Renowned actor Swwapnil Joshi has taken the theatres in Maharashtra by storm once again with his latest release ‘Vaalvi’. The film hit the silver screens on January 13 and it has been making waves ever since.
The Free Press Journal caught up with Swwapnil for an exclusive tête-à-tête wherein he spoke about ‘Vaalvi’, his transition from Hindi to Marathi showbiz, the Bollywood vs regional cinema debate, and more.
Swwapnil calls ‘Vaalvi’ a ‘thrill-com’. “Vaalvi is probably Marathi cinema’s first thrill-com. It’s a thriller with lots of comedy. What happens on screen is extremely thrilling but the audience is also seen having a good laugh at the expense of the characters and their plight,” he explains.
He adds, “Vaalvi is a joyride. It’s a paisa vasool entertainer. When I say ‘Vaalvi’ is a thrill-com, the thrill is about human relationships and incidents that happen in everybody’s life. It’s a film about people and real emotions.”
‘Vaalvi’ is a comic take on a murder mystery with Swwapnil playing a cheating husband. The actor reveals that he did not undergo any prep for the film, but rather, he had to unlearn a lot of things. “When the film is written by Madhugandha Kulkarni and directed by Paresh Mokashi, then as an actor, your job is to just surrender to the story and direction. I unlearned a lot of knowledge and experience though and tried to attempt the film with a clean slate,” he shares.
While Swwapnil is an established actor in the Marathi industry today, he had started off with Hindi television and had become a household name with shows like ‘Uttar Ramayan’, ‘Bhabhi’, ‘Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand’, among others. When quizzed about the transition, the actor states that he never really made a hard and fast decision to drift away from Hindi content.
“Marathi cinema has kept my plate full all these years. Plus, it’s a great time to do regional work. My journey has been the most enriching and enlightening and I’ve had a lot of fun along the way. I am blessed that I actually get to do what I love for a living and I also get paid for it. I started off with light-hearted and chocolate boy roles, but the hunger to try out new things kept me going and helped me evolve in this journey,” he avers.
Having worked in both Hindi and regional cinema, Swwapnil believes that the lines between the film industries are now blurring. “I feel it’s time to put to rest the Hindi vs regional cinema debate. All these films are part of Indian cinema at the end of the day and the sooner we accept this, the sooner will the so-called regional cinema flourish and get more weightage,” he states.
“I recently did a web show ‘Samantar’ and it was dubbed in several languages and was watched by millions of people across the globe. Lines are blurring and eventually it’s only going to be good work and not-so-good work,” he adds.
On a parting note, Swwapnil reiterates that Marathi cinema has a lot to offer to the world. “Though Marathi cinema is not as big-budgeted, it is as rich as cinema in any other language. And right now, I feel it is at the forefront of creating some great content in the country,” he concludes.
