TNN

Mumbai, Sep 13: Despite Raj Thackeray's belief that Hindi filmdom is biased against Marathi, there is a long list of actors who speak the language almost as well as he does. And, most of them were not even born into Maharashtrian families.

Virar ka chhokra Govinda, for instance, studied in a Marathi medium school and still converses in the language with many of his friends. Actor Rekha, who is the daughter of Tamilian superstar Gemini Ganeshan, speaks in Marathi to her staff and photographers. Veteran actor Dilip Kumar would travel from Bandra to the Marathi heartland of Dadar to watch a number of Marathi plays at Shivaji Mandir. Recalls a senior Marathi journalist, "People called Dilip Kumar an outsider, but I remember him watching Ghashiram Kotwal. He spoke such fluent Marathi that I was floored."

Fifteen years ago, Chennai-based actor Kamal Hasan stunned the audience attending the Maharashtra state awards function at Rang Bhavan in Bandra. "After a spate of speeches, the compere turned to Kamal Hasan, who was the chief guest of the function, and wondered if he had understood what the others had said in Marathi," says journalist Dilip Thakur, who has written several books on Hindi cinema. The actor walked to the mike and spoke in chaste Marathi. "He obviously got a huge round of applause from the audience," Thakur said.

Congress MP and actor Govinda considers himself a Maharashtrian. "My entire education has been in Marathi and I have grown up in Virar. Most of my friends are Maharashtrians. I am more a Maharashtrian than a north Indian," he told TOI.

Jeetendra, the Jumping Jack of Bollywood and superstar Rajesh Khanna grew up in the narrow bylanes of Girgaum and speak fluent Marathi. During Ganeshotsav, Jeetendra still visits the chawl in which he lived, every year. "I remember Vinod Khanna speaking in Marathi to his wife Kavita in Dalhousie during the shooting of his son's film Himalaya Putra,"' said Thakur.

Viewers of Fear Factor, the reality show on TV, may have watched Akshay Kumar speaking to actor Sonali Kulkarni in Marathi. "The staff of most actors are Maharashtrians. So, the stars interact with them in Marathi," said Pradeep Bandekar, who been a freelance photographer in the film industry for over 32 years. "Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor will give any Marathi boy a complexwith their mastery overthe language."

An old-timer insists that actors Rekha and Dimple Kapadia speak Marathi better than even Madhuri Dixit. Actor Sachin Pilgaonkar adds, "Quite a few of our actors speak in Marathi. I interact with Dimple Kapadia, Rekha and Rajeshwari Sachdev only in Marathi."

Vidya Malavade of Chak De fame has just finished shooting with Suniel Shetty and Dimple Kapadia. "Suniel speaks fluent Marathi and even Dimpleji too. I think most of those who work in Mumbai definitely know and speak the language even if it is broken Marathi."

Incidentally, superstar Amitabh Bachchan whose family triggered the latest offensive from Raj Thackeray and his MNS men, has written in his blog about how his wife is fluent in Marathi too. "Jaya has had her education at the FTII in Pune. She speaks fluent Marathi and a major portion of her staff are Maharashtrians," he wrote.