Kolkata: Veteran Bollywood actor Amol Palekar, celebrated for redefining the portrayal of the quintessential everyman with his understated artistry, says he had always wanted to break free of the set pattern and try out new and different things.
Participating at an interactive session during the Kolkata Literary Meet (KALAM) here, Palekar opened up about portraying negative characters in Shyam Benegal's "Bhoomika" and "Akhriet".
Palekar, 80, said he took the unusual trajectory at a time when he was so successful and loved as a hero and had already given three iconic films, "Rajnigandha", "Chitchor", and "Choti Si Baat" in the 1970s. His characters, timid lovers, awkward dreamers, and well-meaning underdogs, reflected the human condition in its most unembellished form.
Refreshingly sweet and simple, these men showcased Palekar's amazing ability to veer away from Bollywood's larger-than-life narratives by playing ordinary, bumbling, boy-next-door characters, who have through the decades charmed both critics and the audience.
Palekar remarked, "Playing a darker character or a villainous character, I had done that right after my first three successful films, "Rajnigandha" (1974), "Choti Si Baat" (1975), "Chitchor" (1976). The fourth one I did was Shyam Benegal's "Bhoomika" (1977) in which I played a villain and the industry jolted.
"They couldn't understand why I wanted to play the villain when I was so successful as a hero. My simple answer was that the role challenged me and whatever I was able to do as a boy next door."
"I tried to retain the few qualities of the characterisation that is to make it believable." Rather than resorting to exaggerated expressions of malice, Palekar's antagonists operated with quite cunning, their actions driven by complex motivations and moral ambiguity, "not scream and shout and beat 20 people, deceptively real".
He continued, "I love to try out new and different things. I played in 'Akhriet' (1981), the person responsible for the mass murders, which shook not only Mumbai but the whole of India."
"Akhriet" (Misbegotten), a Marathi suspense thriller, is a savage account of superstition and blind faith in rural India. The film is based on the real-life incident of the Manwad mass murders, where five young girls were sacrificed to appease an evil spirit lodged in a tree.
"I look back and wonder where I got the courage to do that, to make a film in which there is no hero and there is only a protagonist." So the audience had no chance to identify with the protagonist (the hero).
He continued, "My belief was to fight against the blind faith but it was also a fight against set patterns of the mainstream cinema where you have the hero who does nothing wrong and therefore you fall in love, and then you have a hero who is only larger than life. I wanted to break the set pattern".