My celebrity status helped villagers conserve water: Chinmay Udgirkar

Actor Chinmay Udgirkar believes in multitasking and currently has his fingers in multiple pies. The Nanda Saukhya Bhare actor who juggles between theatre and television also holds social issues close to his heart. In a chat with Nashik Times he speaks about his recent initiative to conserve water.
You encouraged people in Palshi village to work for water conservation.Tell us more about it.
I have worked with water conservationist Dr Rajendra Singh during Kumbh in Nashik. While working with him I learned that water conservation is easy if we work together. A few days ago, a friend, Tejpal Wagh from Wai told me about Palshi. The village was one of the 300 villages initially selected for Water Cup competition. There was a check-dam which was supposed to be repaired. However, the villagers were reluctant to contribute money for it. My friend suggested that I should talk to those people. A celebrity appealing to them worked. Within a week, women of that village collected `75, 000 through contribution. I think that celebrities should use their fame for a good cause.
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You are back to theatre after a long time. I was occupied with my daily soap when I got a call from Santosh Kale. He told me about this unique concept where five senior writers in Marathi have come together to pen down a play Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye. There are five stories and I had to play four different characters. The concept was captivating. Besides, very few actors are fortunate to perform on stage while working in a daily soap.
Was it difficult juggling between theatre and daily soaps? Yes, it was really difficult. First of all, I play four characters in one single play. So, it is a must for me to maintain different personas. I did not want the audience to think these four characters are one. Plus, all these characters have to be completely different from Neel (his onscreen character). It was a real challenge, to understand the switch on-switch off technique.
You recently got married. How’s married life treating you? It is said that a man’s power lies in his wife. I am literally experiencing that. Everything good is coming my way since I got married. I have been working continuously and not a single day has passed when I had no work. All this is because of my wife. She supports me in every endeavour and I am really grateful to her.
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