Pune boy Parth Bhalerao had a gala time shooting with Amitabh Bachchan for Bhoothnath Returns. The 14-year-old chats with Divya Kaushik about learning punctuality and discipline from Big B
For a 14-year-old, he has an impressive body of work, which includes Marathi film Killa that won the Crystal Bear for the best film awarded by the Children’s Jury in the Generation KPlus competition category at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. After doing couple of Marathi film, Parth Bhalerao was lucky to bag the role of Akhrot in Bhoothnath Returns, with Amitabh Bachchan. But when he auditioned for the role neither did he know that he will be playing an important role in the film with Big B nor did he realise that this can be a turning point in his life. “I participated in theatre activities in my school and my drama teacher realised how much I enjoy being on stage. He guided me throughout and suggested that I be the part of theatre in Pune. Thanks to him that I became a regular part of theatre in Pune, from where I got to know of various auditions and through those auditions I bagged a few Marathi films. Once while I was rehearsing for a play, a theatre actor told me that there are auditions for a Hindi film taking place in the city. like I used to go for other auditions, I went for it and almost forgot about it. After few days the casting director of Bhoothnath Returns, Mukesh Chhabra, called and told me that I am selected. I went to Mumbai to be a part of acting workshop,” said Parth.
In the promos of the film, Parth comes across as a confident actor, completely unfazed or intimidated by the presence of a megastar like Bachchan. “He gave me confidence and since day one he called me a champion. I didn’t feel like we were meeting for the first time. I learnt discipline from him and how to value time. I have never seen him getting late on the sets. He exudes certain energy on the sets and the experience to work with him is unparallel. He never let me miss home while we were shooting,” shared Parth, who has been receiving appreciations from Big B. The veteran actor thinks that “he is very talented and instinctive actor and observes everything so minutely that I was always cautious while working with him.”
The child actor has been a fan of the Bhoothnath franchise and watched it many times earlier. “I liked the transformation of the ghost from someone who did not let anyone stay in his house to a gentle, friendly ghost, who teaches a kid a lot of things. This film is different and ghost remains to be gentle and kind in this one as well,” he informed. Parth, a student of class nine, missed his exams owing the release of Bhoothnath Returns. “But when others will have their vacation, I will study and give my exams,” said Parth.