Career

He studied Fine Arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, he had seven one-man exhibitions and participated in many group shows. He has been active in the avant garde theatre in India. He has been active in Marathi and Hindi theatre as an actor, director and producer since 1967. His contribution to modern Indian theatre often gets overshadowed by his popularity as a lead actor in Hindi films..

As an actor, he was most prominent for over a decade from 1970. His image as a "boy next door" contrasted with the larger-than-life heroes prevalent at that time in Indian cinema. He received one Filmfare and six State awards as Best Actor. His performances in regional language films in Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada fetched him critical acclaim as well. He decided not to act after 1986 in order to concentrate on filmmaking.

As a director, he is known for the sensitive portrayal of women, selection of classic stories from Indian literature, and perceptive handling of progressive issues. He has directed several television serials on the national network such as "Kachchi Dhoop", "Mrignayani", "Naquab", "Paool Khuna" and "Krishna Kali".

Theatre journey

Palekar began in Marathi experimental theatre with Satyadev Dubey, and later started his own group, Aniket, in 1972.

Movie career

Palekar made his debut in 1971 with the Marathi film Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe directed by Satyadev Dubey, which started the New Cinema Movement in Marathi.

In 1974 he was cast as an actor by Basu Chatterjee in Rajnigandha, and in the surprise low-budget hit, Chhoti Si Baat. This led to many other such roles in "middle-class" comedies, mostly alternative cinema. These were often directed by Chatterjee or Hrishikesh Mukherjee and include such films as Gol Maal and Naram Garam. He won the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Gol Maal.

He is noted for his image of the "middle-class everyman" who struggles to get a job (Gol-Maal), his own flat (Gharonda), a girlfriend/wife (Baaton Baaton Mein), and appreciation from his boss.

In 1979, he was paired with a 16 year old Sridevi in Solva Saawan, which was her debut Hindi movie as a heroine. Amol played the role of a mentally retarded, handicapped man, a character played by Kamal Haasan in the original Tamil movie.

In 1982 he played the role of Ravi in the Malayalam movie Olangal. He turned to directing with the Marathi film Aakriet. He showed his capabilities as a director with movies such as Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaayen and Paheli. Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaayen has become a part of management courses and study pertaining to human behaviour. Paheli was India's official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2006 Oscars. The movie, however, did not make it to the final nominations.

He has also given his voice to an HIV/AIDS education animated software tutorial created by the nonprofit organization TeachAIDS. He is willing to act once again if he is given a challenging role.

Personal life

Amol Palekar was born to Kamlakar and Suhasini Palekar in a lower-middle-class family in Mumbai. He was raised along with his three sisters, Neelam, Rekha and Unnati, by his father who worked in the General Post Office and his mother who worked in a private company. He used to work at the Bank of India before he switched full-time to a career in acting. He also does some social work. He has two daughters and married writer Sandhya Gokhale after his divorce from his first wife, Chitra. Palekar regards himself as an agnostic atheist.

Partial filmography

As an actor

Year	Film	Character/Role	Notes
1969	Bajiraocha Beta		Marathi film
1971	Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe		Marathi film
1974	Rajnigandha	Sanjay
1974	Jeevana Jyoti	Sanjay	Telugu film
1975	Chhoti Si Baat	Arun Pradeep
1976	Chitchor	Vinod
1976	Gharonda	Sudip
1977	Bhumika	Keshav Dalvi
1977	Agar... If	Anil Aggarwal
1977	Taxi Taxie	Dev/Hero
1977	Tuch Maazi Raani		Marathi film
1977	Kanneshwara Rama	Chenira	Kannada film (Short Film)
1978	Damaad
1978	Safed Jhoot	Amol 'Ramu' Palekar
1979	Baaton Baaton Mein	Tony Braganza
1979	Gol Maal	Ram Prasad Sharma/ Lakshman Prasad Sharma (Lucky)	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1979	Do Ladke Dono Kadke	Hari
1979	Meri Biwi Ki Shaadi	Bhagwant Kumar Bartendu "Bhagu"
1979	Solva Sawan
1979	Bin Baap Ka Beta
1979	Mother 1979 film		Marathi film
1979	Jeena Yahan	Dinesh
1980	Aanchal	Kishan Lal
1980	Apne Paraye	Chandranath
1981	Naram Garam	Ram Eshwar Prasad
1981	Sameera
1981	Akriet	Mukutrao Shinde	Bengali film
1981	Kalankini		Bengali film
1981	Agni Pareeksha	Alok Choudhary / Ramesh Khanna
1981	Chehre Pe Chehra	Peter
1981	Plot No. 5
1982	Jeevan Dhaara	Anand Bhatnagar
1982	Olangal	Ravi Chattan	Malayalam film
1982	Ramnagari
1982	Spandan
1982	Shriman Shrimati	Madhu Gupta
1983	Rang Birangi	Ajay Sharma
1983	Ashray
1983	Pyaasi Aankhen
1983	Chena Achena		Bengali film
1984	Tarang	Rahul
1984	Aadmi Aur Aurat	Tapan Sinha	TV Movie
1984	Prarthana
1984	Sringara Masa		Kannada film
1985	Khamosh	Amol Palekar
1985	Jhoothi	Inspector Kamal Nath
1985	Ankahee	Devkinandan Chaturvedi 'Nandu'
1985	Abasheshe		Bengali film
1986	Baat Ban Jaye	Yeshwant Rao Bhonsle
1987	Mr. X	Amar	Voice Dubbed by other artist
1994	Teesra Kaun?	C. K. Kadam
2001	Aks	The Defence Minister
2009	Samaantar	Keshav Vaze	Marathi film

As a director

• Aakreit (Unimaginable in Marathi) - 1981
• Ankahee (Unspoken) - 1985
• Thodasa Rumani Ho Jaye - 1990
• Bangarwadi - 1995
• Daayraa (The Square Circle) - 1996
• Anahat (Forever)
• Kairee (Raw mango) - 2001
• Dhyaas Parva (Kal Kaa Aadmi in Hindi) - 2001 (based on Raghunath Karve's life, won the National Award for Best Film on Family Welfare)
• Paheli (Riddle) - 2005
• Quest (English) - 2006 (won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English)
• Dumkata (2007)
• Samaantar (Marathi) - 2009 (with Sharmila Tagore)
• ...And Once Again - 2010
• Dhoosar (Marathi) - 2011 (won the Maharashtra State Film Award)

Feature films in other regional languages

• Mother (Bengali) (with Sharmila Tagore & Dipankar Dey)
• Kalankini (Bengali) (with Mamata Shankar - Directed by Dhiren Ganguly)
• Chena Achena (Bengali) (with Tanuja & Soumitra Chaterjee)
• Kanneshwara Rama (Kannada) (with Anant Nag & Shabana Aazmi - Directed by M.S.Sathyu)
• Paper Boats (Kannada & English) (with Deepa - Directed by Pattabhirama Reddy)
• Olangal (Malayalam) (with Poornima Jyaram & Ambika - Directed by Balu Mahendra)

TV serials

• Kachchi Dhoop - 1987
• Naqab - 1988
• Paoolkhuna - 1993
• Mrignayanee - 1991
• Kareena Kareena - 2004
• AA Bail Mujhe Maar - 1987
• Ek Nayi Ummeed-Roshni - 2015

Reality television shows

• Kalakarz

Awards

Award	Film	Character	Year	Status
Filmfare Award
Best Actor	Chhoti Si Baat	Arun Pradeep	1977	Nominated
	Gol Maal	Ramprasad Sharma	1980	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]