Got into acting accidentally: Mahesh Manjrekar

Actor-filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar never planned an acting career, but once he discovered theatre, his passion grew so deep that he no longer turns down a compelling role - whether on stage or in a film.

It all started with amateur one-act plays in 1975, said the actor-director, adding that his interest grew after he attended acting workshops by his neighbour Jaydev Hattangadi, a popular theatre personality. “I accidentally got into acting. I had never thought of it as a profession. The housing society where I used to live had yearly functions and all of us would act in plays. Rohini Hattangadi and Jaydev Hattangadi were my neighbours,” Manjrekar told PTI in an interview.

He added, “When Jaydev came back from NSD, many people, like Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah, would frequently visit his house. They, along with Jaydev, would conduct an acting workshop before a play. I found it interesting and considered doing Jaydev’s workshop. That’s how the love for theatre developed.”

Manjrekar made his commercial debut in 1984 with the play ‘Aflatoon’ alongside Sachin Khedekar and Sunil Barve. “There were great actors like Dr Shreeram Lagoo and many others and it was a little difficult for us to get into commercial theatre,” he said, adding that he later started his own theatre group, ‘Ashwami Theatre Group’, in 1988 and produced acclaimed plays such as ‘Dr Tumhisuddha’, ‘Dhyanimani’, ‘All the Best’ and others.

In 1992, Manjrekar acted in the Marathi film ‘Jeeva Sakha’ and the TV show ‘Kshitij Ye Nahi’.

Four years later, he pivoted from acting to focus on direction, and made his directorial debut with the cult classic, ‘Vaastav: The Reality’ (1999) starring Sanjay Dutt.

“I did theatre till 1996. But then acting took a backseat as I became interested in direction. I got into direction with ‘Vaastav’. I never thought I would act again, but then ‘Kaante’ brought me back into acting. So, whenever there’s something interesting, I take it up. Also, I always thought about returning to the theatre. I had many film work commitments, but then I did a play, ‘Shankar Jaykisan’, which opened last December and now ‘Animal’ happened. Both are quite interesting," Manjrekar, who has acted in both Hindi and Marathi films such as ‘Wanted’, ‘The White Tiger’, ‘Dashavatar’ and ‘Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy’, said.