Amol Palekar

This versatile Indian actor ruled his era with his unparalleled acting skills and unconventional looks. Amol Palekar was born in a middle-class family to Kamlakar and Suhasini Palekar on November 24, 1944 in Mumbai. Palekar's father is a retired General Post Office employee and his mother was working in a private company. He has three sisters, Neelam, Rekha and Unnati.

Prior venturing into acting field, Palekar used to work in Bank of India. He was also into social work. From Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, Palekar studied Fine Arts and started his artistic career as a painter. During his career as a painter, Palekar participated in several group shows and also held seven individual exhibitions. Since the year 1967, Amol Palekar was active in Marathi and Hindi theatre as director, actor and producer. In 2009, he acted in a Marathi flick, 'Samaantar'.

Amol Palekar had a 'boy next door' image on the celluloid and he has three Filmfare and six State awards as Best Actor to his credit. Along with Satyadev Dubey, Palekar commenced Marathi experimental theatre. In the year 1972, he formed his own group called Aniket. Some of the television serials directed by him on national network are 'Mrignayani', 'Krishna Kali', 'Kachchi Dhoop', 'Naquab', 'Aa Bail Mujhe Maar' and 'Paool Khuna'. In 1971, along with Marathi movie 'Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe', he stepped into Marathi film industry. It was directed by Satyadev Dubey. Basu Chatterjee cast Palekar as an actor in 1974 release 'Rajnigandha' and 'Chhoti Si Baat'. These middle-class comedies surprisingly turned out to be super hits. Multiple films of Palekar were directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee. Palekar featured in a Malayalam flick, 'Olangal, in which he essayed the role of Ravi in 1982. 'Aakriet' was the Marathi film directed by Palekar. The multifaceted persona had given voiceover for HIV/AIDS education animated software tutorial developed by an NGO called TeachAIDS.

The talented actor delivered classics like 'Gol Maal', 'Gharonda', 'Baton Baton Mein' and 'Chitchor'. He directed Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee starrer 'Paheli' in 2005. Palekar's list of filmography include 'Damaad', 'Taxi Taxi', 'Bhumika', 'Meri Biwi Ki Shaadi', 'Do Ladke Dono Kadke', 'Apne Paraye', 'Naram Garam', 'Aanchal', 'Shriman Shrimati', 'Rang Birangi', 'Teesra Kaun', etc.

Palekar directed Hindi films like 'Thodasa Romani Ho Jaiyen', 'Ankahee' and 'Dayra'. His Marathi directorial ventures are 'Kairee', 'Bangarwadi', 'Anahat', 'Dhyaas Parva', 'Samaantar' and 'Dhoosar' (Maharashtra State Film Award winner). 'Quest' and 'And Once Again' are the English films directed by Palekar. The film 'Quest' received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English. His regional movies are 'Paper Boats' (Kannada and English), 'Kalankini' (Bengali), 'Mother' (Bengali), 'Chena Achena' (Bengali) 'Kanneshwara Rama' (Kannada).

He was first married to Chitra. After the divorce, he tied the knot with the writer Sandhya Gokhale. Palekar has two daughters.