Chimanrao comes of age
You could possibly relate him to the same old Chimanrao that he played a decade back on the small screen. But today, he could well be called the Baadshah of comedy. However, Dilip Prabhavalkar has more to his credit than just those few comedy roles that actually made him famous.

A graduate in Biophysics, Prabhavalkar took up a job in Rallis pharmaceuticals as a senior supervisor. After a long stint there, he became a partner in a video production unit, where he got a chance to perform in experimental and children’s theatre.

However, the Marathi play Lobh Nasava, He Vinanati made him a familiar face in the theatre circles and changed his life completely. In 1991, Prabhavalkar took up acting as a full time career.

However, ironically, the tag of Chimanrao, the eponymous role which made him force to reckon with on Marathi television, was to make things difficult for him. Recollects Prabhavalkar, "The roles that were coming in had shades of Chimanrao in them." But by giving some of the most fantastic and touching performances in plays like Nati Goti (where he played the father of a mentally retarded son) and Ek Zunj Varyashi (where he played a common man questioning the present-day situation), he proved that he was in no mood to get typecast.

Then came films where again he delivered some brilliant performances bagging some of the most prestigious awards. He is back on television with Modi Entertainment-Kunal Kohli Productions’ Apna Apna Style! on Zee TV. But Dilipji, as he is fondly called, says that though he has got recognition due to the small screen, he would prefer staying away from it!

Justifies Prabhavalkar, "TV is more of an instant media where once you are off screen, you are a part of tea table conversation. The stage is one place where your real talents are exposed. Besides, when you are performing on stage, there is some kind of a chemistry between the actor and the audience. The same goes with films, where the projector plays the reel and the audience watches it in a closed auditorium. In these two mediums, you have the complete attention of the audience. It is not the same with TV."

But that is definitely not the reason why he’s not seen frequently on the tube. "I’m concentrating a lot on my literary work," he explains. His latest project is a book on acting. Continues Prabhavalkar, "Theatre is another thing that takes up a lot of my time. So there is hardly time for anything else." But he has managed to find some time for Apna Apna Style!. "It is a sober and decent comedy," Prabhavalkar tells you.

While talking about his latest play, Haswa Phaswi, which ran to packed houses for more than 700 shows, Prabhavalkar explains that the play was not written in the traditional pattern where the script gets decided first and then the characters. "In my case, it happened exactly the other way round. I decided on the characters first and then came the storyline. The problem that I had to face was to find a link between the six characters. But I guess I managed to do it."

As for the roles, after having done quite a number of double roles on the stage, he always had the desire to do something better. But what makes the play different from most of the other plays is that it has glimpses of amateur, experimental, children and professional theatre in it, so everyone enjoys it.

The super success of Haswa Phaswi seems to have only increased Prabhavalkar’s passion for theatre. For the moment at least, TV serials appear to have taken a back seat. Instead, the two projects that are holding his attention are his book, where he will be describing and analysing the roles that he played over the last 25 years, and one more play on the same lines as Haswa Phaswi. "Let’s hope it materialises soon."

Abhishek Mande

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