By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Death Anniversary
Sadashiv Amrapurkar who played Rama Shetty in Govind Nihlani’s “Ardh Satya” (1983) needs no introduction. A versatile actor as he was, Sadashiv started acting during his school days and matured into a theatrical genius -writing ,directing and even acting in his own Marathi plays. His dedication and penchant paved way for his entry into films. Amrapurkar played Rama Shetty( a local mafia don) in Govind Nihalani’s “Ardh-Satya” ( 1983) winning Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his outstanding performance: the film also featured Om Puri, Samita Patil, Amrish Puri and Shafi Inamdar in the cast. Amrapurkar later became friendly with Dharmendra who helped him bag roles in many films including Anil Sharma’s ‘Elaan-E-Jung’ and ‘Hukumat’ to name a few.
“Bewafa Sanam”, “Sabse Bada Khiladi”,”Coolie No. 1″, “Oh Darling Yeh Hai India” , “Gupt: The Hidden Truth”, “Aunty No. 1”,Police Aur Mujrim,Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi,Aaj Kie Aurat “Yaraana” were 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 also did supporting and comic roles in later part of his film career besides two teleserial “Raj Se Swaraj”(1989) and” Bharat Ek Khoj” (1990).
I met the actor many times -first in 1988 & spent more than a week with him during the shooting in Himachal Pradesh followed by another shooting at Chandivali Studios & Natraj. My last meeting with the actor was in 1995 during he makin of “Return of Jewel Thief” produced by T.P. Aggarwal starring Dev Anand & Dharmendra in the lead. He played a Sikh character.
