ACTORS WHO HAVE ESSAYED THEV ROLE OF SAI BABA

Jyothi Venkatesh

Sudhir Dalvi , the 82 years old veteran theatre and film actor played Sai Baba in Ashok V Bhushan’s iconic film Shirdi Ke Sai Baba (1977) and since then he has been branded for life forever as Sai Baba.

Dalvi played Sai Baba again in two more films, Shirdi Sai Baba (2001) and Sai Darshan- Ek Anubhav (2010).

The veteran is also remembered for his portrayal of the sage Vashishtha in Ramanand Sagar’s TV serial Ramayan.

Dalvi , who stays in Kandivali West in Mumbai, recalls some interesting as well as amusing incidents from his long journey. “

I had acted in a Hindi play with Shrikant Moghe called Sher Shivaji. I played Raja Jaisingh in it.

Shrikant’s father-in-law’s cousin Pandurang Dixit called me for the role of Sai Baba after seeing me in that play.

When he opened the door, he straightaway said, "Baba, ya ." I turned to look behind, but it was for me (laughs).

“Dixit offered me the role of Sai Baba. I said I was just 36. I wondered how I could play such roles now.

But he wanted only me and said I will have to play both young and old . I then put down one condition, that I need to know every bit of information on Sai Baba and gave me a few books to read.

I kept reading about Sai Baba late at night to prepare. My wife asked me why I was reading at 2 or 2:30 am after returning home late.

When I said I have been offered this role, she said I should be ready to perform any role. She said if I was able to carry it out, it would prove that I am a very good artist.

They wondered who would write the movie. At that time trustee Indubai Shah’s chartered accountant was also Manoj Kumar’s CA. He said Manojji will write as he is also a Sai baba devotee.

Pandurang Dixit told me how his parents had gone to Shirdi in 1915 by taking a bullock cart from Kopargaon station.

This is how one went to Shirdi in those days. At that time his mother was carrying Pandurang Dixit in her womb.

The Sai Baba movie that was earlier made in 1955 was shot in V. Shantaram's Rajkamal Studios in Mumbai.

So, Pandurang Dixit decided to do the mahurat and shoot a few scenes there. After giving my first shot, somebody’s hands touched my feet. It was Pandurang Dixit! I was embarrassed. He said he felt he saw the real Sai Baba in me.

My image as Sai Baba has over the years become so strong that wherever I went, people would say, "Come Baba." They would ask me for tea, coffee and cigarettes. But nobody was ready to give me any work!

Then I got a chance to do a song in J Om Prakash’s film Apnapan (1977). I played a Sufi saint who gets into the bus for Srinagar but doesn’t have money for a ticket. Jeetendra’s character pays off for me.

As he notices my harmonium, he asks me to sing. So I sang ‘Aadmi Musafir Hai’. Whenever I was offered a role, I used to ask how much I get per day as it was necessary to earn.

This was how I got some good and creative roles. Ramanand Sagar gave me the role of Vashishtha in his serial Ramayan.

Though the name of Sudhir Dalvi comes to your mind the moment you read about Sai Baba, there are also quite a few other actors who have also played the role of Saibaba.

Like Lokesh Gupte in Mahesh Kothare’s docu drama based on the life of saint Sai Baba. Yes.

Mahesh Kothare had made a docu-drama based on the life of Saint Sai Baba. "“It was a 40 min docu-drama about Sai Baba and we shot it using IMAX format.

We tried to give a very authentic depiction of Sai Baba through extensive research," shares eminent producer-director-actor Mahesh.

Lokesh Gupte played the role of Sai Baba while the late actress Ashwini Ekbote played his disciple Baija Mai, whom he considered to be an elder sister and mother figure. The film was primarily screened at a theme park in Shirdi for devotees and visitors.

Tushar Dalvi who had made his debut in the Marathi film Jivalaga as a romantic young leading man, was also seen playing Sai Baba -- a role that was earlier also essayed by Abeer Soofi -- in the show "Mere Sai - Shraddha aur Saburi".

He says he had big shoes to fill as Abeer Soofi had created a benchmark. The show took a leap and after that, the protagonist was played by Tushar Dalvi.

"When this role came to me, I was thrilled to know that the makers believed that I would be able to do justice to such an iconic character.

Though I knew I had big shoes to fill as Abeer had created a benchmark, I was glad that the viewers accepted me too with open arms as they accepted Abeer," says Tushar.
While viewers saw Abeer in the same white long kurta and Kafni throughout the show, not many know that he has a collection of close to 93 costumes which make his similar look unique every day.

Obsession for clothes is not rare. Then and now, people can be seen keeping and owning a good collection of costumes in their dearly built king-size wardrobes. But, Abeer Sufi went a step ahead with this interest.

Abeer’s look of Sai Baba in Sony Entertainment Television’s Mere Sai – Shraddha Aur Saburi was fixed - a white long kurta with a Kafni which he carried in each and every scene of the show, but it is an amazing fact that the costumes he wore day-by-day were unique in their own way.

Mere Sai, managed to indulge the nation in Sai Bhakti and the fan following of the show also increased with each passing day.

The show’s lead actor, Abeer Soofi, captivated the viewers’ attention by playing Sai in the best way possible and he also received a lot of appreciation for his performance and continued to collect the love of all his well-wishers in his kitty.

While viewers saw Abeer in the same white long kurta and Kafni throughout the show, not many know that he had a collection of close to 93 costumes which made his similar look unique every day.

Also, during the summers, Abeer had to shoot in heat which made it difficult for him to be in the same set of clothes for an entire day.

Therefore, the production decided to have the collection of the same costumes for his character, so that it was easy for him to change during shoots without getting uncomfortable with heat and sweat in the same costume and maintain the sequence.

Abeer adds, “With summers setting in, it was getting difficult for me to carry on with just one set of costumes for an entire day.

Almost all my scenes are outdoors and due to summers, I was prone to sweat which spoils the scene.

That’s the reason I had to change my costume multiple times a day for which at least 10 costumes were kept ready on the sets. Therefore, now I have a collection of 93 same costumes of Sai baba’s character.”