The Talented Mr Palekar

The memoir turns the lens inward and reveals interesting facets of this star of the 70s cinema

- SATHYA SARAN

Amol Palekar dedicates his memoir to ‘those who believe in the power of resistance.’ Looking at the man through the viewfinder that this book provides, one sees a quiet, determined fighter who will not let the system, injustice, or conventional practices deter him.

The book brings to life a different person from the screen image he had mostly adopted in films like Rajnigandha and Gol Maal. In real life, he shows us through the memoir, he believes in confronting whatever tries to pull him down or fit him into a straitjacket. Yet, in his own way, despite being the stormy rebel who never gave much thought before staging a political satire in open spaces, he was willing to file a suit against a formidable producer like B.R. Chopra, or yet again, filing suits against censorship. Palekar dons the man next door image in real life, shying away from publicity and all the trappings that go with stardom.