The theatre enthusiast and a performer par excellence , Makarand Deshpande is known for his exceptional performances in theatres and Bollywood. Better renowned for his roles in movies like Jungle and Makadee, Makarand says that his first love is theatre and after each performance he starves for doing more experiments with plays.
Notably, Makarand is in the city of lakes to perform his play Sir Sir Sarla for the 33rd Foundation Day of Bharat Bhavan and in a rendezvous with The Pioneer, Makarand talked about his first love i.e. Theatre. While talking about it he also appreciated the theatre of Bhopal. “Theatre teaches discipline and this is what I like about theaters the most,” says Makarand.
“People have misconceptions about theatre as they think that before doing movies one should do theatres first. I have met many newcomers in Mumbai saying that ‘we thought that before going for movies we should work with makarandji in theatre’ which is a huge misconception.”
“Theatre is a kind of run through. It teaches you discipline in terms of acting and a person gets more and more equipped with good quality work for future,” Makarand added.
“Here in Bhopal the theatre is very rich and marvelous. The artists here bring innovations maintaining their own style which is commendable,” says Makarand.
Elaborating more about it, he said, “This is a trip to Bhopal after a long time and I have seen the theatre at Bharat Bhavan for the first time. No doubt I was overwhelmed after watching this performance. It was more like a treat for a theatre enthusiast like me,” he added. Makarand further said that earlier he had been to Bhopal years before when he worked with the pioneer of theatre industry Habib Tanveer Sahab, “Habib sahib ke saath kaafi aana jana hua and after visiting here after a long time I realized that the theatre culture in Bhopal is very prosperous in itself.”
Makarand Deshpande is known for his eccentricity. And just like his quirky personality, many of his plays have been equally inexplicable. He is totally a theatre person.
After over 40 films and innumerable plays, the actor says that he was never here to be in the competition. He loves theatre and that’s all. “Aamir and SRK had dreams to achieve heights in industry. Aamir knew me before he debuted in QSQT when he was doing theaters as a back stage artist. Same is with SRK. No one ever thought that they will achieve their dreams.”
Makarand signed off saying, “Mere paas koi sapna nahi that mujhe to bas jeena tha.”