The Mahabharat Over Dadasaheb Phalke

Suddenly two of India’s  most celebrated filmmakers are keen on making a bio-pic on the founding father of Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke.

Raj Kumar Hirani is all set to make the Dadasaheb biopic with Aamir Khan while down South,  it is the redoubtable  S S Rajamouli  who  prepping to tell  the Phalke saga with  NTR junior in the eponymous  role.

The almost simultaneous timing of the two biopics on a  man who was born 155 years  ago seems more than a  coincidence.

Sources  close to  the  development have some  somewhat startling details on the double Dadasaheb aspirations.

According to   source  close to the development ,  Rajamouli was planning  his  biopic for  more than two years. “Then he suddenly hears that Aamir Khan and Raju Hirani are doing it. This came as shock to Rajamouli, and not  a pleasant one. This is  not the first time Rajamouli’s ambition was in the danger of being  trumped  by Aamir Khan.  Right after Baahubali, Rajamouli wanted to do  his  own version of  the Mahabharat. Then he  suddenly heard that Aamir was doing the Mahabharat. Rajamouli  dropped his  Mahabharat plan and  moved  to RRR, only to  realize that Aamir had aborted  his Mahabharat  project. This time  Rajamouli won’t backtrack.”

    In fact  Aamir’s sudden desire to  play Dadasaheb Phalke  has taken the entire film  industry  by surprise.His close friends say he was keen to  do something  “light and frothy” after Sitaare Zameen Par.

Several notable  filmmakers who wish to remain unnamed feel Dadasaheb Phalke  should be played by Marathi actor.

“Ideally, it should have been Dr Shreeram Lagoo or Vikram Gokhale. Sadly they are no longer with us. Neither  Aamir nor NTR Jr is culturally or physically  correct  for the part  of Dadasaheb Phalke,” says a prolific Marathi  filmmaker  who has made  films in Hindi and Marathi.

Interestingly, Dadasaheb has already been played brilliantly by Marathi  actor  Nandu Madhav in 2009  in Paresh Mikashi’s Marathi  masterpiece  Harishchandrachi Factory. Anything after  would be akin to  the Mahatma Gandhis that came after Ben Kingsley on Richard Attenborough’s  Gandhi.