Today he is looked upon as the most dubious bad man on Marathi television screen. His portrayal of kedar in ongoing Marathi serial ‘Radha Hi Bavari’ on Zee Marathi has already invited adverse reactions of female viewers. But, in reality, Amol is a thorough gentleman. Best quality about him is that he is Soft spoken and modest. And, you quickly notice these qualities in him, when you meet him for the first time. Meeting Amol during the drama show of ‘Aamhi Sou Kumud Prabhakar Apte’ was a coincident. He had come along with his team of ‘Radha Hi Bavari’, as a special invitee, to watch this inaugural show at Prabodhankar Thackeray Auditorium; as the director Viren being the common factor.

When asked about an interview for Marathi Movie World, he agreed to meet the next day, being sunday; at his residence. So, on Sunday morning I walked into his spacious big house at Borivali, where his parents had lived for past several years. A big display board outside his house, clearly indicated that a female member of his family was a doctor. On entering his well decorated house, also suggested the choice of an interior designer in Amol. Then, Cherry, a sweet little Lowchen pet dog craved for my affection, till I reciprocated. Taking a glance around the house, I found musical instruments kept in one corner of the drawing room, with portrait size photographs of his father Suhas Bawdekar displayed on the side wall. Soon, Amol steps in, with a broad smile on his face to welcome me and quickly ordering his kitchen help to get tea and biscuits.

Spotting me gaze at his father’s photographs, he begins with his background. “My father was passionate about music. That’s how, music has come to me. ‘I am a great fan of my father, Late Suhas Bawdekar’. Today, I am missing him the most. 5 years ago, he passed away, due to heart attack. Like me, he had also studied from Sir J.J. School of Arts and later developed passion for music. Besides designing sets for Dramas, he also provided music for plays. His mastery in art could be noticed with his work. Once, he had erected a huge replica of Siddhi Vinayak temple with minute details, during the Ganapati festival at Dattapada. It received a lot of appreciation from media ,” he explained.

Amol had lot to convey about his father, who had been almost his mentor in the field of music. He had seen his multifaceted personality, very closely. “I have witnessed My father’s musical baithaks going on non stop for hours. He had the ability to perform from 11 pm till 4 am in the morning, his solo vocal performance, with the help of 2 -3 musicians. His rangolis were appreciated by one and all. To say something about his art work, the logo of a tiger of Shiv Sena was drawn by him, when late Balashaeb Thackeray launched Shiv Sena. Even the design of ‘Samna’ newspaper letters, were his creation. He was that close to Balasaheb; but didn’t expect anything in return,” said Amol, while showing some of his artistic collections. He was more vocal about a beautiful small replica of Lord Vitthal, which was specially presented to him by his father.

But, what brought you into acting field? “I don’t know. It just happened,” he quipped. “It could have been inherited from My Grand Uncle C.V.Bawdekar, who was the first secretary and founder member of Sahitya Sangh Mandir. He was close to famous personalities like late Prabodhankar Thackeray, Acharya Atre and Jyotirbhaskar Salgaonkar.” said Amol.

Talking about the other members of his family, Amol introduced his mother, who is a practising Physiotherapist and had just returned from her clinic. His little son, who also returned with his grandmother, also gave a light smile and took the agile pet Cherry inside his room. When inquired about other members of his family, Amol said, “My wife is also a Doctor- a Skin Specialist and a dietician and I have a son, whom you saw just now.”

Then, talking about his stage career, he recalled his first break, offered by Late Mohan Wagh, who had always given scope to newcomers. “He selected me to sing for his play ‘Aamhi Jagato Befaam’. But, my acting debut came through Kedar Shinde’s “Turtur’ in 1994, when I was selected to play the character of a Bengalee, which was earlier played by Prashant Damle. There was good scope for singing in this play; but, I was not confident about acting. However, Kedar was confident about me. He offered training during rehearsals and I was fortunate to perform with all those top stars of today, for next 1 and half year,” he explained.
In 1996-97, it was time for Amol to launch his own production ‘Shreeman Yogi’. “It was on a big scale with an initial investment of Rs. 5 lakhs”. “I hosted 110 shows at different places in Maharashtra. The income was not much and we had 35 artistes performing in it; but, it certainly gave me satisfaction of offering something of my own. My real test came in 1999, when Mr. Panshikar invited me to play the lead role of Sadashiv in his play ‘Katyar Kaljat Ghusali’, followed by offer from Vijay Gokhale’s ‘Reshimgathi’. Till date , I have performed in 22 plays and 10 serials,” he added.

Talking about the contrast characters played by him in the recent past, Amol described how he used to prepare for presenting his characters. “When I was playing the characters of saints in serials like ‘Kripasindhu’ and ‘Sant Tukaram’, I used to think only about their characters, before leaving home for shooting on that particular day, to get the feel of those roles.” But, when asked as to how he felt playing the role of Kedar, he smiled and admitted that he was playing a whimsical character with a negative shade. “Yes, I am playing a bad man and do receive messages from women asking me to stop playing such characters. Even my mother doesn’t like my character in this serial. But, when you receive such reactions from women folks, I consider it as a compliment,” he reacts.

We have seen many performances of Kedar in TV serials and Marathi plays. We have also seen him giving his best in Music reality shows; but, now we are looking forward to watch him play an important character in a feature film. It could be a Marathi film or even a Hindi film. He is all set to grab the attention of film makers, with his negative role of Kedar in ‘Radha Hi Bavari’.When you suggest this to him, he smiles and quietly reacts.”Yes, there are two three films, for which talks are on. Hope, it works,” he concludes.