For the last 45 years, I've been swimming against the tide: Amol

Veteran actor-director Amol Palekar talks about why he won���������t succumb to market pressures and follow a set pattern Actor-director Amol Palekar was recently conferred the Vishnudas Bhave Award for his contribution to Marathi theatre. The veteran actor talks to TOI about this honour, his love for theatre and why he chooses to be different. ���������It���������s a good feeling. But rather than feeling good because the award was given to me, I am happier for the recognition it has brought to the experimental theatre movement,��������� expresses Palekar.The actor feels that the only tribute to Bhave would be to introduce the younger generation to experimental theatre, of which Bhave has been one of the pioneers. ���������For a person like me who is closely associated with experimental theatre, it pains me to see that the experimentation that was initiated in the 70s and 80s is not taken note of and does not have a standing. Considering that perspective, this award is important. To be equated with stalwarts like Bal Gandharva, Acharya Atre, Pu La Deshpande who have received the same honour before, makes me feel embarrassed too,��������� he adds.Understanding the way of expression of today���������s youth, observing the things they relate to, their imagery, perspective of looking at festivals, studying what appeals to them and disturbs them, is exciting, says Palekar.And his films have been offering exactly that. ���������I stick to my sensibilities, sense of aesthetics and then try and see if it appeals to today���������s generation. Majority of today���������s cinema has acquired a particular pattern. Every film has an item song which has become a norm not only for filmmakers but even for the audience. So do I succumb to that and make an item song? I think it���������s a very easy way. Instead I will not have an item song,��������� he says, adding, ���������And this is not for a moralistic view. If there is a genuine requirement for an item song which will be an inevitable part of a film, then it���������s fine. Otherwise I will think of other ways to attract the youth. Instead of falling into a pattern or succumbing to market pressure, I keep swimming against the tide. But the best part is I have been able to do that for the last 45 years.��������� Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Shyam Benegal, Satyadev Dube ��������� Palekar���������s career has been associated with legendary directors. ���������I believed only in alternative cinema and I was fortunate to be able to stick to my beliefs and do only the films I wanted to do. Today it feels something like a luxury that I had. I was known to be one of the most difficult actors in that sense because I would refuse nine offers out of 10. At that time, despite being a commercially successful and popular hero, I played villain in Benegal���������s film. It was unheard of and nobody talked of grey shades and all those things that time. My first three films were commercial hits by the time and in wake of those films, the fourth film I chose to do was a dark shade. But people loved me in that also and that gave me the strength,��������� says Palekar, who applied the same philosophy when he started directing films. ���������I did the films that I believed in. Whether they fall in the commercial category or not doesn���������t worry me. Directors like Satyadev Dubey, who went on doing experimental theatre, have been my inspiration. He never opted to be in a comfort zone, never settled with one formula that worked,��������� he says. Among his different interests and skills is art. Having trained as an artist and held painting exhibitions before he took to movies as a career, Palekar now intends to pursue art full time. ���������I hope that I will be able to paint full-time now. That has been a dream - to leave everything and only paint,��������� he says.A lot of debate has been surrounding the India���������s official entry (Barfi!) to the Oscars. Palekar feels that there is a need to go to the basics of the awards. ���������Every year we have the same debate when the Oscar Awards near. We have the same question ��������� ���������is this film the right entry?���������,��������� says Palekar.���������It���������s almost as unexciting and predictable like our festivals. Has anyone of us ever gone into the basics of this issue? Who selects the entries for the Oscars, how do they select, what is the format, are they qualified, is there anything else that needs to be done etc. Let me make it clear that I���������m not even talking here about whether the film is deserving or not. Right from the nominations till the final awards, Oscars are front page news,��������� he says, before questioning, ���������What happens to our National awards? Why are they on page three? Most of the time we don���������t even know which regional film has won. Our perspective itself has gone wrong.���������The BO collection at the first weekend is what matters most today, he says. ���������A person who is trying to do something different obviously is not doing it for this. But the same yardstick is applied and his film is thrashed for not making good collections. So there is a need to create separate parameters for directors who are churning out different or alternate cinema,��������� he concludes.