Around the time Bollywood's first superstar, Rajesh Khanna, created a storm in 15 consecutive hit Hindi films (1969-71), another short good-looker with piercing blue eyes created rare records on Marathi stage and films. A dentist by profession, Dr Kashinath Ghanekar (1930-86) started as a part-time prompter, only to rise as a crowd-pulling presence marked by what litterateur P L Deshpande called "an unparalleled intensity that deserved to be studied."

Known to go to extreme lengths to get into the skin of a character — be it warrior prince Sambhaji or a vagabond Laalya — Ghanekar enjoyed a fan following that, till date, remains enviable; people chased him at unearthly hours, landed at his Worli home, collegians clapped, cheered and whistled at his stage entries, auditorium managers black marketed tickets to his houseful shows; female fans queued up (women from rich families took turns) outside Mumbai's Shivaji Mandir to take him home after the shows.