ANANTH MAHADEVAN
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(Last evening Meena and I were delighted and honoured to interact with the Bangalorean Jamai of ‘Ghar Jamai’, who was always visibly bugged when Satish Shah called him a Madrasi during the serial, drawing raw humour in our households when TV had made its entry into our Drawing rooms in the late 80s/ early 90s.)

           A few months ago Cdr Vijay Vadhera, Secy NFMC chanced to watch ‘That’s My Girl’ in NCPA, written and directed by Bharat Dhabolkar with Ananth Mahadevan and Shweta Rohira in the Lead cast. After the Drama Cdr Vadhera interacted with Bharat Dhabolkar and Ananth Mahadevan and requested the later to address the Veterans on a subject of his expertise, for the Annual Adm Soman Memorial Lecture to be conducted in Apr 2019. The humble and empathetic actor that he is, Ananth readily conceded without batting an eye for he considers it an honour to speak to and interact with the Veterans. The various topics suggested by Veterans themselves were revealed by Cdr Vadhera to Mr Ananth and he short-listed one. The date has since been fixed for Sun 28 Apr and we Veterans are looking forward to being all ears to the Actor, Writer and Director of theatre and Films on a topic that’s close to his and our hearts, ‘Breaking the glass ceiling of nepotism - A Common Man’s Journey To Success In Bollywood’

             Cdr Vadhera had firmed up the first interactive session with the Star for 03 Apr in Hotel ‘Sun-n Sand’ at 3 pm over a Cuppa Coffee along with the 3 committee members of Western Suburbs – Cdr Kumresh K Sharma, Mrs Kanta Mukherjee and I. When he rang me up in the forenoon, Meena and I were delightfully elated. Mr Ananth Mahadevan gleefully greeted us all with a warm handshake at the Coffee Shop adjoining the Poolside. He was pleasant in his interaction and mentioned that he was indeed honoured at being presented with this opportunity. Our discussion encompassed his theatre and Film life and his inclination more towards theatre as he found it much more challenging. He has since graduated from Acting to Screenplay to Direction in his almost 40 yrs long theatre/ screen career. Cdr Vadhera thoroughly briefed him on the Foundation’s activities and the proceedings planned for 28th Apr in the Asvini Auditorium including the presentations. He then presented Ananth with the Veterans special issue of ‘Fauji India’ magazine, that contains articles by the Veterans and cover page exhibiting LtGen KT Patnaik, Cdr Vijay Vadhera and Wing Cdr MH Zaki, Veterans of the 3 services. He was glad to learn that the Editor-in-Chief of ‘Fauji India’, Mr Prasoon Kumar shall also be attending the lecture and shall include the Event of 28th in his next issue. After a wonderful interaction with us, Mr Mahadevan took our leave. A little later we Veterans came out to the Poolside for a quick photo shoot prior to setting our respective return leg courses after saying our Goodbyes.

          Looking forward to the Adm Soman Memorial Lecture on 28th Apr by the eminent learned Film personality, Actor-Writer-Director Mr Ananth Mahadevan. ….Jai Hind.

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ABOUT  ANANTH  MAHADEVAN

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Anant Mahadevan, also credited as Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, is a screenwriter, actor, and director of Hindi and Marathi films and television serials in India. Having been an integral part of the Indian television serials and Hindi movies since the 1980s, he is also involved in the professional English and Hindi theatre.

Ananth along with Sanjay Pawar received the National Award (2010) for the Best Screenplay and Dialogues for the successful Marathi movie Mee Sindhutai Sapkal. The film also fetched him the special jury award at the National Film awards 2010.

Mahadevan's film Gour Hari Dastaan was part of the Indian Panorama at the International Film Festival of India (2014) Goa, at the International Film Festival of Kerala IFFK (2014), the International Film Festival of Bangalore, and at the International Film Festival of Chennai (2014). His next film Rough Book created excitement in the festival circuit and the Film Bazaar held in Goa.

Ananth Narayan Mahadevan plays the role of Damodar in the 2018 Hindi feature film Evening Shadows, directed by Sridhar Rangayan and produced by Solaris Pictures. He plays the role of a strict patriarch who has his set opinions and wants other members in his family - his wife Vasudha (Mona Ambegaonkar), sister Sarita (Yamini Singh) and son Kartik (Devansh Doshi) - to obey his commands.

Anant is co-directing the space-thriller film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect.