PUNE: It was the late 1960s when a young
Amol Palekar came across Shreeram Lagoo, when he was still going between his medical profession and his love for acting, and already storming stages across Maharashtra.
“I was a young theatre artist trying to keep my
eyes open
and move in the theatre world, when I met Lagoo most probably in 1969. He had just returned from abroad after higher studies in medicine. That was the year he decided to become a full-time actor and there was tremendous excitement in the theatre world,” Palekar told TOI.
He was recounting his memories of Lagoo who would go onto be Palekar’s colleague and mentor, working in plays like Aadhe-Adhoore and co-starring in several films, including Gharaonda.
As the world of theatre and films came to grips with the passing away of Lagoo, the ENT surgeon-turned-auteur of Indian theatre, there was an outpouring of tribute by leading stars in theatre, films, and even politics. It also included anecdotes about his work and his steadfast political and rationalist views that Palekar stressed in his tribute.
“I was simply overawed by his contribution to the anti-superstition movement and his contribution to the principle of freedom of expression. Lagoo created history through his dispute with the censor board back then, which resulted in an overhaul of the board and its rules and regulations. As if life turned a full circle, he was one of the first ones to join in my case against censorship in theatre, which is still going on at the Bombay high court, with Alyque Padamsee and Girish Karnad also joining my lawsuit. When Lagoo proclaimed “Let God be retired”, he was eloquent not only by his courage, but also because of him standing by his convictions. He faced a lot of criticism due to this, akin to the kind of online trolling that happens these days. But he stood by his position to say that he was an atheist,” he said.
Online, many of Lagoo’s co-stars posted tributes and memories of him, with Rishi Kapoor paying tribute to the man he knew as
Doctorsaab
, as well as the actress
Urmila Matondkar, who made her silver-screen debut, aged six in the film Jhakol, with Shreeram Lagoo as the director. In her tribute, she wrote of Lagoo “gently holding her little finger” and bringing her onto the silver screen.
Jhakol, released in 1980, turned out to be the only film Lagoo would ever direct, where he acted as well, along with Tanuja. The film’s reels are now stored at the National Film Archive of India (NFAI).
“The reels aren’t in a good condition any more. We went to Lagoo’s house two years ago, and he handed over the reels to us for preservation. Govind Nihalani was the cinematographer for the film. Kumar Gandharva sang a song for the film, and he even appeared in it. It was in a mehfil setting, with Kumar Gandharva singing on stage, with Lagoo and Tanuja in the audience,” NFAI director Prakash Magdum said.