Comedy Central

Actor-director Amol Palekar talks about making his first comedy,a tribute to Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Actor-director Amol Palekar talks about making his first comedy,a tribute to Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Whenever I would tell people that I was working on a new film,I would repeatedly be asked: ‘You have acted in simple comedy; why not make the same kind of movies?’ and I would feel both sad and happy that people still associated me with those roles,” says actor-director Amol Palekar. His upcoming Marathi film,however,is his response to these questions. His first comedy film in Marathi,’We are on – Houn Jau Dya’,is a tribute to directors who are considered veterans of comedy films in both Hindi and Marathi.

“Since I have acted in comedies during the ’70s and ’80s,I know such films are not easy to make. You need a tight script and also actors who fit their roles perfectly,” he points out. ‘We Are On’ combines the two,which is his reason for making the film. The film’s script has been penned by his wife Sandhya Gokhale and will be the maiden venture of her production house Anaan Nirmitee.

Palekar mentions that the film will be a clean comedy devoid of slapstick and double-meaning jokes. He adds that in style,it will be like the Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee’s films. “It also derives from works by P L Deshpande or Raja Paranjpe. From their lucid storytelling style to the situational comedy it is all there. It is vastly different though in its own way. The movie will be such that people from all generations will enjoy it,” he says.

The ensemble cast includes some prominent names from the Marathi film industry Ashok Saraf and wife Nivedita,Makrand Anaspure,Dilip Prabhavalkar,Manoj Joshi,Upendra Limaye and Satish Alekar among others. “I have a lot of faith in the cast. I have worked with some of them before and the first-timers bring in their own idea of sensibility to the script,” he explains.

However,Palekar stresses that the ‘We Are On’ does not subscribe to the formula cast multiple actors with comic timing and have them mouth silly jokes. “I make a film because I want to tell a story,” he asserts.

Both Palekar and Gokhale,however,are tight-lipped about the story. Palekar mentions that the characters were first etched out and then the script was accordingly written to match the same. However,they do mention that ‘We Are On’ will be a youthful film. Also,it is a multilingual,a mix of Marathi and English. “The film tries to strike a chord with youngsters as well as those who are older,” he says.

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Talking about ‘Bol Bachchan’,an adaptation of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s classic ‘Gol Maal’ that had Palekar in lead,the actor-director clarifies that he has not seen the film. The film,also a comedy,released on Friday and did good business over the weekend. “They are fine in their own place to make the movie,but I would not watch it,” he says.

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