Sonali Kulkarni - Official website of the internationally acclaimed, award winning, actress from India

THEATRE

For an actor there is no school as such; no particular format; just the experience. Singers can do riaz, painters can churn out a few landscapes. I feel the need to do some workshops and theater. This keeps me tuned.

My greatest inspiration in theatre is Pandit Satyadev Dubeyji. I started working with him in the early 90s and it has been a learining experience every single day. This has been my foundation in theatre.

Dubeyji has taught me that the scale for beauty is not merely how 'fair' your complexion was, or the 'tone' of your voice... they were elements that you were born with and something you have to live with for life... the only thing as an actor one could do, was to improve ones acting skills. This has been a very profound lesson for me.

The wonderful thing about meeting Dubeyji is that he rarely spends time on 'gossip' or chit-chat... he gets directly to the point and tells me what he liked (or disliked) about my last performance.

This is the first professional English production I have worked in. With Dubeyji, it is not just the immediate role that I am preparing for. It is a workshop in progress. By the end of it, the experience is like a fixed deposit in my life.

Working with a stalwart like Satyadev Dubey, who has written, directed and acted in 'An Actor Dies, But...' was an enriching experience. Adapted from a Croatian play, it is an amusing look at a relationship that has been set to poetry and prose ever since man realised that expression set him apart from the animals. Dubey plays an amateur director trying to convince a star (me) to act in his play.

Many times on film, people are more comfortable when you have a close-up or mid-close-up. I am comfortable with my body because of my strong theatre background. And I believe that on stage, you are absolutely naked and cannot hide any part of your body when you stand, when you walk, when you turn... every move on the stage is important.

Sandesh

When I was still at school (and college) we formed a theatre group Samanvay which staged plays for competetions - inter-school, inter-college. Somewhere along the way my brother Sandesh Kulkarni, who has been the driving force behind Samanvay felt the need to do theatre beyond 'competetion' - theatre for theatre's sake.

That is when we realised that the 'audience' was a bigger reward that a 'prize' at a competetion.

One of our first plays was performed in a Christian prayer hall. The rules forbid us from selling 'tickets' for the performance and being the 'poor' group that we were, we needed to get innovative to raise oney to cover our costs - the concept of 'hat collection' was born. We talked to our audience and explained that they could give us what they thought the performace was worth - there were those who gave us 5 rupees and those who gave us 500 for the same performance.

Sandesh became a director in 1994 by transforming (Late) Vijay Tendulkar's column in a Marathi newspaper into a play - Kovali Unhe (Rays of Morning Sun). The articles had been compiled into a book by the same name. Dubeyji asked him to do something based on it. He felt the need for a different format - and thus was born the two characters in the play-the 'writer' and his 'column'.

More recently I performed at the Vijay Tendulkar Festival at Pune where I performed extracts from the acclaimed play - Sakharam Binder. This was directed by my brother Sandesh Kulkarni. The DVD version of the play has been released. (Late) Vijay Tendulkar loved this version and complemented us.

The first full-length play that Sandesh wrote, Pahila Vahila was the only Marathi play to be performed in a festival organized by the British Council in association with the Royal Court Theatre, London. He was selected from India for an International Residency for Playwrights- A one month workshop in the Royal Court Theatre London in July 2003.

I worked with him in that play. It was also nice to work with my group Samanvay, after a long, long time. I discovered that Sandesh can be quite a hard taskmaster. He made no concessions for me (as a sister).

When I moved to Bombay, one of my first plays was with Tushar Dalvi in Chahul, written by Prashant Dalvi and directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni. This contemporary commercial play got good audience responce and I recall having done over 165 shows.

Makarand Deshpande's Hindi play, Basant Ka Teesra Yauvan, was my first Hindi play in Mumbai. This play was later made into a feature film Danav, where I played the lead. The film was chosen to be screened at Cannes Film Festival in the director's fortnight; and also at The Third Eye Asian Film Festival.

Another play that I have loved working on was Makarand's Sir Sir Sarla. Sir Sir Sarla is the untold story of a professor and the relationship he shares with his students.

In the play my co-actor Anurag Kashyap and I share a friendship that I have not seen depicted on screen or in theatre - a friendship beyond words.

In 2007, I did a play Nakko re baba, for Grips Theatres. In this play, adults play children's roles! It was premiered in Seattle, USA.

When I am on the lookout for a good script, I use theater to fine tune my acting abilities. Acting in front of the camera has the danger of becoming monotonous. In theater, I can absolutely bring myself to zero and start all over again. This gives me the opportunity to wipe the slate clean - good when you approach a new role.

Any information will be absolutely incomplete if i don’t express my gratitude and tribute to my dearest friend and the milestone playwright Vijay Tendulkar .

Title Writer & Director Credits

1. Aga Aai Ga Sandeep Kulkarni Debut as a child actor, age 7

2. Majhya Baikocha Navara Sandeep Kulkarni

3. Gharte Yogesh Soman Over 15 shows

4. Help Less Yogesh Soman Winner of many state level acting awards

5. Baby Birth Yogesh Soman Winner of many state level acting awards

6. Apule Maran Chin. Tryan. Khanolkar
Dir: Yogesh Soman Over 15 shows

7. Naate Cham. Pra. Deshpande.
Yogesh Soman Over 75 shows, Winner of many state level acting awards

8. Shabdostav Kusumagraj
Dir.Madhvi Vaidya. A Poetry Programme,
Over 50 Shows All Over India.

9. Aamhi Kharach Nishpap Hoto Sonali Kulkarni Directorial Debut

10. Manju Sonali Kulkarni Winner of many state level awards, for writer, director, actor

11. Aayushyat Pahilyandach Kusumagraj
Dir. Pt. Satyadev Dube Poetry Programme Over 25 Shows.

12. Kovli Unhe Vijay Tendulkar
Dir. Sandesh Kulkarni Over 50 Shows.

13. Tyachya Prakhar Samajik Janivanche Nikhare Arun Sadhu
Dir. Sandesh Kulkarni Over 25 Shows.

14. Chahul Prashant Dalvi
Dir. Chandrakant Kulkarni Best Actress State Award,
Over 160 Shows.

15. Basant Ka Tisra Youvan (Hindi) Makarand Deshpande Over 15 Shows

16. Sir Sir Sarla Part 1 [Hindi] Makarand Deshpande Over 50 Shows.

17. Sir Sir Sarla Part 2 [Hindi] Makarand Deshpande

18. Pahile Vahile Sandesh Kulkarni

19. An Actor Dies But... [English] Miro Gavran
Dir. Pt. Satyadev Dube

20. Sakharam Binder Vijay Tendulkar
Dir. Sandesh Kulkarni For Dvd And Vcd release.

21. Nako Re Baba Shrirang Godbole Premiered In Seattle, USA; a Grips Theatre Play.

I am comfortable with my body because of my strong theatre background.

Sarla and Fanidhar share a friendship that I have not seen depicted on screen or in theatre...

I respect Marathi theatre for it original ideas. I believe we have milestone writer like Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Elkunchwar, Satish Alekar and many more such writers who have given us original writings that have inspired many films and film-makers.

All the plays that I do are workshops in progress that go beyond the individual role and bring out the actor from every cell in my body.

I have designed lights for more than 10 plays - probably the first female designer!

I have assisted in backstage work for more than 15 plays, including costume, make up and props.