Growing up, actor Amrita Rao enjoyed Ganeshotsav that meant spending time at her grandparents’, where everyone would come together to celebrate. From dramatics, to dance performances, her family would unite to celebrate a creative and festive Ganesh Chaturthi. However, when visarjan approached, she would be heartbroken. It would trouble her that we were polluting the water bodies for our own convenience. In the city to talk about her latest initiative #EcoBappaMorya, Amrita shared her concerns over using plaster of Paris (POP) idols, artificial colours and hazardous decoration material.“It is the need of the hour. I have been in touch with people associated with beach clean ups, environmentalists and idol makers. They all threw light on the ill effects of visarjan in the water bodies. I sincerely urge people to ditch material that harm our environment. I personally have a silver idol of Lord Ganesh that I reuse every year. Don’t measure your devotion with the size of the idol,” says Amrita. She will also be reaching out to schools to spread the message among children, and various pandals, too.The Ishq Vishk (2003) actor made her Marathi film debut with the bilingual project Thackeray, earlier this year. She says, “It was my luck that I got to play Meena Thackeray in the film. I also received a Best Debutante award for it. I am looking forward to more Marathi projects. ”Amrita shares that she has always admired Marathi television. She finds the approach and acting very realistic. “The shows are very relatable. The protagonist will wake up in a night dress, sans makeup every morning. There is no unnecessary display of makeup and costumes. I get a glimpse of what is happening because my mom watches these shows,” she adds.She is highly appreciative of the works of actors Mukta Barve and Priya Bapat. She says, “They are my favourites. I also really admire Mrinal Kulkarni’s work.”
