The more you write about actor Atul Kulkarni is less. In Marathi, Hindi and South Indian films, he has performed with total conviction. Watch his commitment in ‘Natarang’ and at the same time playing one of the protagonists in Aamir Khan’s hit film ‘Rang De Basanti’. He invites all the attention, while on screen, as a passionate performer. This itself is his identity as an actor. With his intense acting skills, he has won the hearts of not only people all over Maharashtra but all parts of India.
Born in Belgaum, Atul completed his secondary education from Haribhai Deokaran High School, Solapur, Maharashtra. His father, a businessman, had then settled in Solapur. He joined for electrical engineering at College of Engineering Pune. But, due to lack of interest in Engineering, he returned back to Solapur and joined D. A. V. College, to complete his graduation in English literature. Atul later married theatre actress Geetanjali Kulkarni, whom he met at National School of Drama, Delhi. Not many people are aware that Atul made his film debut through Kannada film ‘Bhoomi Geetha’ in 1997 and has also acted in many south Indian language films.
Atul Kulkarni ActorAtul Won Best Supporting Actor award in Kamal Hasan’s film ‘Hey Ram’ in the year 2000 followed by another best supporting actor’s award in 2002 for Madhur Bhadarkar’s film ‘Chandani Bar’. This brought him name and fame, which was so necessary to enable him to select the roles suited to him. After ‘Satta’ in 2003, we have seen at least 2 to 3 films of Atul released every year in different languages like Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, kannada and Malyalam , besides Marathi. And, his forthcoming film will be ‘Singularity’ in English.
Very few actors from Marathi films have managed to establish themselves in Bollywood and Atul is the latest addition to that list. Last time, while speaking to Marathi Movie World, he had said that Film scripts were more important to him than the language of the film. “I have never accepted any random film offers, just for the sake of being a regular face in the film industry,” he said.
In short, Atul is more concerned about Quality than quantity. Just watch him in that wonderful act in ‘Rang De Basanti’ where he tries to explain that the emotions of a character arise from the heart and one does not have to rehearse for such scenes. His role of an investigative Journalist in Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Page 3’ shows his personal efforts in preparing for such a role. To present Guna kagalkar inhit Marathi film ‘Natarang’ ,he must have worked very hard, with the required body language, in the second half of the film. The director can bring out the best from the actor, provided the actor also gives his 100%. And, Atul is the kind of an actor, who always gives his 100%.
When Atul was selected to play as lead hero opposite Sagarika Ghatge and that too in a Marathi film which dealt with post marriage love, many people raised their eyebrows. But, after watching ‘Premachi Goshta’, Atul has removed all the doubts. His portrayal of the character of Ram Subramanyam, a script writer by profession, is very convincing. Very sensitively, he has got involved into his character, which is clearly noticed through all those close up scenes in the film. His expressions during that last scene before interval, speaks everything about his capacity as an actor.
Atul was very much there physically to find out the reactions of media representatives, after the press show of the film two days before the film’s release. And, he was all smiles, to welcome each one of them. He could spot the satisfaction on the faces of all those coming out, after watching his film. This showed his confidence as an actor. There is much more, to come from this brilliant actor, in years to come. After all, he is an actor par excellence .
