People liked the fact that Amol-Palekar wasn’t Superman, that he was an ordinary man who traveled by bus or local train, who actually went to office and worked. This was rare in movies then.
I will act if there is a role which gives me some challenge, butterflies in my stomach. I don’t want to play a generic father. When I was only an actor I didn’t follow a beaten track, why will I do it now?
Shouting from the rooftop is not my nature at all. I am known so much for understatement that when one of my contemporaries was talking about my acting, he said acting kahan karta hai. I feel that was the best compliment.
Kaun kambakht kehta hai ki Hitler mar gaya?
Why I am not seen in Hindi films? Ask the Hindi filmmakers. Probably they are not missing me, to be honest.
I want to explore silences. I am very comfortable with that. I am not scared of silences any more. Sitting alone when there’s nothing happening around them.
Whether as an actor or as a director I have never ever been part of the mainstream. I have always been swimming against the stream.
I have the courage to say no.
I experimented to such an extent that I can say that I was one of the people who brought theater out of the auditorium. I started exploring open spaces way back in the early 1970s.
I was an artist, I chose to have a job that would not make me compromise on my art, the kind of paintings that I wanted to do.
Everybody is concerned only with 100 crore films… If our starting point is going to be “How much money will it make? Will it go into the 100 crore club?” then I am not interested.
If you want to work … then you must not see the face of time.
I had lots of apprehensions for my acting…acting is not like swimming or cycling as is said and done…that’s not true actually. A craft, if not practiced enough, gets rusty.
But that’s fine, absolutely fine. If there is someone who comes up with a good role, something which will once again excite me, by all means I’ll do it, irrespective of any language, as I did when I was acting.
I got immense satisfaction in that moment when I am not saying the next dialogue, when I can hear my co-actor’s clock ticking, I can hear my own heartbeat, and I can also feel the audience holding their breath. They don’t even move thinking there will be a creak…that silence is so golden and so important.
The main change is that I have greyed. Hopefully, I have become more mature. Along with that I am very comfortable with this dialogue with myself. I no longer want to impress anybody.
We are becoming much more self-centered. What concerns us is what do I get out of this. How I move forward, what kind of society I want, what do I do for somebody else doesn’t bother us and you see the reflection of it in the movies.
There is nothing in the world that can tempt me to do it. To be able to say no to a role or a career or to a form of expression as a creative artist I think is my strength.
I learnt that when you do something because of your inner urging, success follows.
I wanted to express myself. I thought it would be nice if I had a job that was not related to my creativity.