Dashavatar isn’t just making history at the Oscars. It is carrying the heart, grit, and lifelong devotion of 81-year-old Dilip Prabhavalkar. But what makes this extraordinary is what happened before the cameras rolled.
A scientist by training, he once dreamed of genetics and molecular biology. Acting was only a hobby until it quietly became his destiny.
“I never repeat myself,” he says. That belief has gave him diverse roles for over five decades — from Chaukat Raja to Paheli, from Lage Raho Munna Bhai to the golden years of Marathi theatre.
But Dashavatar’s Babuli Mestry demanded something entirely different. A man — frail, mocked, nearly blind. Yet on stage, he becomes powerful, transforming from Hanuman to Narasimha to Varaha to Dhritarashtra.
Days before the shoot began, he was diagnosed with chikungunya. Despite being advised to rest, he chose the film. Night shoots. Two hours getting ready. Underwater sequences in Konkan. The hardest scenes of his life — at 81.
The film is rooted in the ancient Dashavatar folk tradition of Konkan — where artists create magic without scripts, craft their own costumes, and let devotion guide every word.
Beyond the accolades, Dilip hopes Dashavatar achieves something deeper: recognition and dignity for these real performers who keep this sacred art alive, often without pay, often without applause.
As Dashavatar moves toward the Oscars, one truth stands unshaken: True art does not age. It deepens. It transforms. It endures. And some artists remind the world that showing up with heart is everything.