Her smile is captivating. The twinkle in her eyes, you will never miss. There is a tenderness about her flawless beauty that you will never fail to notice even in a crowd. But there is much more to this beauty than one can see at a glance.
As a little girl she dreamt of being an IAS officer. She also went on to bag a master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. But during her growing years, she realised that her calling was not in either of these fields.
Performing arts was always her hobby, a passion that she pursued since childhood. But it was while doing experimental theatre that she realised where her calling was. And Mrunal Dusanis ended up becoming an actress in the Marathi entertainment industry!
Going down the memory lane, Mrunal revealed that she always had an inclination towards acting and gradually things fell into place.
“When I was a child, I could not decide what I wanted to be. At that time, I wanted to become a collector, an IAS officer. This is what I used to reply whenever my father asked me. But I loved performing arts as well. There was a Kathak class in front of my house and my father enrolled me there. So, I started learning Kathak when I was three years old. While learning Kathak, I felt that I should perform on stage, I should act and I participated in all the drama competitions at school level – Bal Natya Spardha, Rajya Natya Spardha, and others. I got appreciated for my work. My family supported me a lot, especially my father,” shared Mrunal.
When she first started acting in plays, she was barely 7-8 years old and since then there has been no looking back for her.
While sharing about her journey from Nashik to the Tinseltown she said, “We had a theatre group in Nashik called Genius. I acted in theatre for six years with them. I used to perform in experimental theatre and we performed plays written by Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Shirpurkar and many other renowned writers. Gradually, I began developing interest in acting. I understood the seriousness as well. Then I gave auditions when I was doing my master’s degree in HPT College, Nashik. I got selected for a show in Zee Marathi. My entry into the entertainment industry began since then.”
She added that when she was with Genius, a very famous theatre group in Nashik that gives good platform to newcomers, she met many artists of diverse talents. This helped her in shaping her career.
“Genius had a tie-up with Lalit Kala Mahavidyala. We used to bring their plays in Nashik and we used to take our experimental theatre to them in Pune. So, I got introduced to many good actors. During that period actor Hrishikesh Joshi had come to Nashik and he took a workshop for us on speech therapy. Through him I came to know about a serial in Zee Marathi which he had written. I gave audition for six times and also got selected for the show, but the show did not happen. It was the decision of the channel to schedule the show later. But the channel asked me to act in Majhi ya Priyala Preet Kalena which was Balaji Telefilms’ first Marathi serial. Initially, I was supposed to act in a serial where the girl used to swear a lot and but later the character that I got was that of a studious girl, the girl next door. This was in 2010,” Mrunal recollects vividly.
She added that back then there was no concept of a casting director or creative head for television shows. “Back then people used to give roles to actors after seeing their work,” she said.
The first serial was huge hit, and the actors were new. Little did they imagine that their popularity would soar so high with the first soap opera itself.
“We didn’t know much about what goes into making of the serials or how to bag roles. I was from a small city, Nashik. I didn’t know what people’s love for actors or fan following, etc meant. I got lot of hype for the show. I and actor Abhijeet Khandekar, who is also from Nashik, were paired in the serial and we were a big hit. I waited for some time after the first serial as I didn’t want to work immediately. Actually, I could not digest the instant success I got,” she shared modestly.
But Zee Marathi had a show for which they approached her. In the meantime, I anchored the food show in Marathi, Aamhi Saare Khawaiye.
“It used to be telecast weekly. In the meantime, I acted in a film made by Kedar Shinde, Shrimant Damodar Pant. What actor Bharat Jadhav used to perform on stage was made into a film. I acted with stars like Kedar Shinde, Bharat Jadhav and Alka Kubal. I then acted in another Marathi serial, Tu Tithe Mi with Chinmay Mandlekar. That was also a big hit and my character was different from the other roles I played. The serial was about a husband who used to doubt his wife, something like Manisha Koirala’s film Agnisakshi. That show went on for two years,” she reminisced talking about her career graph.
Mrunal is also known for her voice quality and singing. The legacy of an ear for music and a great voice quality go back to few generations in her family. Surprisingly, she has no formal training in music.
“I have not learnt music, but I want to. I heard that my paternal grandmother’s father used to sing at the concerts of renowned classical singer Heerabai Badodekar. It is a very old story. In our family everyone has good voice. But nobody could learn music because back then circumstances were not very favourable for my grandmother. Maybe due to this history my voice is fine, I have an ear for music. I can understand it very well and am keen to learn music,” Mrunal revealed.
Speaking about the current scenario of Marathi entertainment industry, Mrunal said that there is very good content at the moment and that many new artists are emerging.
