Not all the Marathi actors who received Bollywood offers, were successful. But, in 70s Amol Palekar invited all the attention. His popularity as an actor in Bollywood, still remains, which is clearly visible from the recently released Ajay Devgan-Abhishek Bachchan starrer film ‘Bol Bachchan’ , where his original hit film ‘Golmaal’ scenes were repeated. The credit obviously goes to Amol Palekar’s perfect timing for comedy, which is evident from his past films ‘Chotisi Baat’, ‘Golmaal’, ‘Baton Baton Mein’ and so on.

It did not matter to an actor within Amol Palekar, as to who was directing him. He was always at ease. Moreover, those great film makers like Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee very well knew his potential. So, natural was his performance. No wonder, he won the filmfare award for Best actor for ‘Golmaal’ in 1980, in presence of top actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Rajesh khanna, Vinod Khanna, Jitendra, Mithun Chakraborty around.

Being student of Fine Arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, creativity had set in his mind. Though, he commenced his artistic career as a painter; it was in late sixties, he became active in Marathi and Hindi theatre; as an actor, director and producer. Later, as an actor, he achieved prominence for almost over a decade from 1970. His image of a common man on screen, posed challenge to all those larger-than-life heroes of that period in Indian cinema. In all, he received nine prestigious awards, as Best Actor.

Amol also went on to perform in regional language films in Marathi, Bengali, Malyalam and Kannada, which fetched him critical acclaim as well. After 1986, he had almost stopped acting, to focus on filmmaking. As a director, we have seen his ability through his sensitive portrayal of women, selection of memorable stories from Indian literature and insightful handling of social issues.

In the past, Amol was also involved in production of several television serials, especially on the national network; namely ‘Kachchi Dhoop’, ‘Mrignayani’, ‘Naquab’, ‘Paool Khuna’ and ‘Krishna Kali’, Having a background of experimental theatre with Pt. Satydev Dubey, it enabled him to start his own theatre group ‘Aniket’ sometime in 1972. By the time, he had already made his acting debut through Marathi film ‘Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe’ directed by Satyadev Dubey, which brought a new movement into Marathi cinema. .

‘Aakriet’ was the first Marathi film directed by him. Later, he displayed his creativity through an unusual Hindi film ‘ Paheli’ starring popular stars like Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Juhu Chawla. This movie was India’s official entry for Best Foreign language Film at the 2006 Oscars. This itself was an honour for Amol. Besides film making, Amol involved himself in social service, offering his voice to an HIV/AIDS education animated software tutorial, created by the non profit organization TeachAIDS.

After his divorce from first wife Chitra, Amol settled down in Pune and married writer Sandya Gokhale. Both of them together have offered quality films, beginning with ‘Paheli’, followed by Marathi film ‘Samantar’ starring Sharmila Tagore and now they have presented an entertaining Marathi film ‘We are On, Houn Jaoo Dya’. After watching this film, you realise the hard work put in by him, to offer this quality entertainer, using the backdrop of cricket; which is a popular sport in our country. Advancing Age does not matter to a creative film maker. Amol Palekar is the best example. Moreover, he has the moral support of equally creative writer and new life partner Sandhya Gokhale. And, their team work is really working well.
by Ulhas Shirke © MMW