Barshi actor’s work lights up the screen at Toronto International Film Festival

PUNE: It’s a long journey from

Barshi

in

Solapur district

to Toronto in Canada, but actor Vitthal Kale has overcome the strain of the distance nonetheless. Two films featuring the actor have been selected at the prestigious

Toronto International Film Festival

(TIFF) that is currently underway.


Kale, who has plays the second lead in both the Hindi films, has acted in over 100 short films so far and has been part of Pune theatre groups Samanvay and Rangdrushti.

Exploring opportunities in theatre and as an actor, Kale shifted to Pune ten years ago. He may not have any professional training in acting, but that has never been a deterrent.

The two films selected for the festival are Hotel Mumbai, directed by Anthony Maras, and The Field, a short film directed by Sandhya Suri. The works are drastically different — while Hotel Mumbai is based on the 2008 attack on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, The Field is centred on a poor agricultural labourer preparing to harvest his field.

Kale said, “I am really lucky as two of my films have been selected at this important festival. It’s an international platform and to get noticed there will make a major difference to my career.”

Initially after moving to Pune, Kale participated in sessions conducted by the two theatre groups. Later, he got the opportunity to work in films made by the Department of Communication Studies at the Savitribai Phule Pune University as well as the Film and Television Institute of India. Later, he also got to play short roles in films made by leading Marathi film directors including Umesh Kulkarni and Nagraj Manjule.

Kale said that, so far, he has acted in 106 short films. Two films, Aranyak (2015) and Aushadh (2016), in which he played important characters have also won National Awards.