Last evening I grabbed a chance to watch the movie Dharmaveer-2, a biopic on Late Shri Anand Dighe and life of CM Eknath Shinde. I usually sleep around 9: 30 pm (except weekends) but after watching the second part of the franchise, I did not sleep soundly. I don’t know why but after watching such heroic movies like this one and so many made on our politicians lives or are patriotic in subject, I am the one who gets disturbed. Reason–Don’t know…is it because I want my city, state and nation to like how it is shown in the movie or do these movies disturb me because I know too much what is shown versus what the reality is. Let’s keep that for some other time, but let’s talk about this “Dharmaveer-Mukkam Post Thane” movie…
For information, my father, senior journalist Hemant Shriram Joshi, was extremely close to the late Anand Dighe. So much so close that there was a fixed time when these two met as the entire day or night Dighe was surrounded by people and not in 100’s but 1000’s. The meeting used to happen post midnight. I remember one particular night when Baba had taken me to Thane. I was very young then, and as Baba and I entered his Tembhi Naka office, he used to ask us to sit in one room where private meetings happened. My father, like even today, is the editor, owner and publisher of our own newspaper. Those days, there was a fierce battle between Anand Dighe and Ganesh Naik of Navi Mumbai. I remember Baba had sided with Anand Dighe and because a few thousands of copies of our paper had been distributed around Thane and Navi Mumbai, Ganesh Naik had lost a crucial election. Today Naik and Baba are on very good terms as not all animosity is forever in politics. Baba tells me, whenever me and Saheb met, we were always accompanied by Eknath Shinde and Naresh Mhaske. Not to forget that time, Harshal Pradhan (Kaka I call him) who is managing the media with Uddhav Thackeray today, used to accompany Baba and was running his own features agency. I don’t understand whosoever I refer to kaka be it my own, why do these people run away from me…
Readers, Anand Dighe was Anand Dighe, the original “Saheb” for us. Even today we haven’t climbed the stairs of Matoshri. Dighe saheb was exactly what is shown in the movie and Eknath Shinde is still the same what is shown in the movie. Everything at that time had respect, style and even politics came secondary in Dighe Saheb’s time. Imagine, his fierce political opponent in Thane Late Vasant Davkhare, but he was Dighe saheb’s friend also. Veteran journalists of Thane like Kailash Mahapadi and Anil Thatte who were extremely close to Dighe saheb, have tons of experiences to share. Thatte was a sharp mind, he could encash his friendship with Dighe saheb, but Mahapadi remained a soldier and still remains a soldier with no benefits ever taken from his favorite “Saheb”.
In short, emotions and values were the crux of Shivsena then. I particularly liked one scene in this second part of the franchise, when Dighe Saheb stops his people from attacking Congress karyakarta when the latter were attacking a house full show of the marathi play “Nathuram”. Dighe saheb cared for everyone and emotion was Dighe Saheb’s middle name. He was the only politician in Maharashtra or in INDIA who helped unknown people day and night without even expecting a cup of tea. But I am sure today Dighe saheb must be watching from top, he must be a disturbed man. Karyakarta whom he raised like his own are today nowhere close to what teachings he had given.
I don’t want to even get started as to what Naresh Mhaske is doing or a Tanaji Sawant or a Abdul Sattar or a Shirsat or a Gogawale. I remember a story that floated at that time that Eknath Shinde had to be locked in a room at Malshej farm house so that he would not see Mhaske on that particular night over an incident. But today CM Eknath Shinde made Naresh Mhaske his own MP.
Arrogance and corruption have superseded teachings of Dighe saheb. Eknath Shinde has yet maintained the same helping, emotional, nature but except Prabhakar (his Man Friday) likes of Ajay Ashar and many more who have surrounded Eknath Shinde today, have just taken advantage of this good man in every possible way. I am telling you, Eknath Shinde is exactly what he is shown in the movie. If only Shinde saheb asks his people and Ministers and real workers of Dighe saheb, to be a little less arrogant and not keep money as their top priority, Shinde will be a force to reckon with.
In the yesteryear movie, “Gajab” it is a story of Dharmendra in a double role. One Dharmendra is shown as emotional, sacred and timid natured and the other Dharmendra is shown growing up in the city as a tough guy. What happens, all the Khalnayaks, villains, villagers take advantage of this timid Dharmendra and kill him. But when the Dharmendra who is growing up in the city comes to this village, the soul of poor Dharmendra enters the body of this city grown Dharmendra and then this Dharmendra kills everyone who had troubled, humiliated and cheated the old Dharmendra. I feel Dighe saheb has entered Eknath Shinde.
He is doing everything that Dighe saheb had taught him, but somewhere his people in the Ministry and power are letting him down time and again. And he is not the one to stop or crib or pull people up, he does not have time for that. He knows people like Tanaji Sawant and Abdul Sattar are way beyond his control now, but he is just working because he has a long way to go and achieve what a Shivsanik has to and complete his mentor’s dream. He should take firm stands as shown in the movie behind people who are targeted everyday. I am telling you, if Eknath Shinde stays hand-in-hand with Devendra Fadnavis for at least 10 years from now, these both will be the next Narendra Modi and Amit Shah from Maharashtra.
– Vikrant Hemant Joshi.
