A star is born

All of nine years Kaustubh Satpute has already decided on his career. 8220;I will be an actor.8221; A veteran of one film, he is on his way there. Kaustubh appeared for his first screen performance in the Marathi film, Soon ladki sasarchi in April last year.

A Std. V student of Modern High School, Kaustubh has always been fond of acting and has taken part in dances, songs and skits ever since he was five years old. The break in films came when his father, who works as senior stenographer at the Ness Wadia college, came to know the director of the film, V K Naik, who was on the look out for a young boy to play a role in the film. 8220;A professor at the college was associated with them so I happened to register Kaustubh8217;s name with him,8221; A little later, Satpute was called with his son for the audition which was held at the Gwalior palace. 8220;Kaustubh was selected from among 32 other children. The audition was at 8.30 pm and far beyond Kaustubh8217;s bed time. His first camera shot was to show him sleeping, but Kaustubh was so tired that he actually fell asleep. 8220;No wonder that the director thought he was a natural!,8221; his father laughs. The film which features Ashok Saraf, Archana Patkar, Usha Naik and Aishwarya Narkar with Kaustubh acting as her son wascompleted in two months flat. As the shooting took place during the summer holidays, Kaustubh did not have any problem with school. 8220;My wife, Rajashree who is a teacher at Alandi and I would alternate our visits to the film sets,8221; says Satpute. And how does the little star of the film feel about the experience? 8220;I am very lucky to have worked with such experienced actors,8221; he says with a very grown up air about him. 8220;The director would tell me how to enact a scene and I would do exactly as he told me to,8221; he says. One scene Kaustubh is not likely to forget in a hurry though is one in which Archana Patkar who plays his grandmother in the film was to slap him. 8220;She slapped me so hard that I really started to cry,8221; he remembers.

Kaustubh is also likely to act in a video commercial featuring cricketer Rahul Dravid and another Marathi film called Maratha Battalion8217; with Laxmikant Berde in the pipeline. Aren8217;t the parents worried that all this would affect his son8217;s studies in any way? 8220;Oh no, Kaustubh has never neglected his studies and has always done well in his examinations. I am confident that his film schedules will not disturb his studies,8221; says Satpute. When asked about his plans for the future, a shy smile lights up Kaustubh8217;s face. 8220;I want to be an actor, like Shah Rukh Khan and Sunil Shetty.8221; He may be pint-sized but this little guy believes in dreaming big.

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