'Ekk Albela' was a turning point in my career, says Mangesh Desai

Actor Mangesh Desai has created a niche for himself in the

Marathi

entertainment industry. Mangesh was worked his way into the Marathi industry with quiet brilliance and stellar performance.

The 'Judgement' star has no godfathers in the industry, but he is as grounded as the characters he plays. Today, Mangesh

Desai

is celebrating 5 years of his '

Ekk Albela

' which was released on June 25, 2016. 'Ekk Albela' was a biopic on the life of legendary actor Bhagwan Abaji Palav popularly known as

Bhagwan Dada

.

While speaking exclusively to Etimes, Mangesh Desai has congratulated the entire cast and crew and expressed his gratitude to the filmmaker Shekhar Sartandel for making a biopic on Bhagwan Dada.

Mangesh Desai said "'Ekk Albela' gave a boost to my career. It was the first biopic and I consider myself lucky because I got a chance to portray the character of Bhagwan Dada.

While recalling his shooting days, Desai said "The filmmaker

Shekhar

Sartandel narrated the script of 'Ekk Albela' and my first question to was 'What is my character in this film?'. Shekhar said that I am playing Bhagwan Dada. He had a picture of mine which he had edited and that looks alike, Bhagwan Dada"

He further elaborated that "The toughest part of the film was

dance

which I was not good at. I am not a good dance and I told my director, Shekhar, you can choose someone else. But Shekhar was very confident that I will do it. Fortunately, I did it and the credit goes to our choreographer Stanley D'souza"

When asked about the challenges of portraying the character of Bhagwan Dada, Desai said "Yes, It was very challenging because they were no information or documentary made on the life of Bhagwan Dada. So, we had to visualize things and also watched his films to understand his nature and personality. I could do this because of my theatre and drama background"