A reflection of MANGO people, an idol of innocence & simplicity on screen and an actor among the stars. He has depicted the
happiness, sorrows, struggles and emotions of a common man so beautifully, that everybody easily connected with his on-screen character. A superb actor, director, and a great human being Amol Palekar.
Amol Palekar was born in a lower-middle-class family in Mumbai. Lesser people know that he is a fine Painter and painting was his first choice as a career. He learned painting from Babu Rao Sadvelkar. Mr. M.F Hussain was an admirer of his work and whenever they meet he used to ask him, what he’s doing in painting apart from acting.
He studied Fine Arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, he had seven, one-man exhibitions and participated in many group shows as well. He started to work at the Bank of India and eventually he became a clerk by day and a painter at night before he switched full-time to a career in acting.
Palekar began in Marathi experimental theater with Satyadev Dubey, and later started his own group, Aniket in 1972.
Basu Chatterjee‘s persistence made him a film actor: By the time He turned director, Basu Chatterjee, Basu Bhattacharya, MS Sathyu, Shyam Benegal and Hrishikesh Mukherjee came to see his plays. One day, Basu Chatterjee offered him a role in Piya Ka Ghar opposite Jaya Bhaduri but he refused. Later he approached him again for Rajnigandha.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee – The Pied Piper of Indian Cinema
As an actor, he was most prominent for over a decade from 1970. His image as a “boy next door” contrasted with the larger-than-life heroes prevalent at that time in Indian cinema. Palekar made his debut in 1971 with the Marathi film Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe directed by Satyadev Dubey, which started the New Cinema Movement in Marathi. As an actor, after a hat-trick of hits with Rajnigandha, Chhoti Si Baat and Chit Chor He played a ‘negative’ role in Shyam Benegal‘s Bhumika. People thought Bhumika was a wrong decision, but my role turned out to be memorable. Even in Khamosh of Vidhu Vinod Chopra he played a different role of a murderer.
He received one Best actor Filmfare award for Golmaal in 1980 and six State awards as Best Actor. In 1979, he was paired with a 16-year-old Sridevi in Solva Sawan, which was her debut Hindi movie as a heroine. His performances in regional language films in Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada fetched him critical acclaim as well. He decided not to act after 1986 in order to concentrate on filmmaking.
He made his directorial debut with Marathi Movie Aakreit in 1981. Further, He showed his capabilities as a director with movies such as Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaayen and Paheli. In Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaayen he has cast Nana Patekar as a Romantic hero named Natwarlal aka Dhrushtadyumna Padmanabh Prajapati Neelkant Dhumketu Barish Kar, who was at his peak as Anna of Parinda. Later it became a part of management courses and study pertaining to human behavior. Paheli was also India’s official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2006 Oscars.
As a director, he is known for the sensitive portrayal of women, selection of classic stories from Indian literature, and perceptive handling of progressive issues. He has directed several television serials on the national network such as “Kachchi Dhoop”, “Mrignayani”, “Naqaab”, “Paool Khuna” and “Krishna Kali”.
Thank you! Palekar Sahab for giving us such a memorable characters like Sanjay of Rajnigandha, Arun Pradeep of Choti Si Baat, Ram Prasad Sharma of Golmaal and many more.
Written By:
Rajender Kumar(Twitter Handle: @Rajender__ )
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