Coming of age

National Award winner Ashwin Chitale,who is seen in Aashayein,talks about portraying gloomy characters.

National Award winner Ashwin Chitale,who is seen in Aashayein,talks about portraying gloomy characters.

In 2004,a quiet eight-year-old from Pune captured the imagination of film critics and went on to win the National Award for the best child artiste for his portrayal of a kid diagnosed with retinal cancer in the Marathi film Shwaas. Now at 14,Ashwin Chitale is seen in the role of a leukemia patient at a hospice facility in director Nagesh Kukunoors Aashayein. “I don’t remember much about my first experience before the camera but over time I have learnt to depict gloomy characters with relative ease”,says Chitale,who was also seen in Taxi No. 9-2-1-1 and Zor Lagaa ke Haiya.

Though a prominent jawline has replaced the baby fat,the role also required Chitale to tonsure his head twice a week. I did not mind since I like to keep them short. In fact I insisted on a haircut because a wig would not have looked authentic, he explains.

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The film completed two years ago tells the tale of a compulsive gambler Rahul (John Abraham) who discovers that he has three months to live. At the hospice he meets Chitales character Govinda,who cheers him up and gives him courage to live life to the fullest. A comic book freak,Govinda predicts the future of the other patients based on what he reads in comic books. I like to think of myself as a psychic who gives people a reason for hope in the film, he says.

During the 35-day shooting schedule in Puducherry and Hyderabad,Chitale was accompanied by his mother Punam Chitale,who used to read out the script for him. He is too young to grasp the role himself. I would guide him on how to emote, says Punam.

But right now,acting has taken a backseat for Chitale. Studies are more important for me at this stage. I have enough time to decide if I want to work in films later, he states.