His clean, honest and rousing approach to acting was actually put on show in the lead role in popular Marathi film, ‘Jogwa’ directed by noted film maker Rajiv Patil. In this film, he not only gave a controlled and modest but a commanding performance, which earned him the Best Male Actor award at the 56th Indian National Film Awards in 2010. In the process, Upendra Limaye created a history.

It may be recalled that after its release in 2009, ‘Jogwa’ created a new milestone in Marathi cinema. The film not only bagged 6 National Film awards, including the Best Male Actor award bagged by Upendra; but, it was for the first time in 56 years, a Marathi film and a Marathi actor had received the honors with distinction. The film later went on to win over 40 other awards.

Besides ‘Jogwa’, Upendra has appeared in several National award-winning films, like ‘Mukta’, ‘Bangarwadi,’ ‘Sarkarnama,’ ‘Dhyasparva’, ‘Chandni Bar,’ ‘Page 3′, ‘Traffic Signal’ besides doing some memorable roles in other Hindi and Marathi cinema.

With a strong background of experimental theatre, Upendra was passionate about acting since his school and college days in Pune and later formed a theatre group ‘Parichay’ with the help of his friends Sanjay Pawar, Subodh Pande and Abhay Godse, after completing his tenure at Lalit Kala Kendra. Today, he continues to remain in popular demand among not only Marathi film makers but, Bollywood and South Indian film makers too.

Marathi Movie World spoke to this multitalented actor. Excerpts from an interview:

Q: Is it true that your success in Bollywood, invited good offers from Marathi Cinema ?
A: I don’t think so. I have been doing theatre since 1988 and done ‘Mukta’ years back. So, the
Marathi film makers very well knew what I can offer. Only, I had to wait for the right roles.

Q: What do you mean by right roles ?
A: After ‘Chandani Bar’ I had many offers to play Police Officer. But, I made up my mind not to repeat the roles. It is very easy to earn money, but difficult to earn respectability. I preferred to wait for the right roles and I got them in due course of time. In the meanwhile, I performed on stage and TV. To me, content is more important in a film, hence, I don’t look at the role as big or small. I was fortunate to begin my film career with people like Dr. Jabbar Patel and Amol Palekar.

Q :What is your opinion about an actor involved in all three areas simultaneously; i.e. stage, TV and films?
A: I personally feel that an actor should not restrict himself to just one platform or one dramatic discipline, because it could impose severe restrictions and may also restrict the actor’s growth. That’s why, when I continued my active role with ‘Parichay’ doing experimental plays, I also welcomed the opportunities offered by outside avenues.

Q: This also reminds us of your association with Grips theatre.
A: Yes, from 1990 onwards for five years, I performed in numerous Grips Theatre plays, where an actor in his 30s transforms himself into a child of 8 or 9 yrs age. It’s an exercise for an actor. For me, it proved to be significantly valuable, especially developing ‘flexibility of mind and body’ besides bringing credibility to difficult roles

Q: When was your actual transition from experimental to commercial theatre?
A: This happened when I came to Mumbai in 1999 with all my experience for a decade with ‘Parichay’ group, only to act in a mainstream commercial play, ‘Dr Aap Bhi’. At that time I happened to meet Sachin Khedekar, who was then featuring in several TV serials. After meeting him, I changed my outlook. And that helped me to progress further.

Q: And, when was your entry into Bollywood ?
A: I had worked with Vinay Apte earlier and his friend Madhur Bhandarkar offered me first break in Bollywood in 2002 with a small role in his forthcoming film ‘Chandani Bar’. In the meanwhile, I continued to perform in TV serials through small but effective roles. However, the major breakthrough was in 2004, when Madhur Bhandarkar offered me a memorable role of Inspector Bhosale in the film.

Q: Tell us something about your role in ‘Jogwa’ which fetched you national award?
A: I always believed in focusing on the inner character of role, as much as the outer, which is crucial in bringing out the best performance. I could have easily overplayed the role, becoming melodramatic. But, I paid more attention on the character’s temperament and decided to convey his inner conflict, his rage and resistance in a restrained, controlled manner, conveying the storm of his emotions through expressions and gestures, rather than words. And it worked.

Q: What is your opinion about Good sensible Marathi cinema not succeeding at commercial level ?
A: Reflection of the society is a big process. It takes time for audience to change their perception. A good cinema is always appreciated. Otherwise, films like ‘Iqbal’ and ‘Bheja fry’ would not have clicked at a time when commercial films with big stars failed to capture audience.