Sachin Pilgaonkar Talks About His Love For Urdu And How He Learnt It

Actor Sachin Pilgaonkar is a well-known name in the entertainment industry, whose contributions to the craft have been immense. He is an actor, director, producer, writer and singer. Sachin has worked in both Marathi and Hindi movies. He has donned the hat of a director in many Marathi movies. Sachin Pilgaonkar has also received many awards and accolades for his work. Sachin Pilgaonkar is a pucca Maharashtrian, who speaks Marathi and entertains the audience with his amazing performances. But did you know that once he revealed that his “true love” is Urdu? Recently, he won the Mohsin-e-Urdu (Ambassador of Urdu) Award from the socio-cultural organisation Urdu Markaz. In an interview recently, he said Urdu is like a part of his body. Reportedly, the actor speaks Urdu fluently and Bollywood’s Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari is the reason behind this.

Urdu is a language that is spoken widely across India, especially the North. Sachin Pilgaonkar believes that Urdu is not a language of community, but belongs to India and has added to the literary and cultural heritage. How did he get a grasp on the nuances of the language? Sachin Pilgaonkar was 9 years old when he was roped in for Hrishikesh Mukherjee-directed movie, Majhli Didi in the year 1967. It was based on a novel by Sharath Chandra Chattopadhyay. The movie starred Meena Kumari and Dharmendra in the lead. During the shoot, Meena Kumari developed a close bond with Sachin Pilgaonkar – who was a child artist back then. She addressed him as Sachu Baba, while he called her Meena Apa. One day while shooting, the actress asked Sachin to bring his parents to the sets and she asked them to allow the little boy to visit her house four days a week to learn Urdu. That’s how he learnt the language.

Sachin Pilgaonkar had a flourishing career as a child artist. He has worked extensively in the Marathi film industry as a child. He starred in at least 65 movies before he switched to adult roles and became highly successful. He was cast in movies like Geet Gaata Chal, Balika Badhu, Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se and Nadiya Ke Paar which made him a household name. He has worked in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and even Bhojpuri movie industry.