Amol Palekar

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Amol Palekar
Amol Palekar - Kolkata 2016-02-04 0749.JPG
Palekar in 2016
Born (1944-11-24) 24 November 1944 (age 79) [1]
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • singer
Years active1971–present
Spouses
Chitra Palekar
(m. 1969;div. 2001)
Sandhya Gokhale [2]
(m. 2001)
Parents
  • Kamalakar Palekar (father)
  • Suhasini Palekar (mother)
Awards Filmfare Best Actor Award:
1979: Gol Maal
Website amolpalekar.com
Signature
Amol Palekar Autograph.jpg

Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Palekar was born to Kamlakar and Suhasini Palekar in a Marathi speaking middle-class family in Mumbai. He had three sisters called Neelon, Rekha and Unnati. His father worked in the General Post Office and his mother worked in a private company. [4] Palekar studied fine arts at the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, he had seven one-man exhibitions and participated in many group shows. [5]

Acting career

Although he trained in fine arts, Palekar is better known as a stage and film actor. He has been active in the avant garde theatre in India in Marathi and Hindi theatre as an actor, director and producer since 1967. His contribution to the modern Indian theatre is often overshadowed by his popularity as a lead actor in Hindi films.

As a film actor, he was most prominent in the 1970s. 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 award 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 career

Palekar began in Marathi experimental theatre with Satyadev Dubey, and later started his own group, Aniket, in 1972. As a theatre actor, he was part of popular plays like Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe, Hayavadana and Adhe Adhure. [6] Following a performance on stage at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (India) (NCPA) in 1994, he returned to theatre after a gap of 25 years with the suspenseful play, Kusur (The Mistake). [7] This play is directed by him and he also plays the lead role. [8]

Movie career

Palekar in 2011 AmolPalekar.jpg
Palekar in 2011

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. [9] 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. These were mostly directed by Chatterjee or Hrishikesh Mukherjee and included films such 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 sixteen-year-old Sridevi in Solva Saawan, which was her debut Hindi movie as a heroine. Amol played the role of an intellectually disabled 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. [10] 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 Amol Palekar - Panel Discussion - Badal Sircar and His Theater - 40th International Kolkata Book Fair - Milan Mela Complex - Kolkata 2016-02-04 0859.JPG
Palekar in 2016

He has also given his voice to an HIV/AIDS education animated software tutorial created by the nonprofit organization TeachAids. [11] He is willing to act once again if he is given a challenging role. [12]

Personal life

He married Sandhya Gokhale after his divorce from his first wife, Chitra. [13] [14] [2] Palekar regards himself as an agnostic atheist. [15]

In February 2022, Palekar was hospitalized in Pune for COVID-19 related complications. [16]

Filmography

As an actor

YearFilmRoleNotes
1969Bajiraocha Beta Marathi film
1971 Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe Marathi film
1974 Rajnigandha Sanjay
1975 Jeevana Jyoti Sanjay Telugu film
1976 Chhoti Si Baat Arun PradeepNominated: Filmfare Award for Best Actor
Chitchor Vinod
1977 Gharaonda Sudip
Bhumika Keshav Dalvi
Agar... If Anil Aggarwal
Taxi Taxie Dev/Hero
Tuch Maazi Raani Marathi film
Kanneshwara Rama Chenneera Kannada film
1978 Damaad Sharad Mazgaonkar
Safed Jhoot Amol 'Ramu' Palekar
1979 Baaton Baaton Mein Tony Braganza
Gol Maal Ram Prasad Sharma / Lakshman Prasad Sharma (Lucky) Filmfare Award for Best Actor
Do Ladke Dono Kadke Hari
Meri Biwi Ki Shaadi Bhagwant Kumar Bartendu "Bhagu"
Solva Sawan
Bin Baap Ka Beta
Mother Marathi film
Jeena Yahan Dinesh
1980 Aanchal Kishan Lal
Apne Paraye Chandranath
1981 Naram Garam Ram Eshwar Prasad
Sameera
AkrietMukutrao Shinde Marathi film
Kalankini Bengali film
Agni Pareeksha Alok Choudhary / Ramesh Khanna
Chehre Pe Chehra Peter
Plot No. 5
1982 Jeevan Dhaara Anand Bhatnagar
Olangal Ravi Chattan Malayalam film
Ramnagari
Spandan
Shriman Shrimati Madhu Gupta
1983 Rang Birangi Ajay Sharma
Ashray
Pyaasi Aankhen
Chena Achena Bengali film
1984 Tarang Rahul
Aadmi Aur Aurat Tapan SinhaTV movie
Prarthana
Sringara Masa Kannada film
Mr. X AmarVoice dubbed by other artist
1985 Khamosh Amol Palekar
Jhoothi Inspector Kamal Nath
Ankahee Devkinandan Chaturvedi 'Nandu'
Abasheshe Bengali film
1986 Baat Ban Jaye Yeshwant Rao Bhonsle
1994 Teesra Kaun? C. K. Kadam
2001 Aks The Defence Minister
2009 Samaantar Keshav Vaze Marathi film
2021 200 – Halla Ho Justice Vitthal Daangle Hindi ZEE5 film
2023 Gulmohar Sudhakar Batra Disney+Hotstarfilm

As a director

Feature films in other regional languages

TV serials

Web series

YearTitleRoleNotes
2023 Farzi Madhav (Nanu) [18]
TBA GormintTBA [18]

Awards

AwardFilmYearStatus
Best Feature Film in Marathi Bangarwadi 1995Won
Special Jury Award (Feature Film) Daayraa 1996Won
Best Film on Other Social Issues Kairee1999Won
Best Film on Family Welfare Dhyaas Parva 2000Won
Best Feature Film in English Quest 2006Won
Best Actor Chhoti Si Baat 1977Nominated
Gol Maal 1980Won
Best ActorAkriet1981Won

Reality television shows

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References

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  7. Singh, Deepali (14 December 2019). "Palekar's latest challenge". Livemint. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
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  10. "Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaaye : Movie Review | kanikaspeaks". Archived from the original on 11 April 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  11. "Star touch to animated film on HIV/AIDS". The New Indian Express . 27 November 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
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  13. Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine .
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  18. 1 2 "Shahid Kapoor calls Amol Palekar 'OG middle class good guy', says: 'It was a privilege to have him on Farzi'". Hindustan Times. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.