The new definition of M-Town's 'hero'

If B-Town is welcoming new faces and young actors, so is M-Town. With the film plots and subjects getting more contemporary, filmmakers are scouting for actors with fresh faces, toned physiques and spunky attitudes. This year itself, M-Town has six new faces ' Gaurav Ghatnekar (Tuzhi Mazi Love Story), Analesh Desai (Saad), Shankar Shingare (Dum Asel Tar), Chinmay Udgirkar (Shyamche Vadil), Prasad Thange (Surya) and Nikhil Kakade (Thoda Tuzha Thoda Mazha).If some filmmakers say this move will lend a more 'Bollywood' image to their films, others feel these younger actors will connect better with today's young movie audience.
'M-Town needs good looking actors in lead roles. In this aspect, we have always fallen short when compared to Bollywood. And this factor hampers the survival of our films,' says filmmaker Hemant Dabhade. This was the reason why he chose Analesh for his film Saad. Even Sagar Sakhunde, producer of Dum Asel Tar, agrees with his reasoning. He stresses on the 'Hindi film' looks. 'The Marathi audience has already seen Bharat Jadhav or then Makarand Anaspure as heroes. I wanted to give them a Bollywood face and I saw that potential in Shankar,' Sakhunde says.
The new storylines of M-Town films are also creating the need and space for such fresh faces, say filmmakers. Sakhunde adds, 'As my film revolves around a college student who gets involved in politics, we required a younger looking face that would appeal to today's youth ' someone who is like them and who they can relate to. That wouldn't be the case had we taken established actors.' Although raw in the field, the new lot seems to know what works in the industry.
Grooming themselves is an important factor. Gaurav, who has done television and theatre, says, 'My perspective of looking at cinema is not restricted to the Marathi industry. We are a part of world cinema so our competition is with international actors. And with the increasing budgets in M-Town, there is no reason that we should be left behind in terms of grooming ourselves as actors.' Analesh agrees. Giving the example of his first shot in the film where he's seen wearing only swimming trunks, he describes how the look of M-Town films is changing. He says, 'Initially I felt a little embarrassed but the scene was shot aesthetically. It will be a new experience for the Marathi audience; I don't think they are used to watching something like this.'
But will this new crop also live up to the expectation of being good actors? Director Vijay Gokhale (Dum Asel Tar) says, 'As directors, it is important that we tap new potential. How they fare in this game and whether they are able to alter the definition of an M-Town hero, only time will tell.'