“This is my first Ganesh Chathurthi after marriage. So, it’s even more special,” says Sonalee Kulkarni, who married Dubai-based chartered accountant Kunal Benodekar in May this year. Though she won’t be celebrating the festival with him, she looks forward to starting a new film next week. She shares, “Last year, Kunal had come to India and celebrated Ganesh Utsav with my family. But this time around, he couldn’t come here due to work. And though I won’t be able to spend all ten days of the festival back in Pune, I’m happy that the work is beginning on an auspicious note.”

Three years ago, Kulkarni and her brother created a Ganesha idol with shadu mati (biodegradable clay) and she plans on carrying the tradition forward in the coming years, too. “He sculpts it and I decorate and colour it. My grandfather started celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi at home more than 50 years back. We’re taking the legacy forward now,” she reveals.

With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, a lot has changed. The Vicky Velingkar (2019) actor admits that she misses performing at live shows the most. “I began performing at the Pune Festival, the biggest Ganesh festival in the country, since I was five. That was the starting point of my career. It is where some of the biggest classical musicians and dancers began their journey from. After I became an actor, I continued to perform there every year.”

So, what would be her prayer this year? “The cinema halls and drama theatres are still shut. The backstage artistes, cinema owners and other staff members are suffering. I hope that everyone gets their livelihood back.”