For someone who grew up on the dose of Vijay Tendulkar and his Ghashiram Kotwal, the idea of Hindi rendition after 50 years was intriguing. I have to start this piece with a disclaimer that, yes, despite efforts, mind did compare the original Ghashiram Kotwal directed by Jabbar Patel, in which Dr. Mohan Agashe played Nana Fadanvis.
Hindi Ghasiram Kotwal has veteran actor Sanjay Mishra play the main antagonist, Nana Fadanvis. Santosh Juvekar plays the title role of Ghasiram Kotwal.
For the uninitiated, play is primarily about the chancellor of Peshwas — Nana Phadanvis — and his use of Ghasiram Savaldas to satiate his lust. It is also about Ghasiram, a brahmin from Kanoj, taking revenge on the Brahmins of Pune for treating him badly when he came to Pune once he gains power. It is also about Ghasiram using his daughter to get that powerful position and ultimately sacrificing her.
Tendulkar himself had once admitted that the play was triggered by the rise of Shiv Sena around that time and the given political situation. And then it was an accidental read of a story from 1791 about a Kanoji Brahmin Ghasiram Savaldas that prompted the play Ghasiram Kotwal, which is based on the rule of Peshwas, Ghasiram’s rise and fall, and the atrocities of the politicians. Tendulkar also stated that this play was not an attempt to reiterate history but was a theatrical representation of human nature at large, especially of politicians, using the backdrop of history.
The play is pure fiction and more like a caricature or meme using the Peshwa chancellor as the main character. It uses the basic instincts of a man to show how politics, administration are entangled and at the mercy of whims and fancies of the politicians and power brokers.
Current rendition of Ghasiram Kotwal directed by Abhijit Panse and Bhalchandra Kubal is a contemporary take. The visuals are, most of the time, starc. Use of chess squares by Sandesh Bendre is applaudable. Abhijit has used the set brilliantly and designed the costumes keeping the set in mind. The cast has various chess elements imprinted on their shirts.
Mandar Deshpande’s music is apt for the myriad scenes and the songs that take the story forward. His team of singers are extremely talented and versatile. Urmila Kanitkar, as the dancer, steals hearts with her moves and her acting.
Santosh Juvekar is impressive as Ghasiram. He portrays the vengeance and then the search for her daughter well.
Disappointment comes in the form of Sanjay Mishra as Nana Fadanvis. He plays to the gallery and sometimes makes the character look quite cheap. Mishra is a talented actor. However, here he moved around like an extension of one of the comic characters in a Rohit Shetty films. His depiction of Nana lacked sophistication.
All in all, Ghasiram Kotwal in Hindi is worth watching once, not innumerable times like the Marathi original.
