Me Vasantrao (I, Vasantrao) by Nipun Dharmadhikari is a deeply satisfying Marathi film. It is a period biopic on the late classical vocalist Vasantrao Deshpande, played by noted vocalist Rahul Deshpande, his grandson. As a film dealing with an artiste’s struggles, we recall three Marathi films—Ravi Jadhav’s superb The Sound of Heaven-The Story of Bal Gandharva (2011), on the remarkable Marathi natyasangeet (musical theatre) artiste (disclaimer: I did its Marathi-English subtitles). There’s Subodh Bhave’s Katyar Kaljat Ghusli (A Dagger through the Heart, 2015), based on the natyasangeet play of the same name from the 1960s. The latter, on the rivalry between two Hindu and Muslim vocalists, had Vasantrao Deshpande play the Muslim Khansaheb in the play. I’ve never liked the play or the film, because both were stridently right-wing and demonised the Muslim, to thunderous applause from the Maharashtrian crowd. And there’s Chaitanya Tamhane’s remarkable The Disciple, that won the Best Screenplay and FIPRESCI Awards at the Venice Film Festival (2020). Dharmadhikari, also an actor and screenwriter, earlier directed Baapjanma and Dhappa; the latter won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration.

Me Vasantrao is told as a flashback, related by an ageing Vasantrao Deshpande, to a fictional character he has earlier played in a play: both their careers were throttled by circumstance (I’m avoiding spoilers here). Vasantrao’s single mother ‘Tai’ was a deep influence: she walked out on his feckless father early on. Ignoring his musical career, he became a clerk to support his family. Taunted by purists, he rarely got an appreciative audience as his Hindustani classical music was not circumscribed by any one gharana; he imbibed various influences, as well as natyasangeet and bhaktigeet. There was also a warm, lifelong friendship between Vasantrao Deshpande and Purushottam Laxman (Pu La) Deshpande, originally a singer who, when he realised Vasantrao’s musical gifts, graciously became a writer instead, and supported Vasantrao’s career.