Har Har Mahadev EXCLUSIVE! Subodh Bhave: I don’t dream to work in a Hindi film at all

Subodh Bhave, who has worked in the Marathi film industry for over two decades, has now taken up the role of the larger-than-life Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The actor, soon to be seen in Har Har Mahadev in the role, spoke to OTTplay about his life in Marathi cinema, why he has done limited work in Bollywood and working in a pan-Indian film for the first time. He also tells us if he thinks the film can help continue his record of winning back-to-back awards.

Excerpts from the interview...

You have extensively worked in the Marathi film industry, since more than 20 years now and are pretty well known in the industry. In a way, Har Har Mahadev is your debut in many languages. Does it feel like the right time, now that the audiences are more accepting than ever?

For any actor, language is not a barrier. Now, we're living in the OTT era. We watch Mexican, Japanese, Korean and even good Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. I had already covered Malayalam and Bengali languages but these major languages of India, I had not covered. It's a chance for me but more than that, it is about reaching out to the people with the story of our Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's charitra and his inspired stories. I'm proud to reach a larger audience with this character and his story.

Since 2009, you have constantly won awards. Pulling off Shivaji Maharaj is anyway a tough part but people are loving you nonetheless. Do you feel this role will also bring a trophy home?

Getting the character of Shivaji Maharaj is itself an award for me. What else can I demand? This is the biggest award I can get.

Being in a multilingual film opens up many opportunities. We have seen you in Hindi films but in 4-5 years' gap. Do you want to lessen the gap through Har Har Mahadev's reach or want to contribute more in Zollywood like you currently are?

It is not my dream to work in a Hindi film. Absolutely not. My dream is to do a good film with fantastic characters. It doesn't matter to me whether it's in Marathi, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati or Odia. The character should be good. I should have fun working on the project. So, I don't dream to work in Hindi films but I don't even want to never work in Bollywood. I'm looking for a good script and character.

You have played the historic character of Lokmanya Tilak before this. So, would you say the research part was comparatively easier because you knew where to search to get the whole character, which is none but a legend like Shivaji Maharaj right?

It was never easy - neither back then nor now. It's always hard because their life span is around 50-80 years and you are showing only two hours of their life. Thus, it is a task for the script writer and director to show exactly the important aspects of their life. More than me, it was Abhijeet Deshpande (director)'s task to show this huge character in two hours. How I adapt his screenplay, is my choice. Of course, you have to know the person. You read about Shivaji Maharaj since childhood, not when you get a film. For me, his characteristics weren't new per say. When I bring him to the forth like how someone else imagined it, of course it's challenging. Whenever people think about Shivaji Maharaj, they have a certain perception - about how he looks, walks, fights, talks. An actor tries to fit himself according to that perception.

I knew from day one that I don't look like Shivaji Maharaj at all. I lack that but we don't get inspired by him because of his looks. We get inspired by his thoughts and what he did. That's exactly what Abhijit also wants to show. When a director wants to portray that, then even if an actor might not look the part, he will still portray him.

Abhijit told me that the film is about Shivaji Maharaj's internal conflict. Tell me about pulling that aspect off, since the film is about that...

We worship Shivaji Maharaj more than we worship God. He was born on this Earth and of course, he's larger-than-life but whatever issues a common man faces here on Earth, he faced them too. He also questioned many things and went through the lowest lows. What he did at that time, is what we try to explain. Abhijit tried to show his human side - about how a man cannot change someone's thoughts by picking up the sword. Sometimes like a friend, guide, parent or guru, he would try and influence minds for the better. He brought people together. He was a friend, father, son and guru. We have tried to show all of those aspects through the film.

We have tried to show how someone like Baji Prabhu Deshpande, who wanted to kill the maharaj previously, sacrificed himself for maharaj. This is the character transformation and the reason for that is Shivaji Maharaj.

You are a popular face on TV as much as in theatres. Do we see you venture into OTT anytime soon?

Yeah, very near. In Hindi as well as Marathi. I'll debut in both the languages.

I'm sure you would have come across Marathi content on OTT. Being a director, producer and writer apart from an actor, tell me what are your views on the content out there? Is there something you would like to bring forth that is missing?

You can't see a lot of Marathi content on OTT. The quantity is missing. We are yet to explore so many things. I watch almost every good web content on OTT, whether Korean, English, Spanish or French. I even liked Suzhal (Tamil). That's the advantage of OTT, that there's no language barrier. You can understand the beauty of cinema. Even if you can't speak or understand the language, you can feel the story by heart. That's the power of visual medium.

Your upcoming projects?

There's a film releasing soon. There are many movies which will release from January. I'm directing a musical film and another one. The Marathi web series that I'm acting in will get a second season and that will go on floors next year. There are good things in the pipeline.