play was written in 1911. How have you updated the material for contemporary audiences?
The play is a timeless story, a once upon a time story, and it’s up to the audience to fix the time period.
We wanted a period film so that we could make a costume drama while maintaining the simplicity of the story. However, we also modernised the characters so that today’s audiences can relate to them.
While the human emotions and innocence are the same, we’ve made subtle efforts to make Bhamini, Dhairyadhar and Chandravilas relatable to the present. Women have made so much progress in recent years that they are even going to participate in active combat. So I can’t show them only doing housework or serving other people.
In my film, Bhamini is wealthy but not dissolute. Her father encourages her to take her own decisions rather than forcing his views on her. She is determined and in a discovery to understand her identity.
On the other hand, Dhairyadhar is a poor guy who dreams of joining the military. But his mother doesn’t want that for him, so he helps out in the house. I have shown Dhairyadhar helping his mother in cooking or housework. He isn’t sitting around being waited upon by his mother. I want young men watching the film to help their parents in the same manner.
There is also a montage in the end scroll that challenges the traditional movie ending.
You have teamed up again with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for Sangeet Manapmaan. How did you first decide to collaborate with them for Katyar Kaljtat Ghusli?
I have always been a huge fan of Shankarji’s singing, as well as of his compositions with Ehsaan and Loy. He had sung a song in Balgandharva. I decided that if I ever made a film, he would do the music for it.
When I approached him for Katyar Kaljtat Ghusli, he told me that the play already has great songs. I told him that the songs were suited to the stage, while I needed a film soundtrack. I said to him, you are a fantastic classical singer too, you know the blend between classical and maasical.
All these years that we have worked together, I have never heard him once say that something isn’t possible. He incorporates the director’s thoughts into his compositions rather than asserting his experience or expertise.
I remember an anecdote around the song Sur Niragas Ho from Katyar Kaljat Ghusli. Shankar had already composed the song in a different raag. While it was amazing, a Kumar Gandharva rendition mixing the Nand and Bhoop raags was playing in a loop in my head.
I asked Shankar if he could rework the song in this blend, which draws on the warmth in both the raags. Why not, Shankar said. Within 10 minutes, he reworked the tune into Sur Niragas Ho, which is still popular.
Expectations are high from Sangeet Manapmaan, especially after the roaring success of Katyar Kaljat Ghusli. Are you nervous?
Yes, there are expectations, especially since Katyar Kaljat Ghusli has hardly been forgotten. But I am not nervous about Sangeet Manapmaan. I do want audiences to know that Sangeet Manapmaan is not an extension of Katyar Kaljat Ghusli. They have completely different stories, worlds and music.
In any case, we have no way of predicting what will work and what will not. With Katyar Kaljat Ghusli, every one of us worked from the heart. We have made Sangeet Manapmaan with the same amount of passion. We want people to forget about their worries and lose themselves in the world that we have created for them.
Marathi cinema labours under the huge shadow cast by the Hindi film industry. Do you hope that your film will cross over from Marathi to Hindi audiences, especially since it will be released with English subtitles?
Katyar had an equally huge following among non-Marathi viewers, especially among music lovers. It’s a film about music, which isn’t restricted to any one language.
The play that inspired Sangeet Manapmaan is a fairy tale that can appeal to anybody who likes these kinds of stories. The story is so simply narrated that people will get what is going on.
Also, more and more people have consumed subtitled films from all over India and the world on streaming platforms. So, I feel that they will like Sangeet Manapmaan since it isn’t a typical Marathi film.
Marathi filmmakers definitely need to make greater efforts to deliver their films to non-Marathi audiences. We need to reach people who like good cinema.
Also read:
Baipan Bhari Deva’ is a monster hit. Will it change Marathi cinema for good?
