Manjrekar makes comeback as actor

Mumbai, Aug 8 (IANS) After having played a gangster in the Telugu film "Okkadunadu", director Mahesh Manjrekar is being resurrected as an actor by Sanjay Gupta with "Pankh" and "Dus Kahaniyan".

Gupta had earlier given Manjrekar two of his biggest breaks as an actor.

"I gave Mahesh pivotal roles in my 'Kaante' and 'Musafir'. I think he's a really good actor. And if one has to choose between Mahesh the actor and director I'd go for the former. In fact, he plays one of the leads in our production 'Pankh' with Bipasha Basu and Lilette Dubey. The film is almost 50 percent complete," Gupta told IANS.

"I also directed him in one of the stories in my 'Dus Kahaniyan'. The story was called 'Strangers In The Night'. It's a beautiful story featuring Mahesh and Neha Dhupia as husband and wife," he added.

Manjrekar had started his career as an actor in Marathi theatre, but then turned to direction. However, he hasn't had a directorial release since "Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi" and "Viruddh - Family Comes First" in 2005.

"Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi", a sci-fi kiddies film with Manjrekar's best friend Sanjay Dutt playing a modern day Yamaraj (Hindu god of death), was a washout.

With "Viruddh", he had promised to mend his creatively damaging ways. Though well intended, it too turned out to be a box office disappointment in spite of the AB Corp Ltd badge.

A close friend of Manjrekar said: "Mahesh went mad. After 'Vaastav' he signed any film that came his way. Overwork and too little focus finished off his career."

Three of his ready-for-release directorial undertakings "Deha", "It Was Raining That Night" and "Struggler" are in the cans for want of buyers.

"Deha" features Jaya Prada and Dino Morea as mismatched lovers. "It Was Raining That Night" is Manjrekar's English language take on his classic study of marital guilt "Astitva" with Sushmita Sen in Tabu's role.

"Struggler" is a one-actor satire with Manjrekar playing a wannabe who wants to meet Amitabh Bachchan. The Big B made a guest appearance at the end of this experimental film that Manjrekar hoped to take to Cannes. Alas, it ended up only in the cans.

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Dus Kahaniyaan