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Shubha Khote and Bhavana Balsaver

While one filled you with hatred with her convincing portrayal of Rati Agnihotri’s insensitive mother in Ek Duje Ke Liye (1981), the other’s Chachi act in the popular comedy tele-series Dekh Bhai Dekh evoked your sympathy for being so dumb. The respective repertoires of mother Shubha Khote and daughter Bhavana Balsaver have compelled audiences to perceive them as two creative individuals first, and then as mother and daughter.
About 40 years ago, in order to broaden their professional horizons and work together as a team, Khote and Balsaver formed a production company called Shubhangi Kala Mandir, which went on to produce Hindi plays such as Mera Naam Joker, Hum Dono and Hera Pheri; English plays such as Let’s Do It, Bachelor’s Wife and It Happened One Night; and Marathi play Rukmani Rukmani Lagnanantar Kai Zhala. Their latest Hindi production titled Kitne Aadmi Thhe?, written by Balsaver and directed by Khote, premiered in Pune on April 26 at Balgandharva Rangmandir.
The story revolves around Swarg Se Sundar, a shabby lodge run by Annie with the help of her manager, PK, and an inefficient worker Yesu. One day, Annie hears a rumour that an inspector is making incognito rounds of all the hotels in the area. As luck would have it, that very day, a rat somehow enters the lodge. Scared that the hotel will lose its licence, Annie places pieces of meat smeared with rat poison on the floor. When Yesu finds the meat while cleaning the floor, he puts it into the freezer with the remaining meat. As PK and Yesu try figuring out if any of the guests have ingested the poison, one of the guests collapses.
“Amid all this confusion, Annie and PK have to hide an unconscious guest, chase out the rodent and impress the hotel inspector. It is an out-an-out comedy, which is our forte,” says veteran actor Khote, who made her debut in 1955 as Putli in the film Seema, post which, she featured in numerous Marathi and Hindi films. Khote was praised most for her roles in Gharana (1961), Sasural (1961), Paying Guest (1957) and Ek Duje Ke Liye. Besides being the play’s director, Khote also plays a character called Mrs Bahry in Kitne Aadmi Thhe?. Other actors in the play are Sheetal Maulik, Yaman Chatwal, Hormazd Chesan, Sachin Gersappa and Roshan Tirandaz.
The plot struck Balsaver last December when she was shooting for TV serial Gutur Gu. “The story was always clear in my mind; I just had to add punches and dialogues. As the team gathered together for discussions and rehearsals, we kept improvising on the plot,” says Balsaver.
Acting, she says, happened to her by chance, despite coming from a family of actors. While her grandfather Nandu Khote, veteran actor Durga Khote’s brother-in-law, was a noted silent film actor; her maternal uncle is actor Viju Khote. “When I was about 17 years of age, I had gone to see my mother’s play Bottoms Up. One of the female actor’s didn’t turn up for the final show; the director asked me to replace her. As soon as I got on to the stage, I knew it was my career for life,” recalls Balsaver, who plays Annie in Kitne Aadmi Thhe?.
The group plans to showcase the play in Mumbai and Delhi too in the near future.