Director’s cut for Nitish
Nitish Bharadwaj, popular for his role as Krishna in BR Chopra’s Mahabharat and also a known name in Marathi cinema, is now directing his first Marathi venture.
The film stars yesteryear actress Tanuja along with Sachin Khedekar. Speaking about the film Nitish says, “The film Pitru Runa is based on a story originally written by Sudha Murthy in Kannada. It is a story that hasn’t been told on-screen and I thought would make a good feature film. I instantaneously liked it as soon as I heard it.”
The actor reveals that he won’t be seen acting in the film and neither does he plan to act in any of his directorial ventures. He says, “The only role that I could have played is the one that Sachin Khedekar has done in the film but as a director I need time to focus on that aspect. Ultimately I decided it is best to stick to direction. I needed a powerful actor to play the part so I approached Sachin who is playing a double role for the first time.”
Nitish narrates an interesting incident about how Tanuja was cast in the film. He reveals, “A lot of names cropped up during the casting but I needed a strong actor to pull off this character. I believe that along with the characters the audience needs to take note of cast. For example everyone knows Shah Rukh Khan’s acting abilities but only if you give him a good role will he stand out. Here the role is that of a widow. When Yash Chopra passed away and his body was kept at YRF studios, that’s when I saw Tanujaji and thought she would be perfect. She is a Maharashtrian, so that added authenticity to the character. When I narrated the screenplay she loved it. She even offered to shave her head for the film.”
Nitish reveals that though he is passionate about directing, he plans to juggle between his films as an actor and a director. “I am acting in a film Yaksh directed by Mukul Abhyankar. It is an interesting story and has a very different role for me. I would rather do meaningful films both as an actor and director. As a director though, I am more inclined towards films based on both Indian and English literature. However, I don’t want to make films that would do the rounds of film festivals. My films will be commercial even though offbeat as I want the audience to notice them. I do not believe in abstract films and will make them either in Hindi or Marathi.”
The actor-director adds that after Pitru Runa he has many more films planned for which he will go back to the genre he is known for — mythology. He reveals, “I have a couple of subjects that I am working on, My next film may be on mythology or history.”
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