Special| Sharad Kelkar on Shivaji Jayanti: Being able to portray Chhatrapati Shivaji on film in Tanhaji gives me pride

Sharad Kelkar has portrayed several characters on television, but none have made him feel like he has accomplished as much as he did when he played Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the erstwhile emperor of India. In 2020, he assumed the role of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, one of his greatest hits to date.

The actor removes his slippers out of respect as soon as we start filming when we bring him in for an exclusive session. The whole shoot takes place in bare feet. Not only Maharashtrians, but all of us should be proud of this. In India, he founded the Hindu Swaraj. He is an innovator.

When discussing how his relationship with Shivaji became stronger after the movie, Kelkar says he was “surprised” to get a similar offer.

“I had never previously met or conversed with the director, Om Raut. He phoned when I was abroad and said he wanted to see me. After that, he said he wanted me to play Shivaji, and I asked, “Why me?” after thinking about two minutes. He expressed his desire for his monarch to resemble me and possess my disposition. We conducted a look test, and everyone in the workplace fell silent when I arrived wearing that outfit. I realized then that they were staring at me. That really boosted my confidence. An actor who is Maharashtrian and Marathi, this is a once-in-a-lifetime part. As we finish off the session, the actor says, “It’s the biggest achievement.”

He still recalls how, after Tanhaji, he was approached by people with just two things to say: “People talked about this movie and my role 100 times out of 100 times.” It was an issue of honor.

However, he was never given the opportunity to compete as Shivaji when he was younger. The movie set served as his training ground. He did, however, profit from the praise. Since I was born and raised in Madhya Pradesh, our textbooks have always included a brief account of Shivaji Maharaj. In order to increase public awareness of him, I asked the Chief Minister of MP to assign a chapter or certain books to be read in schools at the time,” he grins.