From kids to popular film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, ventriloquist Sathyajit Padhye’s puppets have a fan in everyone and Chennai witnessed that recently.The third generation puppeteer talks to City Express about his claim to fame, his favourite characters and the need to constantly innovate to keep audiences engaged.
CHENNAI: If the name ‘Ardhavatrao’ invokes a sense of nostalgia among the old timers, then ‘Chotu Singh’ should be a favourite among the present generation. Both puppets have become a house hold name in the country — thanks to ventriloquists-cum-puppeteers, Satyajit and his father Ramdas Padhye. While puppet shows once opened to full houses, the entry of animated cartoons and digital entertainment began to hog the limelight from the traditional art form. But for three generations, the Padhye family has been on a mission to revive the art form, while keeping the audience engaged and entertained with modern concepts. In a tête-à-tête with City Express, Satyajit, a third generation ventriloquist from the family, who recently performed at Phoenix MarketCity talks about digital puppeteering, his favourite puppets and more…
Growing up in a house where everyone was a fan of ventriloquism and puppetry, it was natural for Satyajit to become fascinated by it. Reminiscing his childhood, he narrates, “I was eight when I started learning. But I had never performed in front of a live audience.”
His first performance was in school, where he had prepared a five-minute script ventriloquising, the famous ‘Pink Panther’. But little did he know that his father was invited as the chief guest for the event. “I was 13 then. It was an honour to perform for the first time in front of my mentor,” gushes Satyajit who then began assisting him in several ad-films, movies, puppet serials and plays.
With a plethora of vibrant, ‘good-looking’ and well-dressed puppets constantly being made in his house, Satyajit talks enthusiastically about his favorites — Ardhavatrao and the puppet that played, ‘Tatya Vinchu’, in the Marathi horror film — Zapatlela. “Both are close to my heart as I have grown along with them. Ardhavatrao has been in the house since the time of my grandfather — Yashwant. He created it in 1916. And the doll that played Tatya Vinchu has been around since the late 80’s. After Zapatlela’s success, the doll made its presence in the film’s sequel in 2013 and broke all records,” shares Satyajit, creator of the popular character ‘Chotu Singh’.
“My father always asked me to create something new. That’s how I created Chotu and he’s quite the celebrity” he laughs. From performing in front of celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, to entertaining audiences across the country, ‘Chotu Singh’ has seen it all.
But isn’t ventriloquism losing its shine? “Not at all…but, it needs to be constantly updated,” he says. “For example, a traditional ventriloquist in a village gives his voice to a puppet while performing Mahabharata or Ramayana. But is that what people want to see or hear?” asks the performer. “They have brilliant techniques and skills. But only if they perform themes that are relevant to the current scenario, will the art have more audience. Reviving the art is important, but sustaining it is the need of the hour.”
Comparing ventriloquism to stand-up comedy, the Chartered Accountant-cum-artiste says that the art has a bright future, thanks to digital puppetry. Satyajit was in charge of a digital puppetry project where he directed the Bow Wow Show. “I was approached by Adlabs Entertainment for the project and I trained four puppeteers for this attraction. This technology is new…it looks like animation, but, it’s happening real-time and the puppeteers are the heroes behind it. If more traditional puppeteers learn the nitty gritties of this system, the art will have a better future,” he opines.
Satyajit opines that the art needs a lot of patience and empahsises youngsters to carry it forward. “The Government should also play a vital role in supporting this form,” he adds.
Puppet talks
Satyajit assisted his father in the film Zapatlela 2, where the protagonist Tatya Vinchu, a puppet was operated by them. Satyajit did the animatronic movements of the character. This was the first Marathi movie in which animatronic puppet was used.
Satyajit is the first Indian ventriloquist to represent India at the ‘UNIMA World Puppetry Festival’ in China in 2012 where 74 countries participated.
Satyajit and his puppets also made an appearance drama-thriller, Unnai Pol Oruvan (2009), starring Kamal Hassan.