35 minutes agoAuthor: Ifat Qureshi
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date– 14 July 2023.
Place- A rented flat in Ambi Gaon area of Pune.
For the last several months, an elderly man was living alone in that flat with a few essential items. There was no coming and going of anyone, nor did the elderly person maintain any relation with the people of the neighborhood.
One day the neighbors noticed a strong foul smell coming from that flat. The neighbors ignored the foul smell on the first day, but the next day it became difficult to breathe due to the foul smell coming from the flat. It was not a common smell, as if something had been lying rotting for many days. Sensing something untoward, the neighbors informed the Ambi village police on July 14, 2023. When the police arrived and broke the door with the help of neighbours, the middle-aged man was found lying on the ground. He had died a few days ago and his body had started decomposing.
The police called the numbers dialed a few days ago from the mobile phone lying with the elderly man from that flat. The first number on the speed dial was that of the famous TV industry actor Gashmeer Mahajani, who became famous in every household by playing the lead role in the TV show Imli. He identified the dead man as his father. When his identity was revealed, the neighbors were surprised to know that the elderly man living in poverty and loneliness was none other than Ravindra Mahajani, the Marathi cinema star of the 80s.
Picture of Ravindra Mahajani's room.
Today, read the story of Ravindra Mahajani's film journey, success and family differences in 3 chapters of Ansuni Dastan –
Ravindra Mahajani was born on 7 October 1946 in Bombay (now Mumbai). His father H.R. Mahajani was a leader of the Indian Independent Movement before independence and a well-known writer. After independence, he settled in Mumbai, where he was the editor of the Marathi daily Loksatta newspaper.
Ravindra Mahajani, who grew up in the city of dreams, Mumbai, dreamed of becoming an actor since childhood. He completed his studies from King George's School (now IES School), Mumbai. He often used to participate in plays during his school days. After completing schooling, he took an Arts degree from Khalsa College, Mumbai. During his college days, his inclination towards acting started increasing. During his college days, he befriended the famous director Shekhar Kapur, who was struggling to make a place in films at that time.
Ravindra Mahajani became a taxi driver to run the house.
Everything was fine in Ravindra Mahajani's life, but when on 18 August 1969, his father H.R. When Mahajani suddenly passed away, the family faced a financial crisis. When he could not find any job, Ravindra started driving a taxi despite being a graduate. But even under compulsion, he did not sacrifice his dream. He used to earn money by driving a taxi till late night every day and used to give auditions by visiting the offices of film producers throughout the day.
Started career with Saat Hindustani with Amitabh Bachchan
Due to continuous auditions, Ravindra Mahajani got the role of Police Inspector in Khwaja Ahmed Abbas's film Saat Hindustani, released in 1969. Along with Ravindra Mahajani, this was also the first film of Amitabh Bachchan's career. However, neither Amitabh Bachchan nor Ravindra got recognition from this film.
Got a place in Marathi cinema due to Marathi play
After the film Saat Hindustani, Ravindra did not get any other film. In such a situation, he joined Marathi theater for acting. In the world of Marathi theatre, he got recognition from Madhusudan Kalekar's play Janta Ajanta. Due to this play, he was given a place in the film Rajhans Ek.
After this film, Ravindra did not get any film for 4 years. Ravindra used to act by being associated with theater for years. This play was also successful and after assessing his talent, the famous filmmaker of that time V. Shantaram cast him in the Marathi film Jhunj.
The film Jhunj was directed by V. Shantaram's son Kiran Shantaram. This film, released in 1975, was a huge hit, making Ravindra Mahajani a rising star of Marathi cinema.
Ravindra Mahajani was next seen in the film Aaram Haram Aahe (1976), which won the Filmfare Best Marathi Film. After these films, Ravindra started getting many films. In the year 1979, 5 films of Ravindra were released simultaneously. Ravindra's popularity kept increasing with films like Lakshmi, Devta, Laxmichi Pawle, Rakhandar.
Ravindra Mahajani was compared with Vinod Khanna.
Ravindra Mahajani was counted among the most handsome actors of Marathi cinema. His looks and personality were largely similar to Hindi cinema star Vinod Khanna, which was why he was called Vinod Khanna of Marathi cinema.
After gaining name and fame in Marathi cinema, Ravindra Mahajani started his business in Mumbai, however, due to fraud in the business, he suffered huge losses and had to close the business.
To compensate for the losses, Ravindra Mahajani started working as a side hero in films.
After the 2001 film Dekhini Byko Namayachi, Ravindra Mahajani started the second innings of his career as a producer and director with the 2002 film Satte Sathi Kahini, although the film could not do anything special. After this he took a break from films and with changing times people started forgetting him.
Ravindra Mahajani was last seen in the film Panipat released in the year 2019. Ravindra Mahajani played the role of Malhar Rao Holkar in this period drama film starring Arjun Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Sanjay Dutt. In this film, his son Gashmeer Mahajani played the role of Jankoji Shinde.
Dead body found in July 2023, questions raised on family
On July 14, 2023, Ravindra Mahajani again came into limelight when his dead body was found in a rented flat in Pune. It was clear from the post mortem that he had died on July 11, but the neighbors informed the police about his death after smelling the smell of rotting body.
Gashmir Mahajani supporting his mother.
Ravindra Mahajani's death had raised many questions. The first question was why was he living alone in Pune despite having a family in Mumbai. The second question is that his son is a famous actor, who was living a luxurious life in Mumbai, in such a situation why was Ravindra living in a rented house. The third question raised was that Ravindra was rejected by his family, due to which the family did not even get the news of his death in time. Because the family had not contacted him for 3 days.
After all these allegations, Ravindra's son Gashmeer told in an interview to Times of India that his relationship with his father was not good. He had said, everyone is hungry for perfection, but is not perfect. Neither I nor my father. People are saying that we had left our father in a small apartment. I would just like to say that I was living alone for the last 20 years as per my wish. As a family we had no option but to accept his decision.
Ravindra Mahajani with son Gashmeer, daughter-in-law Gauri Deshmukh and wife.
Had stopped talking to family for 3 years – Gashmir Mahajani
He further said, our relationship was one-sided. He used to come and stay with us and go away as per his wish. He liked to do all his work himself. We sent caretakers to his house in Pune several times, but every time he chased everyone away. For the last 3-4 years he had almost stopped talking to people. He did not like to talk to people, which is why his neighbors also came to know about his death after 3 days. There were many reasons why our relationship broke up, but I would just like to remember him as a handsome actor.
Next Saturday, March 23, read the story of Hollywood actress Natalie Wood, who won 3 Golden Globe Awards. Natalie died by drowning in the Pacific Ocean during the shooting of the film Brainstorm in 1981. Even after 44 years of his death, the mystery of his death remains unsolved.
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