His fine personality and rich voice mixed with perfect diction finds him continuous roles in Marathi films and television serials. If Mohan Khambete were not to become an actor, he would have turned a musician. Since childhood, music has been his passion. With elder brother already good at playing tabla and harmonium, Mohan picked up the music quickly during his childhood at home.

But today, as a character actor, Mohan finds a variety of roles coming to him. We saw him playing a Union leader in TV serial ‘Mrunmayee’, then as a Cassette King in ‘Char Divas Sasuche’, as a Psychiatrist in ‘Ya Gojirvanya Gharat’, an owner of a news channel in ‘Adhuri Ek Kahani’, multiple roles in ‘Gangubai Non-Matric’ and now we watch him as an advocate in ‘Pinjara’. Some of his latest Marathi films have been ‘Daavpech’ and ‘Aatapitaa’. In Hindi serial ‘Ek Chutki Aasmaan’, he plays an important role of Dadaji. Mohan has also performed in few Hindi films, but his scene with Imraan Hashmi in ‘Zaher’ turned out to be the best, where he played a criminal lawyer.

Marathi Movie World had a chit chat with this versatile Marathi actor. Excerpts from the short interview:

Q: You were born and brought up at RBI Colony, Mumbai Central. Did, the cultural activities in the colony inspire you to become an actor?
A: Yes, initially as a school kid, I watched many great artistes from my colony perform during the Ganesh Festival. Prakash Bhanu, one of the popular directors from the colony offered me roles in the dramas directed by him every year. Besides that I also performed at the inter-school drama competitions through Chabildas High School, Dadar, which later turned out to be a hub for experimental theatre. During my childhood, I was very fond of music and performed in the plays just as a hobby.

Q: So, when did you take acting seriously ?
A: When I was 20 years old, I had an opportunity to work with Vijayabai Mehta. I worked in two of her plays, ‘Shakuntal’ and ‘Haibadan’. With that experience, I seriously thought about acting. Later I joined Vinayak Padwal’s acting school as a founder member and when I joined Mahindra & Mahindra, I became a part of their Kala Manch and performed at various competitions.

Q: When exactly you felt that you were a complete actor?
A: Acting is always a learning process. I am still learning. After marriage, I had taken a long break. But, when I began again, I was selected to play lead role of the play ‘Barrister’ in a competition. Those days, Vikram Gokhale played that role at commercial level. So, I was very particular not to copy him. I played that role in my own style and later realised that I had copied my old friend Uday Mhaiskar, with whom I had performed in Vijayabai’s ‘Haibadan’. I did mention to him about it; but Uday told me that it wasn’t so. He convinced me that those who learned under Vijayabai, had that kind of diction and body language. “We all should be thankful to her,” he said, while removing that thought from my mind. Uday and Ravindra Mankani were my colleagues during the beginning of my career.

Q: How was that transition from theatre to TV serials?
A: In 1996, I had performed in the finals of Natya Mahotsav. At that time a friend of mine with whom I worked in ‘Barrister’ recommended me to the assistant of Sangeet Kulkarni, who was then doing a serial ‘Tharaar’. I was selected as a villain in that serial. Then it was ‘Mrunmayee’ followed by ‘Char Divas Sasuche’ and dozens of TV serials till date.