Amol Palekar

Amol Palekar

Palekar in 2011
Born (1944-11-24) 24 November 1944[1]
Mumbai, India
Occupation Actor, director
Years active 1971–present
Spouse(s) Chitra (Divorced)
Sandhya Gokhale
Parents
  • Kamalakar Palekar[2] (father)
  • Suhasini Palekar[3] (mother)
Awards Filmfare Best Actor Award:
1980: Gol Maal
Website www.amolpalekar.com
Signature

Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema.[4]

Career

He studied Fine Arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter.[5] As a painter, he had seven one-man exhibitions and participated in many group shows. He has been active in the avant garde theatre in India. He has been active in Marathi and Hindi theatre as an actor, director and producer since 1967. His contribution to modern Indian theatre often gets overshadowed by his popularity as a lead actor in Hindi films..

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. He received one Filmfare and six State awards as Best Actor. 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.

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", "Naquab", "Paool Khuna" and "Krishna Kali".

Theatre journey

Palekar began in Marathi experimental theatre with Satyadev Dubey, and later started his own group, Aniket, in 1972.

Movie career

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.[6] In 1974 he was cast as an actor by Basu Chatterjee in Rajnigandha, and in the surprise low-budget hit, Chhoti Si Baat. This led to many other such roles in "middle-class" comedies, mostly alternative cinema. These were often directed by Chatterjee or Hrishikesh Mukherjee and include such films as Gol Maal and Naram Garam. He won the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Gol Maal.

He is noted for his image of the "middle-class everyman" who struggles to get a job (Gol-Maal), his own flat (Gharonda), a girlfriend/wife (Baaton Baaton Mein), and appreciation from his boss.

In 1979, he was paired with a 16 year old Sridevi in Solva Saawan , which was her debut Hindi movie as a heroine. Amol played the role of a mentally retarded, handicapped man, a character played by Kamal Haasan in the original Tamil movie.

In 1982 he played the role of Ravi in the Malayalam movie Olangal. He turned to directing with the Marathi film Aakriet. He showed his capabilities as a director with movies such as Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaayen and Paheli. Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaayen has become a part of management courses and study pertaining to human behaviour.[7][8] Paheli was India's official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2006 Oscars. The movie, however, did not make it to the final nominations.

Palekar in 2016

He has also given his voice to an HIV/AIDS education animated software tutorial created by the nonprofit organization TeachAIDS.[9] He is willing to act once again if he is given a challenging role.[10]

Personal life

Amol Palekar was born to Kamlakar and Suhasini Palekar in a lower-middle-class family in Mumbai. He was raised along with his three sisters, Neelam, Rekha and Unnati, by his father who worked in the General Post Office and his mother who worked in a private company.[11] He used to work at the Bank of India before he switched full-time to a career in acting. He also does some social work. He has two daughters and married writer Sandhya Gokhale after his divorce from his first wife, Chitra.[12][13][14] Palekar regards himself as an agnostic atheist.[15]

Partial filmography

As an actor

Year Film Character/Role Notes
1969 Bajiraocha Beta Marathi film
1971 Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe Marathi film
1974 Rajnigandha Sanjay
1974 Jeevana Jyoti Sanjay Telugu film
1975 Chhoti Si Baat Arun Pradeep
1976 Chitchor Vinod
1976 Gharonda Sudip
1977 Bhumika Keshav Dalvi
1977 Agar... If Anil Aggarwal
1977 Taxi Taxie Dev/Hero
1977 Tuch Maazi Raani Marathi film
1977 Kanneshwara Rama Chenira Kannada film (Short Film)
1978 Damaad
1978 Safed Jhoot Amol 'Ramu' Palekar
1979 Baaton Baaton Mein Tony Braganza
1979 Gol Maal Ram Prasad Sharma/
Lakshman Prasad Sharma (Lucky)
Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1979 Do Ladke Dono Kadke Hari
1979 Meri Biwi Ki Shaadi Bhagwant Kumar Bartendu "Bhagu"
1979 Solva Sawan
1979 Bin Baap Ka Beta
1979 Mother 1979 film Marathi film
1979 Jeena Yahan Dinesh
1980 Aanchal Kishan Lal
1980 Apne Paraye Chandranath
1981 Naram Garam Ram Eshwar Prasad
1981 Sameera
1981 Akriet Mukutrao Shinde Marathi film
1981 Kalankini Bengali film
1981 Agni Pareeksha Alok Choudhary / Ramesh Khanna
1981 Chehre Pe Chehra Peter
1981 Plot No. 5
1982 Jeevan Dhaara Anand Bhatnagar
1982 Olangal Ravi Chattan Malayalam film
1982 Ramnagari
1982 Spandan
1982 Shriman Shrimati Madhu Gupta
1983 Rang Birangi Ajay Sharma
1983 Ashray
1983 Pyaasi Aankhen
1983 Chena Achena Bengali film
1984 Tarang Rahul
1984 Aadmi Aur Aurat Tapan Sinha TV Movie
1984 Prarthana
1984 Sringara Masa Kannada film
1985 Khamosh Amol Palekar
1985 Jhoothi Inspector Kamal Nath
1985 Ankahee (1985 film) Devkinandan Chaturvedi 'Nandu'
1985 Abasheshe Bengali film
1986 Baat Ban Jaye Yeshwant Rao Bhonsle
1987 Mr. X Amar Voice Dubbed by other artist
1994 Teesra Kaun? C. K. Kadam
2001 Aks The Defence Minister
2009 Samaantar Keshav Vaze Marathi film

As a director

Feature films in other regional languages

TV serials

Reality television shows

Awards

Award Film Character Year Status
Best Actor Chhoti Si Baat Arun Pradeep 1977 Nominated
Gol Maal Ramprasad Sharma 1980 Won

References

External links

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