'Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh' actor Chinmay Mandlekar: 'I stopped pursuing Hindi films as I felt the makers always see a Maharashtrian as a cop in their movies'

Not many people know that actor Chinmay Mandlekar, who has done some noted work in Marathi cinema, has also been a part of Hindi films like Tere Bin Laden (2010), and Shanghai (2013) to name a few. Chinmay’s claim to fame in the Hindi industry is Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files (2022), where he played the real-life character of the Kashmiri terrorist, Farooq Malik Bitta. He now gears up to play Nathuram Godse in Rajkumar Santoshi’s upcoming film, Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh.

When asked about playing characters based on real-life people and the risks attached to them, he shares, “More than risks, there is a lot of responsibility. I haven’t chosen them, the roles came to me. I would have been a fool to say no. Who wouldn’t want to work with Rajkumar Santoshi? Interestingly, I signed and shot Gandhi Godse… before The Kashmir Files, which happened in a blink of an eye. Bitta was kind of a villain in the film.”

Adding further he says, “In regards to the controversy, I had that thought at the back of my mind but you can’t base your decisions on that. People who want to create controversy are doing it even on the colour of the heroine’s outfit. Controversy can happen over any small thing. I can’t say that negative roles attract me, all kinds of roles attract me. Rather, I am curious to know how these roles are getting attracted to me.”

Chinmay reveals that being of Marathi descent, he was typecast in the cop roles. “I played a cop in Tere Bin Laden after which I was flooded with offers of cop roles. Hence, I stopped pursuing Hindi films as I felt the makers always see a Maharashtrian as a cop in their movies. However, I did Shanghai and Bhavesh Joshi Superhero after Tere Bin Laden. I kept doing work in Marathi cinema and then Gandhi Godse… and The Kashmir Files came along with a few good web shows.”

Before signing off Chinmay reveals his exciting slate of work in 2023. “I am playing a cop in Happy Teachers Day but it’s not a regular cop role. There’s a lot more to my character. I am also doing a show named Kalapaani, it’s a medical thriller. Besides these two projects in Hindi, a lot of interesting work in Marathi will come out,” he concludes.