Mrinal Deo Kulkarni is a renowned actress and director, known for her roles in Doordarshan's Mirabai and Star Plus's Son Pari. She recently lost her mother, Veena Deo, a celebrated Marathi writer, who passed away at 76. Lehren presents a flashback interview with Mrinal, discussing her family and career. Let’s watch this engaging podcast.
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00:00I don't think one should compare television actor with screen actor, film ka actor
00:05because we work a lot.
00:08I come from a very padaku family and my focus was on studies more than on acting.
00:14I think I'm a very practical person. I'm cool-tempered.
00:18Introvert bhi nahi kaisakti but I'm not an extrovert person.
00:22Apne aap ko respect ke saath dekhna chahati hu.
00:24Jo kaam main karungi main family ke saath dekhna chahungi.
00:28Yeh nahi chahungi kabhi bhi ki, oh my god, meri film mat dekho, oh my god, yeh mera role mat dekho.
00:32I never wanted to do all that.
00:40First of all, you say that, ki acting ki shubha kaise.
00:42Mrinal ji, how come into this entertainment field?
00:45Actually, it's a long story. I started off very early.
00:50Main school hi mein padh rahi thi aur ek...
00:53Main Poona ke ladki hu.
00:56In Maharashtra, there is a very well-known town, city called Pune.
01:02Jo ki apne education ke liye bahut jaani jaati hai.
01:05Mere parents hain, wo professors hain.
01:08Aur my father was a principal to one of the most famous and old colleges in Pune.
01:14Aur mere nana ji jo hain, wo bahut bade Marathi ke lekhak rahe chuke hain.
01:19Toh bahut hi padaku background tha mera.
01:22Toh yeh socha nahi tha kabhi ki aage jaake actress banunge, kya parunge, kya nahi.
01:26I entered my college life and I was doing a competition.
01:30Aur wahaan pe mere first director jo the, late Mr. Gajanan Jagirdar,
01:35jino ne kaafi saari filme nirdeshit ki hain.
01:38Actor, as an actor bhi unhone kaafi saare kirdaar nibhaay hain.
01:44Unhone, he was the chief guest for the competition.
01:47And he chose me for one of his most famous work, which he has done, called Swami.
01:55Jo ki historical love story tha.
01:57Toh tab tak mene socha hi nahi tha.
01:58Jaise ki college mein hum participate karte hain, waise mene kiya tha.
02:02Aur jab unhone poocha ki yeh eham kirdaar aap nibhaayengi kya,
02:05toh I was more than excited.
02:07I did it for a heck of it.
02:09Yeh nahi socha tha ki mujhe aage jaake yeh hi karna hain.
02:12But that was such a popular show ki I became a household name.
02:17Aur bahut zyada popularity mili mujhe us show se.
02:21Us show ke baad I did a film for Basu Chatterjee.
02:25And followed by a highly acclaimed serial called Shrikant,
02:31which was directed by Praveen Nischal.
02:33And I played a beautiful role opposite Farooq Sheikh.
02:38Television mein hi kyu?
02:40Like you would have been trying for, after theatre and all,
02:42you would have been trying for films also, like as your career?
02:45See as I told you, I come from a very padaku family.
02:48And my focus was on studies more than on acting.
02:53So I did my Masters in Linguistics and Literature, English and Marathi both.
02:59Aur wo side by side chalta raha.
03:02Aur mujhe television mein itne achche kirdaar offer hote rahein.
03:06Ki mujhe zarurat mehsoos nahi hui ki main filmon mein jaaun.
03:10And coming from a very highly cultured family.
03:13Ek wo bhi tha ki mujhe wo sab nahi karna hai jismein main comfortable nahi hu.
03:19Main khud apne aap ko respect ke saath dekhna chahati hu.
03:22Jo kaam main karungi main family ke saath dekhna chahungi.
03:26Yeh nahi chahungi kabhi bhi ki, oh my god, wo meri film mat dekho.
03:29Oh my god, yeh mera role mat dekho.
03:31I never wanted to do all that.
03:33It was followed by some fantastic roles on television.
03:37And I was always so busy on television.
03:40Ki mujhe kabhi laga nahi ki I'm missing out or something.
03:42Okay aur television mein aapne itne major roles leads mein kar liya aur itne achche stories
03:47mein work out kiya aapne.
03:48For many of the channels also.
03:50But which one particular character for that, of that program or that episode?
03:55Like character in the sense, like ek, ek, ek jo serials chalta hain, jitne bhi different
04:00different serials ho, usme kaunsa serial aapka favourite raha hai, apna khutba?
04:04It's a very tough question.
04:06But ek toh nahi bata paaungi.
04:11Swami because it was my first one.
04:13Shrikant because it was my first, first Hindi one.
04:16And that was also, I was very excited because I was working with Farooq Shaikh for the first
04:21time.
