Who's That?: Devrukhkar keeps the ad industry on its toes

Devrukhkar has completed his Master’s in physical education this year and this entitles him to teach Malkhamb at a senior level

Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar, the 28 year old Malkhamb specialist, has made the traditional form of ancient physical fitness popular through ad films.

Devrukhkar started learning Malkhamb, a traditional Indian form of gymnastics and physical fitness routine, when he was in Class 5, following his elder brother, Nilesh. He won the national championships for Malkhamb within a year. Later, he began performing at various inter-state, inter-college and national competitions. By the time he was in Class 8, he was juggling studies, practice and coaching others.

Malkhamb was earlier viewed as an exercise for wrestlers, but is now a sport in itself in the country. Devrukhkar has completed his Master’s in physical education this year and this entitles him to teach Malkhamb at a senior level.

Advertising happened to Devrukhkar by chance. His first advertising assignment was in 2004, when he got to choreograph a Boost television commercial with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Then Happydent happened in 2005: Apart from choreographing the ad, he has also acted in it in the underwater, the pole and the ‘baraat’ scenes.

Before his tryst with advertising, he participated in live shows and still continues to do so. He has also done professional shows in which he has performed acrobatics, fire-sticks and yoga.

Both Devrukhkar and his wife, Trupti, are Malkhamb experts. Trupti was Devrukhkar's student and they had known each other for eight-10 years before they got married. In the
Himani Fast Relief ad
, about 60 per cent of the actors are women and were trained by Trupti.

The soft spoken Devrukhkar says that his main inspiration throughout his career has been Mahesh Atali, his Malkhamb coach and guide. “Both Nilesh and Trupti have been great supports, too,” he adds.

Devrukhkar is also interested in other sports such as volleyball, swimming and gymnastics. He likes listening to music and is fond of dancing.

(Who's that? is an effort to highlight the lesser known talents in the advertising, media and marketing industry.)