New Delhi: Rajshri Deshpande won the Best Actress Critics Choice Award at the NDTV Marathi Awards, for her portrayal of Savitribai Phule in the 2024 film Satyashodhak. Like the social reformer, Deshpande has been working for the betterment of girl child education in many villages of Maharashtra.
Deshpande has also worked to restore water supply and secure government funds for 200 toilets in 30 villages. Deshpande has opened schools for women and also enabled many cotton pickers to become teachers.
Sandeep Kulkarni, who plays Jyotirao Phule in the movie, was aware of Deshpande’s social work. When he reached out to her, she was immersed in a village sanitation project.
Satyashodhak had to cross multiple hurdles. The movie, announced in 2017, was in production limbo with producers backing out. It was finally released on 5 January 2024. The film also features Ganesh Yadav and Ravindra Mankani.
“What was really inspiring is not just learning more about their reforms but the deep friendship they [Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule] shared. In one scene, Savitribai’s father apologises for his daughter not bearing children, and asks Jyotirao to marry someone else. But Jyotirao says it is actually his fault. For a man to acknowledge his role, and speak up for it back then is just amazing,” said Deshpande.
In real life, Deshpande is struggling to arrange for funds and fast-track the process of building another school in the drought-hit region of Marathwada. Running the Nabhangan Foundation since 2018, the actor’s focus is to create actual change on the ground, rather than simply portraying ‘strong’ female characters on screen. But the industry does not always welcome it, she said.
“I have tried to initiate conversations about making actual change on the ground, but people would rather not listen to it,” said Deshpande. “I am often not offered roles because I would rather talk about my school, and work in the villages, rather than give promotional interviews,” added the actor who has not signed any new major projects since the 2023 web series Trial By Fire.
Also read: Trial By Fire’s Rajshri Deshpande is a fighter on screen and in 30 Maharashtra villages
More than just better stories
For her portrayal of Neelam Krishnamoorthy in the Netflix series Trial by Fire, the actor won the Best Actress in Leading Role award at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2023 and the Best Actor Series (Female): Drama at the Filmfare OTT Awards.
“I felt that Trial By Fire reached out to many people, but that is not the reality. People in my village haven’t watched it. But they know about Pushpa 2,” said Deshpande. She pointed out how marketing of movies and shows also needs a certain budget to push them to the smaller pockets of the country.
The actor has never shied away from talking about her social work being her priority. Her social media too has multiple posts, documenting not just the work her foundation is doing, but also sharing small achievements from the villages.
“But you can see the interaction on those posts. The moment I put up a photo of me wearing nice clothes, there is a lot of engagement and comments. Other posts will not have such a response,” said Deshpande.
Without mincing words, the actor pointed out that real change cannot simply be restricted to better stories and better-written female characters on screen.
“Everyone is talking of numbers, from engagement to the number of projects one has, but there is no conversation about ground reality, and what can be done to make lives better for other people,” she said.