Life has come a full circle: Amol Palekar

Mumbai: An actor by accident, producer by compulsion and director by choice that is how veteran actor Amol Palekar, who is in town for his art exhibition, describes himself.

Painting doesn’t feature in Palekar’s primary description of himself, not because it isn’t a big part of his entity, but because it is the most overriding one. “All my creative works be it in theatre or cinema, have been from a painter’s point of view. You will see the painter’s eye dominating in all of them. My life’s come a full circle now,” he says seated across a table at a South Mumbai art gallery.

It has been 47 years since his first solo exhibition, but the actor and painter is self-admittedly, a little nervous. “Every time I stand in front of a canvas, it is a new journey. There is a new set of fears, apprehensions, questions, and a new risk of falling flat on the face. But when you find the answers, there is also a celebration in your own mind. While doing a film or doing theatre, you are trying to communicate with the third person a spectator, so it’s an outward journey. Fine art in turn, is a dialogue with yourself and you’re not trying to impress anybody. It is an introverted journey in that sense,” he says.

Largely abstract in our view, Palekar doesn’t like to label his works. Is it an extension of him? “I don’t know if it’s an extension, but it’s just another side of me. You know that story about the blind men and the elephant? Each blind man thought that the part of the elephant that he touched described the animal none of them was wrong or right. Similarly, this is a different side of me you may like him equally or a little more, or less.”

It has been 25 years since Palekar stopped acting in films, but love from fans still pours in. He tells us that he still hasn’t gotten used to the adulation and that the encounters embarrass him even today.

“Firstly, it all seems like a distant past for me. So when people come up and talk to me about Golmaal or Chitchor, I don’t know what to say except ‘thanks’. I may come across as rude, but the situation really makes me awkward. It (all things filmi) was more than two decades ago and besides, I was only doing my job. I did it well perhaps, but you don’t go gaga about a job well done,” he says as a matter of fact.

The actor however, acknowledges his role in introducing a new type of hero to the audiences. “Our heroes for the longest time were beings from outer space. I made the Indian hero vulnerable. It was the first time he travelled by a bus or a train and actually went to work.” But Palekar doesn’t take the credit for the evolved hero — that belongs to the likes of Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherkjee, he clarifies.

He is thankful however, that he isn’t part of the current film industry and the aesthetics it endorses. “The industry has changed tremendously. One can argue whether it’s for the better of for worse, but fact is it has changed it’s only natural. I don’t think I could have been part of the current industry. Right from the magnitude and scale to the promotion strategies, I don’t belong here anymore an industry where an actor is expected to shout from rooftops about his performance in his films. I barely shouted in my movies,” he says with a laugh.

Having said that, he doesn’t disapprove of the films either. “I love works by Vishal Bhardwaj, Vikramaditya Motwane or Rajkumar Hirani. I loved Salman in Dabangg. My principle for judging a film is simple. How the director chooses to tell a story is his prerogative but he must be consistent. It’s okay to have no logic, but one should be able to pull it off till the end. There lies the charm,” he says citing yesteryear blockbuster Amar Akbar Anthony as an example.

“There was a scene with the three sons donating blood to their mother at the same time. It was idiotic and illogical, but we all clapped! Having no logic becomes the logic and it’s alright. I loved it too.”

Having relocated to Pune, Palekar has distanced himself not just from the glitter of showbiz, but from the city itself that used to be home once. “Like everything else, the city has changed too. Again, it could be for the better or worse,” says the once Shivaji Park resident.

“Instead of grappling with the changing identity of the city, I thought it’s better to relocate to another one. In Pune, I have the luxury of waking up to the sounds of the chirping birds and a view of lush hill tops. Airport is at a distance of 45 minutes during peak hours. It is probably what has nurtured my creative instincts too. Hence this exhibition,” he says with my smile.

The solo exhibition will be on display till December 12 in Mumbai.