Nilu Phule

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Wanted to be gardener and not actor! It may come as a pleasant surprise to readers that Marathi Cinema’s greatest actor Nilu Phule aspired to a gardener and not an actor. Actually the passion developed when he just 17 years and got employment as a gardener at Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. While doing gardening he developed a passion for plants and asked his parents to lend him money to help him start his own plant nursery. But due to financial crunch he had to curb his aspiration. A kind hearted man since beginning Though Nilu Phule portrayed cruel and ruthless characters on silver screen but off screen he was a kind man with etiquette. His younger days reveal his generosity for the underprivileged. An instance of his humanity can be gauged from the following anecdote. When he was working as a gardener at Armed Forces Medical College, he was paid a modest salary of Rs 80/- per month. However despite such petite salary he donated Rs 10 to an NGO Rashtriya Seva Dal, which worked for the wellbeing of poor and needy. Nilu Phule joined the freedom Movement When Nilu Phule was growing he had the passion of reading and watching dramas. Once he happened to read renowned author and India’s great freedom legend Rabindranath Tagore’s famed book Gitanjali. He was so inspired by Tagore’s writing that he read Tagore’s many more books like Ghare Baire, Amar Shonar Bangla (other works) etc. The writings of Rabindranath Tagore had such an immense impact on young Phule’s minds that he joined the freedom struggle movement of India, in Pune.

He was married and had a daughter. Nilu Phule died on 13 July 2009, aged 78, from cancer.

Started acting as hobby with Lok Natya (Folk Theater) Nilu Phule began his acting career only as a hobby with folk dramas from an Art group that consisted of 10 -12 friends who performed drama for personnel satisfaction. After being inspired by Tagore’s writing Phule too began writing and penned a script Udyan. This was converted into play and it created ripples and Phule was drawn towards profession acting. Nilu Phule created sensation with his debut play After excelling in amateur theater Nilu Phule made his debut in professional folk drama with the play ‘Katha Akalecha Kandyachi.’ In his very first play Phule set the professional theatre on fire with his skilful performance. The play became such a hit it created a history of becoming one of the first Marathi play to celebrate 2000 shows. Among Phule’s most distinguished theatrical performances is Vijay Tendulkar's Sakharam Binder (first staged in 1972). In this play, he played an evil village head who exploits every woman in the village. Nilu Phule makes debut in Marathi Cinema with a bang When Nilu Phule was making waves for his performance in the play Katha Akalecha Kandyachi, he was noticed by Marathi Cinema’s legendary filmmaker Anant Mane, who had the prestige of winning three National awards for his films Dhakti Jaao (1958), Manini (1961), Sawaal Majha Aika! (1964). Recalling his first Marathi film, Nilu Phule in an interview said, “Once when I was performing the play, I was surprised to find eminent Marathi filmmaker sitting in the first row and keenly watching my act. Later after the show he met me and instantly offered me a role in his film Ek Gaav Bara Bhangadi (1968). The movie was a huge hit and I was offered seven films within a week. After this I never had to look back.” Some of his prominent Marathi films include Samna, Sinhasan, Choricha Mamla, Shapit, Pudhcha Paool etc. Nilu Phule’s entry into Bollywood Nilu Phule made a quite entry in Bollywood doing insignificant films like Do Ladke Dono Kadke, Dhoti Lota Aur Chowpatty etc. But he proved his presence felt in Bollywood with the Hindi film Sau Din Saas Ke staring Reena Roy as a rebellious daughter in-law of Lalita Pawar (Mother-in-law). In this film Nilu Phule played the typical role of a villain who incites the mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and tries to plunder the wealth of the family. After this he was noticed by many great filmmakers like Manmohan Desai (Coolie), Yash Chopra (Mashaal), Mahesh Bhatt (Saaransh), Bapu (Woh 7 Din), Vijaya Mehta ( Rao Saheb) etc.