Hari Potdar is an excessively effervescent and over-eager student at the Pune subsidiary of Hogwarts in Bharatiya Digital Party’s video If Hogwarts was a Marathi School.
The story of Hari (Abhay Mahajan) begins with him receiving a letter from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, telling him he’s been accepted to its domestic branch. He then strolls along the lanes of Pune’s ABC chowk with Hagrat Mama (Sanjay Shridhar) as he looks for Diegun Alley, where he has to equip himself before joining the school of magic He meets Rounya (Ruturaj Shinde) outside Gringotts Co-Operative Bank, which is shut for business because the operators have gone for a nap. Later, they are both shooed away by an old man at the local state transport stand when Hari asks him about platform 9¾.
The video follows Hari as he meets his friend Himani (Parna Pethe), a hilariously vindictive professor named Sanap (Pravin Tarade), and the headmaster Bumbledore (Mohan Agashe), who references the students’ raging hormones and gets the Hogwarts slogan confused.
If Harry Potter’s universe ever moved base to Pune, Hogwarts’s new Marathi school would probably be exactly like the one portrayed in the video: slightly chaotic and absolutely no-nonsense.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!