The Aurangabad-based writer-director-actor, who is also head of the Dramatics Department of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University here, has been a household name in Marathwada for two decades. His multiple-personality (he plays 52 characters in Varhad) and his uncanny ability to mirror the nuances of everyday life have endeared him to all in this rural heartland. He has also wowed audiences in the US,Canada, the UK, the Middle East, Australia and Nigeria over the last two decades.

Varhad, which is about a `London-returned' boy from Marathwada and whose impending marriage to a `white' girl sets the tone for the comedy, pans the gamut of situations and roles in the Indian joint family. It is also about the rich cultural values that village folk cherish and their often futile efforts to resist the invasion of the modern, materialistic world. Apart from Dr Deshpande's innate talent, the play owes its success to the opportunity it provides people here to identify with.

So why end Varhad's its phenomenal run, when each show still draws thousands? ``I plan to do a political satire next and that will take at least two years,'' the 55-year-old thespian told The Indian Express.

During the three-hour show, Dr Deshpande brings to life three generations and two countries without any background music or props. Sliding between female and male roles ever so imperceptibly, all he uses to distinguish betweenthe two is a piece of cloth which he alternately drapes over his head as in a pallu or his shoulders to represent a towel.

His strong body language, the 21 voices he lends to his characters and the distinct Marathi accent of Marathwada never fail to strike a chord among the audience. The voice of each character is so distinct that a blind man at a show in London once approached him backstage and made him swear that there were no other actors with him onstage. Finally convinced, he told Dr Deshpande: ``Today my ears have become my eyes.''

Explaining how he managed to fine-tune his voice into so many characters, Dr Deshpande explains: ``In the beginning, I practised each voice to the accompaniment of a harmonium to get the pitch and tone just right.''He reminisces: ``When Varhad made its debut 1979, I experimented with the characters and story for about a hundred performances. And for several years, all I received was a coconut, Rs 11 and sometimes a shawl as token appreciation.'' The actor also remembersriding up to the auditoria on a scooter and after the play, returning empty-handed and unescorted. ``But the laughter and applause that echoed for miles ahead was sufficient incentive,'' he smiles.

The turning point though was his first performance in Mumbai at Kirti College, in 1979-80. ``The reviews the next day were the first acknowledgement of my talent outside Marathwada. And since then, Varhad has never looked back,'' he says. But the road ahead has had its share of bumps. ``Of all places, Pune was a hard nut to crack. I had been warned against using too much of the Marathwada-accented Marathi in front of a culturally conscious western Maharashtra audience. And it was true. Even after half a dozen shows, the audience failed to react. The Pune audience is a peculiar one. They would laugh in the cafeteria and on their way home from the show but never in the auditorium. But soon, the humour began to dawn upon them,'' he says.

No wonder Dr Deshpande, who has also staged over 25 shows in Hindi, saysMaharashtrians lack a sense of humour!