With his portrayal of whimsical but dangerous Dada Holkar in Zee Marathi’s ongoing serial ‘Tu Tithe Mee’, Milind Shinde has invited all the attention with his humour filled dialogue delivery which is mixed with broken English. Milind is not new to acting field; but this character of Dada Holkar has certainly brought him recognition as an actor. Marathi Movie world spoke to him, to know more about his acting career. Excerpts from an interview:
Milind Shinde  Q: How did you enter this profession ?
A: It was sometime in 1998-99. After returning from NSD, I was thinking as to what I should exactly do. At that time I was thinking that with my looks, I would be offered the roles of Postman, tea vendor or a Panwallah. So, I went back to Nagar and started directing the stage plays for banks and MSEB in their competitions and earned for my living. Finally, I wanted to go to Mumbai. Two MLA’s from my village, namely Raju Vanjhale and Balasaheb Thorat invited me to Mumbai and offered accommodation. But, while I was in Nagar, my father who was then posted as Government Officer in Beed received a Phone call from Mr. Girish karnad from Bangalore, requesting him to convey a message to me to contact him. Those days, there were no mobiles; but pagers were in operation. So, my father sent a message. When I contracted Mr. Girish karnad, he asked me to come over to Bangalore. He offered me a role in a Hindi serial he was making and also in a Kannada film. It was with this money, I purchased a 2BHK flat in Pune.

Q: So, your acting career began with Kannada film. But, when you started in Marathi ?
A: After completing Mr. Karnad’s assignments, I came to Pune and did a One year course from FTII. But, then after completing that course, once again the same issue troubled me. i.e. What type of roles I should do ? I was in a dilemma, when I received a call from Amruta Subhash.She was then working in Waman kendre’s drama ‘Phulrani’ and hence asked me, whether I would perform the role of her father in the play. She knew that I would do that role with the kind of voice, which needed a singer artiste. Mr. Gajendra Ahire watched this play and assured me that he would offer a suitable role to me in his film. He did keep his promise and that film was ‘Not Only Ms. Raut’ which won me awards for Best Supporting and Best debut actor. Since then, my journey in this field is going on smoothly. I am grateful to all these people whom I met at the right time. I always tell amruta that it was because of her, i came to Mumbai. With Gajendra Ahire Ii have done 12-15 films.

Q: Your first project was with Girish karnad. What was your experience with him.
A: Some people are born great. Mr. Girish Karnad is one of them. I had read the translated biography of Mr. Karnad ‘Khelta khelta Aayushya’ done by Uma Kulkarni.and, when I actually met him,I found him exactly like that. He speaks fluent Marathi.

Q: Tell us something about your roles in Marathi TV serials and Films.
A: I have done about 20-22 serials. Prominent among them are ‘Vadalvaat’,’Agnihotra’ and the ongoing ‘TuTithe Mee’. There were films like ‘Baboo band Bajaa’, Jaoo Tithe Khau’, ‘Natarang’ ‘Paradh’ and ‘Bayo’. Now, to say something about my experience with films, it takes about 6-8 months to be involved in one film project, including post production. Considering, my original place Beed,the feedback I get from that place is that many of these films never even get released there. Whereas, through television serials I reach at every house in Maharashtra.

Q: What you have to say about your character of Dada Holkar in ‘TuTithe Mee’ ?
A: The character of Dada Holkar portrayed by me is not my own self, but my writer Chinmay Mandlekar speaks through that role. Actually, my director has given me full freedom to perform and that has put me at ease.

Q:Where do you see yourself in years to come?
A: I am working hard to present the best I can, so that the young members in my family should say proudly that this film was done by my uncle or dad. The next generation should say that I want to do the kind of roles that Milind Shinde played. I want people to remember me for my performance. I am paying more attention on quality than quantity. Actually, I am also producing two films ‘Dombari’ and ‘Veda Prem’; so that I will be able to reach out to the audience, with what exactly I have to convey to them.