As Eetha moves toward its scheduled first-week-of-December release, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub is drawing attention to a role he says is not a supporting afterthought. The Hindi biographical drama, directed by Laxman Utekar, stars Shraddha Kapoor as Vithabai Bhau Mang Narayangaonkar, the celebrated Lavani and Tamasha performer.
In an interview with Variety India, Ayyub said the team is enthusiastic about sharing the story, and that the teaser has already drawn an encouraging response. He was less interested in release-date trade calculations.
“All of us are really excited,” he said.
A role carrying emotional weight
The official trailer has not been unveiled yet. Ayyub still offered a small window into his part, calling it “very different and important” and saying the character is “carrying a lot of emotional burden” and central to the plot.
He said viewers would understand the part better once promotional material is out, and asked audiences to wait for the reveals.
What Eetha means for folk performance
Eetha brings Maharashtra’s Lavani and Tamasha traditions to a mainstream Hindi-film stage. Ayyub said his National School of Drama background had introduced him to these forms through theatre studies, but the production gave him direct exposure to the lives of the people who perform them.
The biographical arc matters beyond casting. Vithabai Bhau Mang Narayangaonkar is remembered for popularising Lavani and Tamasha, and a commercial Hindi film devoted to her life gives those traditions a wider audience. Ayyub’s comments suggest the film is not using the folk setting merely as decoration; the emotional cost of that performance world is built into the script.
- Shraddha Kapoor plays Vithabai Bhau Mang Narayangaonkar.
- Randeep Hooda, Siddharth Jadhav, Ishtiyak Khan and Anant Joshi appear in important roles.
- The film is scheduled for the first week of December.
A working friendship on set
Most of Ayyub’s scenes are with Kapoor. He described the shoot as fun and said the two became good friends during the schedule. That is likely to matter in a film where his character is closely tied to the protagonist’s arc.
He declined to speculate on the business of release timing. “Honestly, being an actor, I don’t think so much,” he said.
For now, the promotional campaign remains intentionally incomplete, with the trailer expected to be the next major reveal.
Source: The Times of India
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