The name invokes innumerable memories. Good solid films that only he was capable of. In an era when the main stream cinema was the land of dreams, he thought of the common man. His hero is a middle class youth who has financial constraints & has simple dreams. In “Batton batton mein” Amol Palekar travels through the local used by so many. David reserves a seat for him, he also gets to know Tina Munim who travels by the same train. The seating arrangement changes as the day changes. They can’t have the window seat & sitting next to each other always!
Amol Palekar had the perfect face. He looked like a common man. He is the hero in many of his films.’Choti Si Baat’, ‘Rajnigandha’ (had Vidya Sinha as the heroine) ‘Baton baton mein’ to name a few. In ‘Chitchor’ he introduced Zarina Wahab with Amol Palekar. “Khatta metha”, ‘Sara Akash’ had a middle class family again. He changed to a different theme in :Ek ruka hua Faisla’ we get entangled in the stories of each of the judges & the outcome surprises us.
‘Shaukeen’ had the oldies after a young girl. It had stalwarts like Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt, AK Hangal with Rati Agnihotri & Mithun Chakraborty. The humour was ahead of it’s time. Today it may have been a hit with going to the hundred crore club. But those were the times & he saw success with his middle class hero only. His later experiments were not much appreciated.
Today Amol Palekar laments about how he was under-rated & his full potential never got the due. But his films speak for him & his immense talent. Any goodbye is difficult & more so when he is an idol for our generation. In his 90s I presume is a good age as any. Lets say ‘good bye’ & lose in his good films which have that rare quality of being evergreen. Happy viewing!
Asian Entertainment 