Remembering the legend Dada Kondke

On the occasion of the birth anniversary of veteran Marathi actor-filmmaker Dada Kondke we take a look at his life and achievements. Dada was named as Krishna because he was born in a mill worker's family in Naigaon in central Mumbai on Gokulashtami day. He was one of the most renowned personalities in Marathi film industry, famous for his double meaning dialogues in movies. He was addressed as Dada, an honorific Marathi term which means elder brother, which led to his popular name Dada Kondke.

Dada always worked with the same team of actors, technicians and playback singers. He believed that his team was one of the formula of success. He team included Usha Chavan as the lead actress, Rajesh Mujumdar as screen play writer (From ‘Pandu Hawaldar’ onwards), Raam Laxman, as his music director, initially Jayawant Kulkarni and then Mahendra Kapoor as the male, and Usha Mangeshkar as the female playback singer, and Bal Mohite as the chief assistant. He had developed a camp of his own during his period.

Dada Kondke also entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest number of films (nine) that achieved silver jubilee (running for 25 consecutive weeks). Dada started his career as a band member and then as a stage actor. While working for theatre he toured all over Maharashtra which helped him understand what entertainment meant to the common people. This study of his later reflected in his body of work. His movies targeted the masses rather than any particular social class. He was a native of Ingavali in Bhor which is in Pune district of Maharashtra.

Dada Kondke was extremely popular among Bollywood artistes too. He even featured in a few Bollywood films like ‘Aage Ki Soch’, ‘Tere Mere Beech Mein’, ‘Andheri Raat Mein Diya Tere Haath Mein’ and others. Actors like Dharmendra, Jitendra and Amitabh Bachchan also admired his success. Bollywood diva Rekha even featured in a lavni number 'Kuthe Jayacha Honeymoon La' which was part of Dada Kondke's film 'Bhingari'. Veteran singer Asha Bhosale had lent her voice for this song.

The controversy surrounding his film ‘Songadya’ is still remembered as he had given a tough fight to the then Bollywood superstar Dev Anand. ‘songadya’ was his first venture in movie production which was based on a story written by Vasant Sabnis, and was directed by Govind Kulkarni. The owner of Kohinoor Theatre in Dadar decided to screen Dev Anand's ‘Teen Deviyan’ in spite of Kondke booking the theatre four weeks in advance. Dada Kondke then approached Shiv Sena supremo, Balasaheb Thackeray for help. Soon Shiv Sainiks gathered and started protesting outside the theatre. Eventually ‘Songadya’ was released in Kohinoor and was a big hit.

Dada’s personal life has been extremely debatable. He was married to a woman named Nalini and was later divorced. In her divorce petition, Nalini stated that Dada and she never consummated their marriage and she had no contact whatsoever from 1967 onwards with him. She had a daughter named Tejaswini who was born in 1969. Many believe that Tejaswini was not Dada’s daughter while some believe that she was Dada’s daughter but he did not accept her in his lifetime. Dada’s death was equally mysterious. On March 14, 1998 at 3.30 am, at his residence Rama Niwas in Dadar, Mumbai, he suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to Shushrusha Nursing Home, where he died. Dr Anil Wakankar, his physician-cum-friend, had given him a routine check-up only the previous day. He was working on the film ‘Jaraa Dheer Dhara’ with Usha Chavan. A few months after his death, it came to light that he was surprisingly brought home when the doctors at Sushrusha decided to have a post mortem.

Dada had an interesting life and hence a biopic on him is something that many are looking forward to. After the success of his debut film ‘Lai Bhaari’ actor Riteish Deshmukh is all set to do another Marathi film. Sources inform that Riteish’s next Marathi project will be a biopic on veteran Marathi actor-filmmaker Dada Kondke. Riteish discussed about the subject with his team up with his 'Ek Villain' director Mohit Suri and if sources are to be believes in all probability Mohit will direct this Marathi film. Akshay Kumar is rumoured to be producing this film.