Mention the name Sudesh Bhosle and you are instantly transported to ‘Jumma Chumma’ (Hum) and other songs like ‘Sona Sona’(Major Saab) and ‘Say Shava Shava (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…). He is an obvious byword in imitating Amitabh Bachchan in both shows and songs. Additionally, this master-mimic, who is also an artist (as in painting and sketching), is known to imitate icons like Sanjeev Kumar, Asrani and many others. He also dubbed for Sanjeev (after his death) and Anil Kapoor (when unavailable, for Tezaab).
But Sudesh had very humble beginnings. His father, N.R. Bhosle, was a legendary poster-painter from the l940s, doing this artwork for legends like V. Shantaram and many others. Today, this singer-performer, who once performed for the very successful troupe, Melody Makers, sketched Shashi Kapoor from a distance during an event at the J.J. School of Art, has ventured into a surprising new domain: developing property! In an exclusive conversation, we came to know why this artist-cum-artiste went into a commercial domain.
You would assist your father in poster-painting from your student days
Yes, and my mother and sister would do that too. My father was famous and what is not known is that his partner was none other than M.F. Husain, who later went a completely different way! My father did posters for so many top names that when he casually told Kamal Kumar Barjatya of Rajshri Productions, way back in 1950, that he was thinking of buying a plot to build his house, Barjatya-ji just opened a cupboard, took out Rs. 50000 in cash (in those days!) and handed the money to my father.
When my father built the house, he also got 14 tenants to generate finances. It was named “Suman” after my mother.
How did your involvement happen?
From the mid-1970s, I had started assisting my father in making posters. From 1982 or so, I was paid Rs. 60 per show of Melody Makers, and they would sometimes stage 25 to 30 shows in a month. Also, by 1982, digital publicity began and so my father’s work began to taper. By that time, I was earning a decent amount and whenever a tenant expressed a desire to quit, I persuaded my father not to rent it to someone else but keep it for our self.
I gradually began to offer the remaining tenants more than the market rate to move out. It took 20 years to do this. And in 2016, I decided to redevelop the building to what you see now: a 7-storeyed building with studios on three floors. By this time, even the road outside our building, had been named as Chitrakaar N.R. Bhosle Marg by the municipal authorities in my father’s honour!
Yes, I had a great team of architects and designers. Two things happened after it was completed. Asha-ji (Asha Bhosle) came to visit me and, impressed by the interiors, went down and, standing opposite the building, told me that it was like a mini-Antilia, the famous Mumbai residence of Mukesh Ambani! Asha-ji expressed pride that I had done all this only from my income as a singer. Others contacted me to say that despite approaching the police and courts, they could not vacate even a handful of tenants—or even a single one!
And then word spread and the first to approach me was singer Bali Brahmbhatt who had a property for which he had been offered a specific amount by a developer. He asked me if I could help develop it. There were two others who had adjacent properties, including an ACP.
Now that was my first foray, and with a great team by my side. This property is now a 15-storeyed building. It will be ready in about six months. Meanwhile, I am getting offers from different suburbs, and there are two more singers among those who have approached me, for they know and trust me. I have even got an offer from Pune!
So it’s a new calling for you, and a very lucrative one at that!
I would say that I am just following what comes my way naturally, which is what I have done all along! At a young age, I began to paint and sketch, I then become a performer, mimic and singer, and now God has given me this chance. So I am taking this up too!
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