The Puppet master behind Obama

Having made thousands of puppets and with some 9,000 puppet shows to his credit, Padhye is not new to the business. But, he says, this will be one of the memorable events of his long career since the manufacturing of the Obama doll had been outsourced to Mumbai and it was an Indian who made it.

“Obama might be opposed to outsourcing, but at the end of the day, this puppet of Obama too was outsourced,” Padhye says, laughing.

Having made 2,500 puppets so far, this year — his 40th year as a puppeteer and ventriloquist — brought Padhye something novel when US-based ventriloquist and puppeteer Doris Baker gave him the task. Baker, a friend who has closely watched Padhye’s work in the past, thought he was perfect to design a puppet of the presidential candidate.

“I have earlier made puppets of Bill Clinton and George W Bush and Baker wanted me to make one of Obama. But this time he was just a candidate and had yet to win the election. I was confident though of his victory,” Padhye says.

With global media focusing on Obama and his daily schedule, Padhye wanted to be sure of his artwork. “I’ve spent a bit more time in preparing this puppet. Normally I finish a puppet in 30 days but for Obama I devoted 50 days,” he says.

Of all his creations, Padhye says he is now closest to his Obama puppet, an attachment sweetened by the victory.

“I love Obama and really feel proud to have made a puppet of him,” says Padhye, admitting he didn’t know who Obama was until the media blitzkrieg in the last lap of campaigning. The puppet maker did research by reading newspapers and watching Obama’s mannerisms closely on television. “His teeth, lips and hair have a distinct feature. His smile is also very different. I have tried to incorporate all these traits in the puppet,” Padhye says.

After dispatching the puppet to USA, Padhye received an acknowledgement from Baker who was happy with the end result. The puppet maker, however, is unaware when the puppet will make its debut. “I will be making another Obama puppet for myself and would love to showcase it in USA in front of the president-elect. I don’t know if that will happen, but I will definitely try,” he says.

“If not USA, I will script the show for India. Obama’s story and political journey, his ideals will make a great show.”

Riding high on this success, Padhye is now gearing for another grand event: A puppet show on the Little Mermaid and the Prince featuring 200 dolls with voiceovers by Bollywood actors and other well-known personalities.

“I’ve been working on this project for the last nine months and it’s a very ambitious project so far. Everything is grand and it is something which the Indian audience so far has not seen with puppets,” he says.

Called ‘Fantasia Fantastic 4D’ the “spectacular beyond belief” mega show is to be directed by ad-man and theater artiste Bharat Dabholkar and will open in December or early January. After premiering in Mumbai, the show will then travel to other metros.