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I've had this kind of wild journey where I've been both an actor and a doctor. Interestingly, acting started much before I joined medical college. The real beauty of being interested in extracurricular activities is that these are the things we love to do, even if they aren’t in our formal education.
Conventionally, singing, dancing, painting, acting, etc are usually extracurricular activities. Ironically, these activities bring real meaning to our lives. As you go into your professional life, you stop giving your time to extracurricular activities. I’m glad that it didn’t happen in my case. After joining medical college, I gave up a few of my hobbies, such as swimming, elocution, and Kho-Kho. But continued acting for two reasons.
First is due to Jabbar Patel - an excellent theatre director. Secondly, acting was beneficial to my education. Acting kept me in touch with theatre, literature and films. It made me realise the significance of image and sound for emotional communication. As per neurolinguistic programming, only 10% is communicated through words. More than 50% is through body language. And more than 25% through sound. Little things like tone, intonation, gestures, etc, are vital for effective communication. Moreover, most of our emotional communication isn’t through words; it’s generally nonverbal.
Lately, we have been trying to express emotions through words because people fail to understand the beauty of experiencing emotions. Earlier, we experienced it first and then learned more about life. But nowadays, we learn about life and then try to experience it. Informative learning has somehow affected the natural charm of experiential learning. For example, Google Maps takes away the conventional excitement of finding your way.
But always remember that experiential learning is the window to wisdom. There is no better medium to bridge the gap between informative and experiential learning than film. It is closest to the living experience due to intellectual and emotional communication. And that’s why I’m close to the cinema.”
As a psychiatrist, I was fascinated by transforming research into a language ordinary people can understand. So, I loved doing the job of a performing academician. After retiring as a director professor of mental health, I changed my profession from doctor to smuggler. Don’t be scared! I smuggle education in the garn of entertainment. That’s why it looks like ‘Upar se dheko toh tamasha hai, andar se dheko toh kirtan hai.’
Talking about my current film, U=ME, is directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni, who was once one of my brightest students when I was the director of FTII, Pune. Dr. Sanjay Pujari, the film's producer, knows the research language. When he was toying with the idea of making a film about the stigma of HIV, Dr Vivek Bele volunteered to write the script. Bele is an excellent writer and a long associate of Pujari.
When they both approached me, I suggested Umesh for directing the film as I was well aware of his depth in the understanding of film-making. We have worked like a ‘Setu’ to show the world the remarkable progress we have made in making the life of an HIV patient normal. A lot of unnecessary stigma is still around.
Making films on social issues is vital for our societal upliftment. I have worked on a few with the late Sumitra Bave, a brilliant national award-winning filmmaker. And now, we have tried to shed light on the issues around HIV through U=ME. The movie is live on Humara Movie’s YouTube channel. Check it out, and let me know what you think about the short film in the comments section.
We’re glad to partner with Humara Movie. They release a short film every week. And we feature the story of someone behind the film. After all, everyone has a story.
Delhi Stories is an emerging platform to feature inspirational, motivational, relatable and beautiful stories. Do you also have an interesting story like Mohan Agashe?
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