04:22And he was a heartthrob then.
04:24Hasrate I must say.
04:26Hasrate was a main serial jiski wajah se main stream TV shows mein aayi aur uske baad maine
04:33kabhi peeche murke nahi dekha.
04:35Sparsh was one of the best serials I have done which was directed by Ravi Rai.
04:41The most challenging was Draupadi because it was based on a most glamorous and multifaceted
04:50female which was, mujhe lagta hai ki feminist approach se banaya gaya tha wo show.
04:59Kamlesh Pandey ji ne likha tha, cinemastar ne banaya tha, bahut hi badiya show tha.
05:04Aur jo, meri jo image hai wo mostly ek achi aur pyari si jo kisi ka dil nahi dukhayegi
05:12us type ke aurat ki hai.
05:15But in that, I got an opportunity to play a character like Draupadi who was really very
05:21very very fiery.
05:22So, wo mujhe lagta bahut zyada challenging role.
05:25Soompari ki baat karein toh aapne bachon ghar, means housewives aur ek particular family,
05:30ek homemade material ho gaye the aap.
05:32Lekin bachon ke nawaabon bhi aapne Soompari se shurbaat kar rahi thi?
05:36Ji, mujhe is baat ki bahut khushi hoti hai ki aane wali jo generation hai, wo mujhe Soompari
05:44hai ke bulaati hai.
05:45Aur wo bache jab bade hunge tab bhi bulaayenge ki wo ek Soompari woh karte thi.
05:49Ek bahut acha letter aaya hai mujhe, ki wo bacha likhta hai ki meri papa hamisha mujhe
05:53kahte the ki, mai jab chota tha toh falana dimkana character aata tha, toh mai bhi bada
05:58hoke mere bachon ko bolunga ki mai jab chota tha toh hum Soompari ki kahaniya sunte the.
06:02Toh mai agar bachon ki memories mein, sweet memories mein chali gayi hun, toh mujhe bahut
06:06khushi hai us baat ki.
06:08Aur because of Soompari, I have experienced lot of warmth aur pyaar, jo bachon ka pyaar
06:17hai, jo bahut hi pure hai, usmein koi milawat nahi hai.
06:20Toh 5.5 saal tak mai bachon ke liye Soompari banke aayi.
06:25I played Soompari for kids and I was very happy.
06:28Aur Soompari ka second season ab shuru hi hone jaara hai.
06:31I believe in three or four months we'll start doing another season of Soompari.
06:35So I, very happily I'll continue to play Soompari.
06:39Is this program of your particular job, when you as a common woman, you walk in the road,
06:44wherever you go for the street shopping or something like, aapko kya compliments milta
06:48hai?
06:49Ek toh compliments milta hai jismein mera kuch nahi hai, bolte hai ki you have got the
06:53most angelic face, isi liye Soompari shayad mujhe banaya gaya.
06:57Lekin usmein mujhe lagta hai mera kuch nahi hai, bhagwan ki den hai aur mabaap ke genes
07:01hai aur kuch nahi hai.
07:03But agar koi mujhe yeh bolta hai ki aapke chehre pe ek solace dikhai deta hai, shanti
07:08dikhai deti hai, toh that credit I'll take to myself.
07:12Because I believe aapko jo life mein karna hai aur aap jo karna chahati ho, wo agar aap
07:17kar paayi, usmein agar aapko success mil jaye, toh wo ek alag khushi aapke chehre pe chalakti
07:26hai.
07:26Aur agar wo mil gayi hai, toh I'm really very happy about it.
07:29As in to the reach for the television, like how do you differentiate yourself as, like
07:34you know, kitna, you're not yourself but like ek television actor aur ek film actor mein
07:40kitna farag hota hai?
07:41Bahut hi zyada, I don't think one should compare television actor with screen actor, film ka
07:49actor because we work a lot.
07:52Like humare agar working hours dekho aap toh subah 8-8.30 wahe se raat ko 10-10.30 wahe
07:58takh hum kaam karte.
07:59And it is really difficult ki kisi ek kirdaar mein hum har roz aapko kuch dene ki koshish
08:04karte, film toh 3 gandhe mein khatam ho jati hai, uski script ke upar kaafi kaam kiya jaata
08:08hai, characterization ke upar kaafi kaam kiya jaata hai.
08:11Lekin I personally believe doing daily soaps is more challenging, it is more time consuming.
08:17If you're doing it seriously, toh usmein aapke kirdaar mein kitne shades aap dikha sakte ho,
08:23aapko pata nahi kitne saal chalne wala hai.
08:25So it's like, it's not like one small concentrated capsule, lekin wo aapko har roz darshakon ko
08:32kuch na kuch dena hai aur unko rejaana hai, unko story ko aage badhaana hai, interesting
08:38karna hai, har mode pe.
08:40So I think it's a tougher job.
