Playwright Ashok Samel’s famous teleplay ‘Kusum Manohar Lele’ is based on the true story of a brutal fraud that took place in Pune in 1986. Over the years, this play has been staged with immense success, enthralling the audiences with its powerful story and entertaining narrative. It has also received much praise as a teleplay for Zee Theatre. Renowned actress Anangsha Biswas, who has garnered praise for her performances in web shows like ‘Mirzapur’ and ‘Hostages’, plays the lead role in the teleplay. She was very excited about this role, because it gave her a chance to portray a very complex character. The story is about a woman who gets trapped in a fake marriage and gives birth to a child, who is fraudulently taken away from her.
Talking about her character, the actress says, “Working in Ashok Samle’s acclaimed play was really unique and the role had a lot of complex contradictions. When I read the play for the first time, I felt that I was very different from Kusum. Her maternal feelings are so intense that she forgets the difference between right and wrong. She deceives an innocent girl and gets her married to her own husband. But, as an actress, as soon as I started looking at this role, it became difficult for me to judge the character of Kusum. As an actor, when you start considering your character as bad, you cannot do justice to him.”
It helped Anangsha see her role from a broader perspective and she says, “Playing the role of Kusum really taught me a lot. Our director was also very calm and patient. He enhanced our performance and turned all of us into a united team. We worked like a family, because there are no heroes or heroines in theatre. “It is a collaborative art and no one should be ahead of anyone else as an actor.”
Watch ‘Kusum Manohar Lele’ on Dish TV Theater Active, D2H Theater Active and Airtel Spotlight. Directed for the stage by Rajan Tamhane and filmed by Swapna Waghmare Joshi, the play also stars Gagan Riar, Savita Prabhune, Shweta Basu Prasad, Sneha Chavan and Sunil Pushkarna.