Mi Savitribai Jyotirao Phule Off Air Amol Kolhe Rohit Pawar Support

NCP (SP) leader Amol Kolhe, who is also a popular Marathi television actor known for his period dramas, said on Wednesday that he was upset that his serial on social reformers Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule will go off air from June 14. In response, party colleague MLA Rohit Pawar offered him Rs 50 lakh to continue the serial on other platforms.

Mi Savitribai Jyotirao Phule airs on Star Pravah channel and stars Kolhe and Madhurani Prabhulkar in the lead roles.

“A show based on the lives of Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule is being taken off air in Maharashtra during Jyotirao Phule’s bicentennial birth anniversary year. What kind of ‘Maharashtra Dharma’, what kind of fortune, and what kind of ideology does this indicate? Everyone needs to introspect,” Kolhe said during the Foundation Day celebrations of the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.

Kolhe, however, said he planned to restart the show. “The serial will end on June 14, and that very same week…I don’t know through what medium, what channel, or what platform, but I will restart the show that same week. This is a commitment…if Maharashtra has to be taken forward, I will have to work once again to strengthen its intellectual foundation. If I can contribute even a small part through this medium, I am ready for it,” he added.

Kolhe, who was once criticised for playing the role of Nathuram Godse, also expressed regret that he was not praised for acting as Phule. “The hands that were quick to obstruct me for playing the role of Nathuram Godse were not seen coming forward to applaud me for playing the role of Jyotirao Phule…this regret will remain in my heart. But at the same time, I tell you, Maharashtra Dharma teaches us to fight, not cry,” he added.

Rohit Pawar acknowledged the Phules’ contributions. “In the past, great personalities worked hard and fought against ‘Manuvadi’ ideology that suppressed such progressive thoughts back then. It is because of them that we are all able to learn and speak today—my great-grandmother studied, my grandmother studied, my mother studied, my sister, my wife, and now my daughter is studying. If this is due to anyone, it is because of Mahatma Phule and Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule,” he said.

“This amount is small. In the future, people from Maharashtra will contribute—some 100 rupees, some 50, some a lakh, and some a crore—but I assure you that millions of people are with you to take this thought to the masses,” Rohit added.