Playing Shivaji Maharaj is a dream come true: Chinmay

For actor Chinmay Mandlekar, films are about connecting with the audience. An actor-writer, Chinmay always looks at what the film has to say before signing the dotted line. The Morya (2011) actor says, “I first see what the film has to say and to whom. The target audience of a film is very important. If a film is self indulgent and has nothing to connect with the audience, then I don’t do it. I don’t care then if it is a big banner or a great film.” He adds that it is also important to see whether the film will see the day of release too as he has been a part of projects that were never released.

Chinmay is excited and happy about his current project, Farzand, as he gets to portray Maratha warrior king, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. “It is a dream come true. It is one thing to know you can pull it off, but another when the director and makers put that trust and belief in you. Digpal (Lanjekar, director) had read the script out to me as friend and I was mesmerised at the way it was written. I just told him that it should come out the way it was written. Once all was set he approached me to play the part,” he says.

Chinmay’s films (2009) and Halal (2017) were embroiled in controversies before their releases and he jokes, “Honestly, people may start thinking that films I feature in cause controversies. Jokes apart, I don’t believe in negative publicity. I always like to do films that say something. However, in today’s time if you say something, someone is bound to take offence. We made a film Swami Public Ltd in 2014 which was so relevant especially with personalities such as Radhe Maa and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan coming out. But people had an issue with it.” The actor will have three releases next month and says, “I am also diligently working on my directorial debut and have many theatre projects too.”