Mangesh Desai says his eyes, cheekbones resemble the late actor-director's; jokes that everybody asks him for Vidya Balan's contact number
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 26, 2016)

Mirror (May 12) had reported on how Vidya Balan had metamorphosed into Geeta Bali for Ek Albela, a biopic on Bhagwan Dada. Now, Mangesh Desai, who essays the role of the late actor-director in Shekhar Sartandel's film, reveals that he saw the 1951 musical comedy, Albela, directed by and featuring Bhagwan Dada, 25 times before he began shooting.

"As a child, I'd seen him in songs like 'Shola Jo Bhadke' and 'Bholi Soorat Dil Ke Khote'. I hadn't seen any of his films as there isn't much online, barring a newspaper article which highlighted his plight towards the end of his life," points out the 43-year-old actor whose character ages from 19 to 50 in the film. Did they have to depend entirely on prosthetics? He denies this, saying veteran make-up artiste Vidyadhar Bhatte gave him several different looks with only one wig.

"For the scenes where I played the young Bhagwan Dada, I sucked in my stomach and used body pads when the character aged," reminisces Mangesh who believes his eyes and cheekbones are a lot like the yesteryear matinee idol.

The film traces the difficulties Dada faced while making Albela. The makers had arranged for a small clipping of a fight sequence from from the Pune archives to help Mangesh prep up. "He was a natural actor but there were some melodramatic elements in his performance, which I've tried to imitate," says Mangesh, who was worried about the naach gaana as Dada was a fantastic dancer. "I trained with a choreographer before going on set. At my birthday party last year, Shekhar saw me dance and said that this was exactly what he wanted. That boosted my confidence."

The actor is delighted to have got an opportunity to work with the National Award-winning Vidya because he's now been getting lots of offers. "But at the end of the conversation they ask for Vidya's contact number. Many want to attend the premiere only to meet her," he joked. On the last day of the shoot, Vidya gave gifts to all the HoDs, and a metal sun to Mangesh, with the prayer, "May you rise like the sun."

Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; August 3, 2015)

Speculations surrounding the fate of the Bhagwan Dada biopic have been put to rest with the film ready to go on floors from August 5 — with a new director on board. The film, Ek Albela, had hit a roadblock following a legal tussle between the makers and Niranjan Patwardhan, who was initially supposed to helm the film. Shekhar Sartandel has now taken on the reins.

Marathi actor Mangesh Desai, who will be essaying the cinema legend, says: “Niranjan is no more associated with this project. Shekhar Sartandel is directing the film being made by Kimaya Motion Pictures. He has made a lot of changes to the script with the help of writer Amol Shedge. It will be a Marathi film with some Hindi dialogues.”

The project ran into trouble after Mohnish Babre, MD of Kimaya, filed a case against Niranjan for illegally taking possession of the film’s screenplay with dialogues and refusing to share a bound script with him. Reports suggested Niranjan chose to find another producer for his film and made a formal announcement about it. However, it was later rumoured to have been shelved.

Desai says although there was not much information available on the actor- filmmaker, no reference was made to Bhagwan Dada’s biography by a journalist during the scripting stage. “His photographs are not available either. Now our film belongs to the era before Albela (1951) released and I have been watching the film everyday and trying to understand his body language and mannerisms as part of my research and preparation. I will have to learn his style of dancing and take training for it. His brother, however, has given us some inputs,” adds the actor.

The film will trace the journey of Bhagwan Abaji Palav, who went from being a goon to a successful actor-filmmaker fondly known as Bhagwan Dada. It will also explore the era between 1930 and 1951 and present life in Bombay before and after independence, and the early stages of the Indian film industry. Jyoti Joshi will play Bhagwan Dada’s wife while Swapnil Rajshekhar and Vidyadhar Joshi will be seen in key roles.