Mahesh Kothare

Mahesh Ambar Kothare (Marathi pronunciation: [məɦeːʃ koʈʰaːɾe]; born 28 September 1953) is an Indian film actor, director and producer of Marathi and Hindi films. He is regarded as a revolutionary figure in the Marathi film industry, known for his contributions to comedy, fantasy, and technical innovation. Kothare started his acting career as child artist in Chhota Jawan and acted in well-known Hindi movies such as Chhota Bhai, Mere Laal, and Ghar Ghar ki Kahani. The well known Hindi song "Tu Kitni Achhi Hain" from the film Raja Aur Runk features Kothare as Master Mahesh.^[1][2]

Mahesh Kothare
Kothare at Filmfare Awards Marathi 2014
Born	(1953-09-28) 28 September 1953 (age 71) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupations	Film producer film director actor
Years active	1964 – present
Spouse	Nilima Kothare ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	Adinath Kothare (son)
Relatives	Urmilla Kothare (daughter-in-law)

He began his directorial journey with the groundbreaking film Dhum Dhadaka in 1985 and went on to deliver numerous box office successes over the next two decades. Kothare's films are known for their technical nuances and fantasy concepts, making him one of the few Indian filmmakers to achieve consistent success in the fantasy genre. He directed Dhadakebaaz (1990), the first Marathi film shot in the anamorphic (Cinemascope) format. He was also the first to introduce Dolby Digital sound to Marathi films with Chimni Pakhara (2001), and brought special effects to the industry with Pachadlela in 2004. Venturing into science fiction, he became the first Marathi filmmaker to explore the genre.^[3]

In 2013, Zapatlela 2, the first Marathi film made in true 3D, which served as a sequel to the 1993 hit Zapatlela. He is also the founder of Kothare Vision, a production company primarily focused on creating mythological television series. The autobiography of Mahesh Kothare Damn It Ani Barach Kahi was published by Mehta Publishing House in 2023.^[4][2]

Career

Kothare started his career in his teens, in Hindi movies with roles in Raja aur Runk and Ghar Ghar ki Kahani. He later switched to Marathi cinema, where he worked with well known stars and directors while continuing to make Hindi films without any noteworthy success. Kothare became a top Marathi director with hits including Dhum Dhadaka, Zapatlela, Zapatlela 2, Khatarnak and Khabardar.

In films Ghar Ka Bhedi and Lek Chalali Sasarla, he played negative character.^[2]

Kothare, along with, Laxmikant Berde, Sachin Pilgaonkar and Ashok Saraf formed a successful quartet, giving hits after hits in the Marathi Cinema Industry in the 1980s and 1990s.

He also owns the Kothare Vision production house.^[5]

In the mid-1980s, Kothare and another young actor, Sachin Pilgaonkar, helped to revolutionize the Marathi film industry with their directing. Pilgaonkar directed Navri Mile Navryala, while Kothare directed Dhoom Dhadaka. Both films became box office hits, but Dhum Dhadaka became a trendsetter which brought young audiences to recognize the Marathi style of movie-making. Kothare then went on to make comedies which also became major hits. He also made Dhadakebaaz, the first Marathi film shot in CinemaScope and brought a number of innovations such as Dolby Digital sound to Marathi cinema with the film Chimani Pakhar. He made Pachhadlela in 2004, which was the first Marathi film with computer-generated effects. Kothare was also the first Marathi filmmaker to produce science-fiction films.^[3]

In the film Gupchup Gupchup and Thorali Jau he played supporting, character roles.^[2]

In the Marathi movies, he played supporting characters in films such as Devata, Jabardast, Majah Chakula, De Dandan, Khatarnak, Tharthrat, Zapatlela, Zapatlela - 2, Shubha Mangal.^[2]

In 2013, Kothare made the film Zapatlela 2 in 3D with his son Adinath Kothare in the lead. The film was the sequel to his 1993 box office hit Zapatlela, which has acquired a cult following amongst Marathi audiences and features a doll named Tatya Vinchu created by Ventriloquist and Puppeteer Ramdas Padhye and voiced by Dilip Prabhavalkar that comes to life. Kothare revived Tatya Vinchu with 3D, animatronics and state of the art CGI in the sequel Zapatlela 2, which was the first Marathi film shot in 3D using split beam technology produced by Spanish stereographer Enrique Criado.^[6][7] The film was shot at ND Studios, Karjat and released on 7 June 2013, going on to become a big hit over its 100-day run.

