The lack of a biopic on the life of any film industry personality in India stirred Shekhar Sartandel into making the Marathi film Ekk Albela , which chronicles the life of the legendary actor Bhagwan Abaji Palav (1913 to 2002), popularly know as Bhagwan or Bhagwan Dada.
The film screened, at the Bengaluru International Film Festival on Monday, narrates the struggle of a middle-class young man from a Bombay chawl who became the first “dancing star” of the Hindi film industry. Bhagwan, who was also a film director, producer and choreographer, is best known for his film Albela (1951).
The film stars Mangesh Desai as Bhagwan and Vidya Balan as yesteryear star Geeta Bali. On the kind of research that went into making the film, Mr. Sartandel, who teaches film production at the University of Mumbai, said, “There are not many books available on such film legends. That is why I had to rely on the interviews given by Bhagwan to periodicals from the 1960s. The interviews throw light on the extent of difficulties Bhagwan went through to make a name in the film industry. Apart from this, I also spoke to his family members.”
Ekk Albela has scenes depicting the making, rehearsal and filming of some of the legendary songs of the 1951 film, music for which was scored by Bhagwan’s all-weather friend C. Ramachandra. “These song sequences were necessary to show the kind of struggle that went into making the film and the effort put in by the film-maker,” said Mr. Sartandel.
Finding actors to essay the roles of the two legends in the film was no less a struggle for Mr. Sartandel. “It was after a very long search I zeroed in on theatre actor Mangesh Desai. His eyes and the jawline were the clincher. Vidya Balan was the only actor who was suited for the role of Geeta Bali. She liked the narration and agreed to be part of the film for free,” he told The Hindu .
The film ends with Bhagwan and his family members and friends basking in the success of Albela . It was a conscious decision to end the film here for two reasons. “Unlike in a book, in films you can highlight only particular stages from the life of your central character. Secondly, I wanted the film to end at a point when Bhagwan reached the peak of his popularity. I didn’t want to show his downfall in the years following the success of Albela ,” said Mr. Sartandel.
