Film fraternity expresses grief on Sadashiv Amrapurkar's demise
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar enthralled the audience with his 'unique' style in a career spanning over three decades. The actor who was suffering from lung infection died at a hospital this morning at the age of 64.
He was widely appreciated for his work and had won two Filmfare awards. In 1984, he won the award for the best supporting actor for "Ardh Satya" and in 1991, the best villain trophy for his portrayal of a ruthless eunuch in "Sadak". His last rites will be performed in his native place in Ahmednagar district on Tuesday, family sources said.
People from the industry were left aghast with the news and expressed their sadness on the demise of the actor.
Govind Nihalani: “Sadashiv never judged Rama Shetty’s character”
“I am proud to say that my film Ardh Satya introduced Sadashiv Amrapurkar to Hindi cinema. Prior to that he was enormously active and acclaimed in Marathi theatre. How I signed Sadashiv to play the antagonist Rama Shetty makes an interesting story. My writer Vijay Tendulkar and I were discussing the characters in Ardh Satya and he suggested this young actor from Marathi theatre. I had never seen Sadashiv’s work before. So I went to see his Marathi play, a comedy called Hands Up where he was paired opposite the legendary Bhakti Bharve. Now ,everyone knows Bhakti to be a fine actress. But Sadashiv who was relatively new stood his ground and gave a rousing performance.I noticed his great comic timing.My first impression of Sadashiv was that he had very expressive and alert eyes. Also, his voice had the texture that I needed for the character Half-way through the play I made up my mind to cast him as Rama Shetty. It was the best decision I could’ve taken for my film. Sadashiv didn’t play the role . He owned it and he lived every moment of the character. He wasn’t judgemental about Rama Shetty . This absence of prejudice came from his years of experience as a social activist. Sadashiv met all sorts of people in the course of his social work. He could look at every character without prejudice. That’s why he played every character in all kinds films without being judgemental. Even the transvestite that he played in Mahesh Bhatt’s Sadak was given a unique spin because of Sadashiv’s deep understanding of human nature.He surrendered his personality to every character that he played.”
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: “Sadashivji was unwell but magnificent in Bombay Talkies”
“I was perhaps the last actor who had the privilege to work with Sadashivji in Bombay Talkies. He played my guru I played his shagird. And that’s exactly how I felt about him. Sadashivji was a very hungry actor. All good actors constantly crave for challenging roles. And he continued to crave for challenges till the end. I could see he was not well when he was doing Bombay Talkies. His health was failing. But his passion remained undimmed. I learnt so much about cinema and acting from him. He was a storehouse of knowledge. He brought all his experience into his character of the veteran actor in Bombay Talkies without weighing it down with his wisdom.And his love for the craft showed in every shot that he did.What did I learn from Sadashivji? I learnt the value of holding on to my dream. Like Sadashivji I too was under a lot of pressure to pursue a more lucrative profession than acting.But Sadashivji stayed on. He did all kinds of roles played all sorts of characters with equal passion.Like him I want to be an actor all my life.Till the end he never stopped enjoying his craft. That’s what I find most admirable about him.”
Anil Sharma: “I’ve lost my literary confidante.”
“I had gone to see him in hospital some days before his death.We thought he was going to recover.I worked in three films with Sadashiv Amrapurkar Hukumat,Elaan-e-Jung, Farishtay. He played the main villain in all 3 films. And he was one of the USPs of the films. It was the character in Hukumat that made him really famous. Before Hukumat Sadashiv had largely done theatre. This film got him mass popularity.When I decided to cast him there was all-round objection. ‘How can you cast a scrawny actor like him in front of the larger-than-life Dharmendra?’ I remember he was very awkward wearing the boots that his character was supposed to wear. A simple man ,Sadashiv had always worn chappals .I had to give him one full day to get acclimatized to the boots before we shot. I hadn’t worked with him in my recent films. But I should have. More than the actor I will miss the man. He was so knowledgeable about theatre cinema art and life. When we met we never discussed films, only literature. Whom am I going to have those discussions with?”
(As told to Subhash K Jha)
