Actor-director and writer, Bharat Dabholkar, started as a lawyer, before creative forces compelled him to take to theatre, advertising and films.
The common thread between theatre and ads is laughter, Bharat says over a call from Mumbai. “I find laughter the biggest connection to people be it the Amul ads or theatre.”
Bharat brings the musical, Blame It On Bollywood to Bengaluru. He has written and directed the musical and shares the stage with Anant Mahadevan and Jayati Bhatia. Produced and presented by AGP World in association with Yash Raj Films, the production has laughter as well as song and dance.
“Every play of mine begins with us making fun of ourselves. Once that is done, you are pardoned when you make fun of others.”
Scenes from the musical
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
There is a thin between freedom of speech and vulgarity, Bharat says. “I am a lawyer, and have studied the Indian Constitution. All these comedians who cite freedom of expression forget that there is a restriction of fundamental rights too. A simple way of putting it is my fundamental right to swing my hand ends where the other man’s space begins.”
Known for his political and social satires Bharat says, “I have made fun of everybody in my plays, and never got into trouble, because I know where to draw the line. You don’t get personal nor do you take sides. You have to always be objective.”
Bharat gives 99.99 % of the credit for the success of the Amul campaign to Verghese Kurien. “He was the world’s best client. He said, ‘I understand milk and milk products but not advertising. I have chosen you and cannot tell you what to do. Do whatever you want, but make sure my product sells.’ When you are given that kind of a brief, your responsibility also increases.”
Bharat laughs off his titles of ad-guru and father of Hinglish. “I am no guru as I have not taught anyone and I believe no one learnt anything from me. But Hinglish happened, because I did my schooling in Marathi. When I came to Mumbai I joined a sophisticated South Bombay College. There were 145 of the prettiest girls in my class and five boys.
“If a girl came and asked me to go out for a film, I would respond in my head in Marathi, then translate it to English and then respond. By that time, the girl would have watched the film and returned too. That is when I started using Hinglish, just to talk to the girls.”
It worked, Bharat says in college, later in plays and advertising. “I realised when you speak the language of people, they relate to it better. We would try and make a local connect too. For instance, for one Amul ad in Tamil Nadu, we punned on a title of an MGR film, Unnai Veda Matten. We created an image of MGR holding Amul butter in his hand and used the tagline ‘Vennai Vida Matten’. That’s how those ads worked. We call it empathy in advertising.”
About his musical, Blame it on Bollywood, Bharat says, “I realised regardless of which community you belong to, every wedding has this Punjabi Bollywood wedding influence. The play was originally called, Blame it on Yash Raj, which ran for 12 years. Yash (Chopra) is a good friend of mine, we got his permission too for the title. Later, we changed the title to Blame it on Bollywood, added new songs and dances.”
Blame it on Bollywood tells the story of a Punjabi father, Bengali mother, and a daughter who wants to marry a Muslim. “The apprehensive bride’s family discovers that the Muslim family is more evolved and sophisticated than them.”
The play, Bharat says, is a tribute to Yash Chopra, who is regarded as the father of romance in Bollywood. ”It is humorous, and breaks the stereotypes. The weddings get bigger, there is a sangeet, where we get the audience to dance with us. It is about having a good time while we make fun of everything related to weddings.”
Blame it on Bollywood will be staged on April 5, 7.30pm at Prestige Centre for Performing Arts. Tickets on https://bit.ly/BIOB_Bangalore_BookNow
Published – April 03, 2025 01:51 pm IST
