Amol Palekar interview

Amol Palekar, the man who launched Children���s Film Festival in India, says it must be a touring fest to reach all corners of the country. Even as Amol was walking in, a bevy of housekeeping staff lined up requesting, ���Can we have a photograph with you sir?��� Promising to oblige them ���in 10 minutes���, the veteran actor-turned filmmaker settles down for a chat.
Over the years the filmmaker has been many things to movie watchers across generations. He is best remembered for playing the middle class guy on the lookout for love, home, or a girl in iconic Bollywood films of the 70s like Rajinigandha, Chitchor, Gol Maal, Baaton Baaton Mein. ���I���ve moved far away from that, hopefully moved ahead. I���ve not acted in 22 years now and have been directing films since 1980,��� he says.
Filmgoers who grew up watching the Khans will remember him as the director of Paheli. While his Bollywood connection might serve as the biggest recall factor, his association with cinema goes beyond Bollywood. He has been making films in Marathi, and has been on the forefront of avant-garde Marathi theatre. Few people know that he is also a qualified artist.
Man of many hues
Drawing the parable of the fable of ���nine blind men and the elephant���, the 68-year-old avers, ���Just as the blind men associate the elephant with a part of its body that they came in contact with, I guess different people associate with me for what they know about me. But it is quite overwhelming all the same.���
Many years ago, as the Chairman of CFSI (Children���s Film Society of India), he was instrumental in launching the first ever Children���s Film Festival in the country. ���It���s nice to see how big the festival has become over the years and it does bring back a lot of memories,��� he recalls.
The idea was to expose the kids from smaller cities in the country to good quality children���s films from all over the world. While the festival has become much bigger, it has stayed put in Hyderabad, which has been the permanent venue for over a decade now. Amol avers that for it to truly reach out to children from all over the country, it must remain a touring festival.
What about children living in distant corners?
���It was intended to be a touring festival that would reach out to children not living in the metros. The first edition was held in Bangalore for the same reason. It then went to Bhubaneshwar and kept travelling across the country before Hyderabad was made the permanent venue. The festival must reach children from all corners of the country, and I would like to see it evolve in that direction. India is such a big country with so many children, and just one such children���s film festival. We must take it as far and wide as possible, like North East or Kerala,��� he says.
While it is easy to slam the government for not doing enough for the children ��� be it in encouraging literature, theatre or providing avenues to expose them to visual arts or even have enough playgrounds Amol believes the people must take more responsibility stating, ���Clearly the government is not doing enough. But are we doing enough? No.��� For the actor turned filmmaker though, as the lacunae becomes more glaring, the urge to do something about it becomes stronger. ���That���s my biggest take away from being here at the film festival,��� he adds.
Swimming against the flow
The most remarkable part of being Amol Palekar is the fact that he made being non-mainstream cool. As an actor he was ���the first hero in India who traveled in local trains and busses as opposed to cars, and epitomized the middle class guy next door with everyday struggles.��� The same streak continued in all his other artistic endeavours over the years. While the actor admits staying the course wasn���t easy he reckons it all boiled down to who he was and where he came from.
���A lot of factors have to be taken into account. When I passed my class 10 with first class and joined JJ School of art to study painting, my parents did not object to it, despite there being no guarantee it would earn me a stable living. It���s something that stayed with me, to follow my heart and do it my way and not succumb to the commercial forces, and gave me the focus and strength to stay the course, I chose. I���m very proud of it,��� he says.