Women shouldn’t be celebrated on just one day, says Bhargavi Chirmule

Planet Marathi organized an event celebrating women ahead of International Women’s Day recently, which was attended by a galaxy of actresses from Marathi cinema.

Actress Bhargavi Chirmule spoke to Cinestaan about the importance of Women’s Day. “This is the only day when we pat the women in our house on the back. Actually, this shouldn’t happen for just one day. But because of this, she gets one day for herself. In some houses, she is not asked to cook on this day. This is important because women have worked a lot in the lockdown. So, I feel this Women’s Day we should surely celebrate her,” she said. 

Talking about her experience during the lockdown, she said, “For three and a half months I was alone in my house in Mumbai. The first two and a half months were very strict. I gave myself a lot of time. I saw some very good movies and gave importance to fitness. And I learnt a little bit of cooking, which I didn’t know at all. I am happy I survived by eating what I made [laughs].” 

Chirmule is one of the actors who joined Planet Marathi’s talent management wing, Planet Talent. “It’s an amazing experience. I never ever felt in my life that I would do something like this. This is a new medium for Marathi actors. I feel ever since the corporates entered the Marathi field, people have started following ethics and principles,” she said.

She said, “We always feel that there is professionalism in the Hindi film industry but in the Marathi one, it’s more like a family atmosphere as we all know each other. But while doing this, we keep forgetting that the corporate industry has also arrived here. If I am friends with the producer, it is the company that is at work. So, I feel because of this professionalism will increase in the Marathi industry.” 

Asked about her upcoming films, she said, “I have completed two films recently — Prakash Khedekar’s Rawas and Ramesh Chaudhary’s Gullar. The second one is about a child and is based on people from the Dhangar community.” 

Chirmule has always opted for scripts that tackle various issues. She was last seen on the big screen in 2019 in Menka Urvashi, Kahi Kshan Premache and Laal Batti. 

Sharing her criteria for signing up for a film, she said, “The story is of utmost importance, be it movies, plays or television. The director is also important because it all depends on how he handles the story. We have seen a lot of films where the germ of the story isn’t much but the director brings it to light through his vision.” 

Theatres have been open in Maharashtra for almost four months, but the audience is yet to see the release of a major Marathi film. Chirmule believes it will take some time for normalcy to resume. “People are still scared of visiting theatres. Not too many big Hindi films have been released. A lot of makers have announced that their films will be out in June and July. The same is the case for Marathi plays as only three of four have resumed. I am hoping this period ends soon,” she said.