PROFILE: Sachin Khedekar

This article first appeared in Time Out magazine

What kind of work would an actor of Sanjeev Kumar’s enormous talent but modest looks have attracted in contemporary cinema? Surely he couldn’t have played the six-pack flaunting hero of youth-obsessed love stories or a member of the lowbrow comedy club. Today even character parts are caricatures mechanically executed by veterans like Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri and Anupam Kher. