Theatre Person and Filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar is back from Dubai after conducting the first MIFTA (The Marathi International Film and Theatre Awards) at the Palladium theatre. His new play MEE SHARUK MANJARSUMBHEKAR will open on December 29 2010. He steals time for an interview from his hectic schedule of rehearsals and talks about his new play, films and MIFTA.  Deepa Ranade The buzz is that you are launching three Marathi plays in a row... Oh yes, I am busy with my plays. The first one is opening on December 29 at Shivaji Mandir, Dadar. It is called MEE SHARUK MANJARSUMBEKAR. It is about a struggler who thinks he is the next superstar. After landing in the city of dreams, he eventually realizes how the whole thing is a frightening nightmare. But this has nothing specifically to do with Bollywood; it is about the aspirations of people who come to Mumbai. I could have called it 'Mukesh Manjarsumbekar' after the next Mukesh Ambani or it can well be 'Sachin Manjarsumbekar' - the next batting whiz. The play is also an expression of anger against everything in the society which is not right. Is it a play with an anti migrant sentiment? All I want to say that this city is crammed enough. If you were to ask a North Indian who came to Mumbai ten years ago, whether to allow more people into the city - he will empathically say NO! What stuff are we Mumbaikars made of - that we can travel by jam-packed locales everyday! The play is just a fresh perspective - that's all! . What is the star cast of the play? Are you nervous about heightened expectations from the audience? Siddharth Jadhav plays the title role. As for the genre of the play - I would say that it is a no-holds-barred play. I have tried out everything from song and dance to drama in it. It is a very different play and the only set back I feel is my name as the director. I should have withheld my name from the credits because I don't want people to come in with expectations. I just want them to see the play and not judge as to what am I delivering this time! With KATKON TRIKON winning four major awards at MIFTA in addition to wooing the audience - do you think the time is right for staging innovative, experimental themes? KATKON TRIKON won four major awards at MIFTA and most deservingly so. It showed that you can do a sensible play and still have audience coming in for it. The time certainly is right as people are ready to see experimental plays done on a commercial platform. Like KATKON TRIKON, MAKDACHYA HAATI CHAMPAGNE or FINAL DRAFT - if you do something differently and honestly - there is always an audience. Marathi audience hungers for new themes. You had taken a sabbatical from theatre for a while. My production company made TUJHYA MAJHYAT two years ago and I am also doing DOUBLE DEAL. So it isn't as if I ever cut myself off from theatre. Time doesn't permit me to do more of it. When are you starting your other two plays? After my Marathi film which takes off in January 2011. It is called Fakta Ladh Mhana,and is inspired by the famous poet Kusumagraj's composition, "Paatthi var haat thheva and fakta ladh mhana..." It is a commercial film wherein I am trying to do the Magnificent Seven meets farmer's suicide. It is about the grants given to farmers which never reach them. The issue has to be addressed in a commercial format to draw everyone's attention to it. It stars Bharat Jadhav, Siddharth Jadhav, Sachin Khedekar, Aniket Vishwasrao, Vaibhav Mangle, Santosh Juvekar and myself. This is a man to man film basically. What's happening to your much publicized film with Salman Khan? That will happen but I don't know when. I am regularly in touch with Salman. Right now I am acting in Ready with him. He loves my films. So whenever he says - we go on the floors. Looking at the fate of Hindi films I am in no hurry to make Hindi films. I feel that I am safer doing Marathi films now. What lessons has the Hindi film industry taught you? Would that be reflected in your new play? The Hindi film industry has taught me that the equation changes here every Friday. You expect nothing from anybody because no one is going to give it you. It is fair enough because it involves huge monies. It is sheer business, mind it! As I said earlier, my play speaks about a newbie's aspirations; it is not restricted to Bollywood. You are just back after conducting first MIFTA in Dubai. What do you consider your biggest achievement in doing this? That we pulled it off and came back happy. It was a Herculean task to take 250 plus troupes to Dubai on a relatively small budget. People in Dubai loved the spectacle. A lot of festivals are held in Dubai and amongst all those we could draw a turnout of 2500 strong. That was an achievement in itself. Did you direct the spectacular MIFTA show? I directed the show. I have always been directing the Maharashtra State Awards. It was a mammoth show with more than 60 actors performing with 100 dancers in tow. Also remember, when we go abroad we don't have the luxury of stage rehearsals and lighting. It is all to be done at the last minute. But thankfully things fell in place and the show went off very well. What's the future of MIFTA? It will always be a global event. The next show will be held in the UK. My aim is to achieve global glory for the Marathi entertainment industry. Just like the Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi who made not only his films famous but also his country famous with his films. Today any film coming from Iran is received with great curiosity. I want to achieve something like that for Marathi film and theatre. 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Thakkar Jameel Khan Anupama Jayaram Lilelette Dubey Avatar Gill Dharmendra Gohil Rajesh Puri Kumud Mishra Kumar Shahu Meenal Patel Mujeeb Khan Anant Mudra Utkarsh Mazumdar Shekhar Sen1 Manav Kaul Rati Agnihotri Smita Jaykar Uday Chandra Rahul Da Cunha Atul Kumar Manoj Joshi Jaimini Pathak Boman Irani Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal Naseerudin Shah Joy Fernandez Kamlesh Mota Dinesh Thakur    Discussion Board

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