Death is auspicious in my film: Makarand Deshpande

Mumbai: Theatre and film artiste Makarand Deshpande tackles the theme of death in his film `Miss Sundari` and the director says he has portrayed death as an auspicious incident in his movie.

The artiste, who stands out with his unconventional personality, says the topic has been baffling him for a long time and he wrote a play about death but not satisfied with the end, he decided to explore it further through the film, which was screened to a packed audience at the ongoing Mumbai Film Festival. "I remember that I was first confronted with the reality of end with the death of my grandmother. I was seven years old, was kept away from what was happening but was aware about it in some vague way. I realised very early in my life that birth is always auspicious whereas death is considered bad," Deshpande said. "In my film I have showed death as auspicious. I think it is important to let go sometimes," he said. The actor-director, who has written over 30 plays for theatre and acted in a number of Bollywood films, however, remains baffled by mortality. "No, I am troubled by death. I think about it everyday. It is something that has troubled every thinker. All the religions talk about it but I know that my business is to live. I am confronted by this reality everyday. Jagjit Singhji died recently while my guru is in semi-coma in hospital," he added. Talking about his unique friendship with Shah Rukh Khan which started on the sets of TV serial `Circus`, Deshpande said that probably the Bollywood superstar and he share the same energy. "I think it is the energy that`s what is common between us. I remember when we were working on `Circus`, everyone had different dreams. I was the only person, who did not want to achieve something. I just wanted to live but I have this energy for life without having big goals," the actor said. Deshpande said that he finds that theatre has more freedom for an artiste while the visual medium is limited. "In theatre you can have a character without showing him but not in the visual medium where you have to show everything. It is restricting for an artiste," he added. PTI