08:41Okay, what similarities are there in the performance, like in television and film?
08:47It solely depends on the character, but sustaining power zyada honi chahiye television actor
08:53ko aur mai khud ko bahut khushnaseeb samjhungi, isliye ki mujhe shuru se bahut variety wale
08:59shows offer bhi hoye, maine jaanbooj ke bhi nibhaye.
09:03If you look at my career, I've done social serials, I've done historicals, I've done
09:06mythologicals, I've done fantasy and many, many, many socials jismein alag-alag kirdaar
09:13main nibhaye.
09:14Aaj aap humare set pe aayein, jismein main ek vidwaka role kar rahi hoon, jo main aaj
09:17tak nahi kiya hai.
09:18So I see to it ki main har baar kuch alag karoon, jo interesting ho, jo aaj tak main
09:23kya ne nahi kiya hai.
09:24And I think it has worked for me.
09:25Okay ma'am, Marathi culture ke baare mein bataye ki, as far as theatre, cinema is concerned,
09:30it's supposed to be very developed culture in the field of literature, etc.
09:34Yes, and I feel, I consider myself very lucky because I've been working in one of, some
09:41of the finest, kya bolte jo novels hain, yaar short stories of Marathi, on television, on
09:50big screen, and I've been awarded for them.
09:53So I'm really a lucky one.
09:55Being a student of literature, main literature bahut zyada logon tak pauncha paari hoon through
10:00films and series.
10:02I'm really happy about it.
10:03Films kyun nahi karna chahate hain, aap yahi karna chahate hain?
10:05Bilkul karna chahate hain, lekin mera television wale log main ko mokha nahi dete, time nahi
10:10dete.
10:10Haali mein main Ram Gopal Verma ki Sholay mein ek chota sa kirdaar nibhaya hai.
10:15But I think television ne mujhe jitna diya hai, main utna lotana chahate hain.
10:22So I'll do films, but it's not my priority.
10:25Family support ke wale mein baat karein?
10:28Without family support you cannot operate, kisi bhi career mein.
10:33Especially in our careers, jahaan pe time ki koi pabandiya nahi hoti hain, koi seemaay
10:38nahi hoti hain, hum late paunchte hain, jaldi nikalte hain, chhutiya nahi milti hain, plan
10:43nahi kar sakte.
10:44But I feel so far so good, main koshish karti hun ki yeh balance mera theek rahe, but the
10:51complete credit of whatever success I have achieved goes to my family.
10:55Okay ma'am, status of women in television medium mein dekha, poochan jaye, toh fir ek
10:59kya, kaisa nazariye hote hain, especially producers and directors ke, approaching ke
11:04ya phir presentations ke, apne script ke liye?
11:07Script mein bol rahe hain aap, yaa insani taur pe?
11:10Insani taur pe.
11:11Insani taur pe toh dekhi, mere liye toh ameshe red carpet tha, I always preserved my right
11:16to say no to anybody, kyunki mere liye sabse important hai self-respect, so mujhe jo kaam
11:21acha laga wahi maine kiya, maine kabhi koi compromise nahi kiya, mujhe galat log nahi
11:25mile hain, toh main yeh batana chahaungi ki agar aap sacche dimaag se aur bahuti clarity
11:32ke saath kaam karte ho, toh koi aapka kuch nahi bigar sakta, kisi bhi field mein.
11:35You should have that level of confidence within you.
11:38Any ideal role still pending of yours in television?
11:41So many of them, so many of them.
11:44I always feel ki koi bhi kirdar, koi bhi insaan mujhe milta hai, toh uske peeche ek kahani
11:48chhubhi hui hoti hain, jo ke aaj tak maine nahi dikhayi, main aaj aap se pehli baar mili
11:52hu, toh aapki bhi koi kahani hogi, jo bahut interesting hogi, jo maine nahi nibhayi hain,
11:57toh there is a lot to do, a lot to do.
12:00Aur TV mein parivartam bhi aate gaye hain, aur main bahut khush hu is baat ke liye ki
12:05main bahut right time pe television mein aayi, bahut acche kirdar mujhe offer hua hain, aur
12:09abhi bhi acche kirdar, main dhoonti hu, aur mujhe patience hai, toh main rukh jaati hu,
12:15ki agar mujhe lage ki nahi, maza nahi aa raha hai, toh I won't do it.
12:18How is Mital as a person?
12:21Oh, you should ask my co-artists and assistants and directors.
12:25Aapka kya lagta hai?
12:26I think I am a very practical person, I am cool tempered, introvert bhi nahi keh sakti
12:33but I am not an extrovert person.
12:35What's your name mean actually, Mrinal?
12:36Mrinal is a lotus, Sanskrit mein lotus ko Mrinal bolte hai.
12:40Any message to the audience?
12:42Believe in yourself and the world is yours.