Ek Hota Vidushak (1992)

Ek Hota Vidushak (Marathi: एक होता विदूषक, English: Once There Was A Clown) is a 1992 Marathi film directed by Jabbar Patel and produced by National Film Development Corporation of India. The film stars Laxmikant Berde, Madhu Kambikar, Nilu Phule, Varsha Usgaonkar in lead roles and Mohan Agashe and Dilip Prabhavalkar in supporting roles.

The film portrays the life of folk theater artist and is considered as one of the few films made on the life of tamasha artistes, including Pinjara (1972) and Natarang (2010). Laxmikant Berde, who is better known for his comic roles in Marathi and Hindi films, was appreciated for his role as Aburao. The film is based on a short story written by Jabbar Patel with screenplay and dialogues penned by the veteran Marathi writer, P. L. Deshpande (Pu. La.) after a hiatus of 39 years. Previously, Deshpande had written screenplay and dialogues for another Marathi film Gulacha Ganapati (1953) starring himself.

The film won several awards and was adjudged as the Best Film at Maharashtra State Film Awards (1993). It also won two National Film Awards at the 40th National Film Awards (1992); Best Feature Film in Marathi and Best Choreography for Laxmibai Kolhapurkar. Kolhapurkar became the first choreographer and the first woman to win the National Film Award for choreography. The film also participated at the Indian Panorama, International Film Festival of India in 1993.

Synopsis

Film begins with Aburao (Laxmikant Berde), a famous film-star in Maharashtra, performing death rituals (Śrāddha) for his mother, Manjula (Madhu Kambikar) in his hometown Begadewadi. As these rituals are usually performed with the shaved head, Aburao is forced to do it by wearing a wig so that he does not lose on the continuity of his films currently being shot. To capture on his popularity, rituals are also being covered by media. Exasperated with media attention, Aburao leaves the crematory and heads towards his mother's home, only to revisit his childhood memories.

Actors