“There are good writers in Marathi industry. I feel more than Hindi industry Marathi industry has good content these days, and talented actors. They go by your acting skills and not by the face value. The Marathi blockbuster Sairaat, for instance, had newcomers but the content was good, it had good songs and everyone acted well. After many years, a very good film was made in Marathi that fetched such huge revenue at the box office,” opined Mrunal, however, emphasising that she did not know much about the Hindi entertainment industry as she did not work there.
According to her, new Marathi artists do not want to stick to only one platform but want to perform in films, plays, web series, Hindi industry and people can guarantee that they will give their 100 percent to acting, like Umesh Kulkarni, Girish Kulkarni, Amruta Subhash and their likes.
She further observed that in the Marathi industry people take acting very seriously and put their heart and soul into it.
“Their school is different. They know all the minute details about the character they perform, they have command over the language,” she said.
She said that she kept getting work because she kept meeting good people. “Many people say the people in the entertainment industry are not good, but I feel you meet people who are like you.”
“I had a good team like Sanjay Mone, Chinmay Mandlekar, Santosh Juvekar and many good artists. I did not have to face any problems as such. The only thing was that I used to feel very homesick. I was very young when I came to the industry and being from a small city I came with many complexes, insecurities but gradually overcame these and became used to the new place,” she asserted.
Mrunal, is today a respectable actress in the Marathi entertainment industry and despite any family background or Godfather in Tinseltown, she managed to create a niche for herself. She had the support of her family who had complete faith in her abilities.
“My father used to always say – whatever you do give your 100 percent to it, even if you are a housewife do 100 percent justice to it. He supported me wholeheartedly. Whatever I am today, it is just because of my father, he had faith in me, he taught me to take risk. I learnt many things from him. I will carry his teachings forward,” she said fondly remembering her father.
She observes that many people’s dreams remain unfulfilled because they are apprehensive about going to Mumbai thinking what people would say or how they would manage things. She advises people to come out of their safe, comfort zones and take risks, only then they will realise what they can do.
“Fortunately, in Marathi industry people focus only on your work not from where you have come. We have artists from Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and from Nashik many budding artists came to Mumbai with me to make a career in the entertainment industry. It is like a family for me now. Actors in Mumbai are good friends of mine. Even if I call them in the middle of the night, they will come to help me,” shared Mrunal.
About trying her luck in the Hindi film industry, she said that she did get sone roles and is keen to make her mark there as well.
“I always felt that I should take a chance in Hindi entertainment industry, but I did not work that hard to get into the Hindi film industry. It is a huge platform. I have given auditions for Hindi shows but whenever I got a chance, I was doing Marathi serials and could not leave them half-way through and do Hindi serials. This happened few times, but I will definitely try again,” Mrunal shared.
Though she is happy with the kind of work that she got she is not exactly content because according to her if she gets satisfied with the work she has done until now then she will not be able to move ahead and progress.
“I am keen on doing professional theatre as I have come from an experimental theatre. But since I came to Mumbai, I could not do it. I love theatre. I also want to act in Marathi films. I did couple of them like Mumbai Times and Shrimant Damodar Pant with Umesh Kamat and with Kedar Shinde. I have acted in enough serials and now I want to establish myself in films or theatre. Let us see if I get that chance. At the same time if I get the opportunity to work in Hindi television soaps then I can move ahead in my career”.
Besides her parents’ support she attributes her success to her husband’s trust in her and support for her work. Despite being in a long-distance relationship and working in the entertainment industry, she is glad that her husband is very understanding person and so is his family.
“He is a software engineer and since the past 10 years he is working in the US. Ours is an arranged marriage. We tied the knot four years back. His family had no idea about this industry and has no qualms about it. He told me he will support me completely in my career. Even I support him in his. We keep meeting 3-4 times a year. After my father’s death if anyone has had faith in me that is my husband. Besides my parents it is he who trusts me and that is very essential in a relationship. Thus, the distance does not make any difference in our relationship,” said Mrunal.
The couple knows that they both can have their dreams fulfilled with mutual understanding and respect for each other’s work.
They have also started thinking of directing or producing together in the future.
“We feel that we can do it and we have the desire to do it, maybe we can start with a play, or promoting and producing a web series Our dream is to venture into direction/production,” revealed Mrunal.
For today’s youth in general and those in entertainment industry, she has a good piece of advice not just for the professional front but also for mental and financial well-being.
“I too am in the learning process. But I advise aspiring actors to take this industry seriously and enter into it after doing some homework. For instance, if it is the Marathi industry one must know the language thoroughly well, read the script on their own, have good command of language, voice and good physique. And if you become popular with one serial you should not get carried away. You should keep patience. In case of failure, do not lose hope and move ahead. At the same time, you should also do something else where you get good source of income because this industry is very unpredictable. One must empower oneself financially so that even if you have to wait for 2-3 years in this field then too you can do it,” she advises.
At present, the actress has taken a short break to be with her life partner in the US, but she assures to come back to the industry shortly with better roles for her fans.
