By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Death Anniversary
Sadashiv Amrapurkar got recognition with his rustic role in Govind Nihlani’s “Ardh Satya” (1983) also starring Om Puri & Smita Patil. The film earned him Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his outstanding performance. Sadashiv took to acting at an early stage appearing in stage shows, later gradating into a theatrical genius as a writer, director and even acting in his own Marathi plays. His dedication and penchant paved way for his entry into films. Initially, Dharmendra helped him bag few roles and they became pals. In “Hukuumat”, also starring Dharmendra, he played the main villain.
I met the actor first time during the location shooting of film “Apna Desh Praye Log” in Himachal Pradesh. Sadashiv played a self-proclaimed ‘God’ who lived in a palatial bungalow on top of the hill, surrounded by bevy of beauties in exotic nay erotic costumes & hundreds of devotees as well. I also met the actor during the making of “Sadak” and few more Bollywood films and always found him the same cool, composed and dedicated to his role -sort of a professional and an introvert. I met him last during the shooting of “The Return of Jewel Thief” at Filmalaya Studios, Andheri in 1995 :he played a Sikh character.
“Bewafa Sanam”, “Sabse Bada Khiladi”,”Coolie No. 1″, “Oh Darling Yeh Hai India” , “Gupt: The Hidden Truth”, “Mohre”, “Aankhen”,”Aunty No. 1″, “Yaraana” include some of his other notable films.
Amrapurkar played ‘Maharani’, a negative character of a rustic eunuch in film “Sadak” in 1991 for which he received Filmfare Best Villain Award. He was nominated for Best Villain in ‘Ishq’ (1997) also starring Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan & Juhi Chawla. He also did supporting and comic roles in later part of his film career besides two TV serial “Raj Se Swaraj”(1989) and” Bharat Ek Khoj” as Mahatma Phule (1990).
