When not movies, it is theatre for Mahesh Manjrekar

His brooding avatar stole the scene in the crime drama, Kaante. But actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar doesn’t know how the story will be taken forward, now that a sequel has been announced. Has actor, buddy Sanjay Dutt buzzed him yet? “I haven’t got a call yet, but if they do, I’ll consider it,” says Mahesh.

The reported fall-out between the original’s director, Sanjay Gupta, and Dutt is a fact known and now that Gupta won’t be directing the sequel, speculations are rife about the handling of the film’s subject. Mahesh says, “They will probably revive the characters, but I don’t know how the sequel will come about. Let’s see... it depends on the story they script.”

The actor is readying to do a stage act in Double Deal, a play directed by Mahesh Dattani. An adaptation of Killing Time by Richard Stockwell.

Having been actively involved in theatre, the actor admits that theatre demands time and commitment. “You always have to be on your toes, it’s interactive and the audience response is immediate in theatre. While in cinema you can do retakes, so expressions attain importance. Both mediums are equally challenging, but cinema allows you to take help from external devices, while theatre teaches you to learn to depend on others.”

The actor, well-known for having dabbled with regional cinema with commercial hits to his credit, is also excited about his upcoming venture, Ami Subhash Bolchi. The Bengali film with actor Mithun Chakroborty in the lead is set to hit the screens in April.