Personal life

Kothare is married to Nilima Kothare since 1980.^[8] His son Adinath Kothare is an actor married to Urmilla Kothare.

Filmography

As an actor, Kothare appeared primarily as a Police Inspector with his first name Mahesh.

Year	Title	Actor	Director	Producer	Role	Notes	Languge	Ref.
1964	Chota Jawan	Yes	No	No	Jawan		Marathi	[9]
1967	Upkar				Younger Bharat		Hindi
1968	Raja Aur Runk	Yes	No	No	Yuvraj Narendradev / Raja		Hindi
1970	Safar	Yes	No	No	Feroz Khan's Younger Brother Montu
1971	Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani	Yes	No	No	Ravi
1975	Prit Tuzi Mazi	Yes	No	No	Ravi		Marathi
1982	Sant Gyaneshwar	Yes	No	No	Dnyaneshwar
	Thorli Jaau	Yes	No	No	Avinash
	Chandane Shimpit Ja	Yes	No	No
1983	Devta	Yes	No	No	Sunil
	Paaygoon	Yes	No	No	Dhanaji Jadhav/Nagesh Patil
	Gupchup Gupchup	Yes	No	No	Ashok
1984	Sage Soyare	Yes	No	No	Hemant
	Gharcha Bhedi	Yes	No	No	Ramesh
	Lek Chalali Sasarla	Yes	No	No	Vilas Inamdar
1985	Dhum Dhadaka	Yes	Yes	Yes	Mahesh Javalkar			[10]
1987	De Danadan	Yes	Yes	Yes	Sub-Inspector Mahesh Danke
1989	Thartharat	Yes	Yes	Yes	CID Inspector Mahesh Jadhav
1990	Dhadakebaaz	Yes	Yes	Yes	Mahesh Nemade
1992	Jiwlaga	Yes	Yes	Yes		Guest appearance
1993	Zapatlela	Yes	Yes	Yes	CID Inspector Mahesh Jadhav			[11]
1994	Majha Chakula	Yes	Yes	Yes	Inspector Mahesh Jadhav
1996	Masoom	No	Yes	No		Guest appearance		[12]
1998	Dhangad Dhinga	Yes	Yes	Yes	Advocate Mahesh Mithare			[13]
1999	Lo Main Aagaya	No	Yes	No			Hindi
2000	Khatarnak	Yes	Yes	No	CID Inspector Mahesh Choudhary		Marathi
2004	Pachhadlela	Yes	Yes	Yes	Inspector Mahesh Jadhav	Cameo		[11]
2005	Khabardar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Mahesh Kothare (Himself)
2006	Shubh Mangal Savdhan	No	Yes	No				[14]
2007	Zabardast	Yes	Yes	No	Professor Bramhanand Bharadwaj	Cameo
2008	Full 3 Dhamaal	Yes	Yes	No	Mahesh Kothare (Himself)	Guest appearance
2010	Ved Laavi Jeeva	No	Yes	No				[15]
2010	Ideachi Kalpana	Yes	No	No	Commissioner Mahesh Thakur
2011	Dubhang	No	Yes	No
2013	Zapatlela 2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Mahesh Jadhav			[16]
	Welcome to the Jungle	Yes	No	No	IB Chief		English
2024	Paani	No	No	Yes			Marathi

Awards and recognition

Year	Award	Category	Work
1986	Filmfare Awards Marathi	Best Film	Dhum Dhadaka
		Best Director
1994	Maharashtra State Film Awards	Best Film	Majha Chakula
		Best Director
	Screen Awards	Best Film - Marathi
		Best Director - Marathi
2000		Best Director - Marathi	Khatarnak
2005	Maharashtra State Film Awards	Best Film	Khabardar
		Best Director
		Best Screenplay
2009		V. Shantaram Special Contribution Award
2018	3rd Filmfare Awards Marathi	Limelight Award	Overall Contribution
2021	5th Filmfare Awards Marathi	Excellence in Marathi cinema

See also

• Ashok Saraf
• Laxmikant Berde
• Sachin Pilgaonkar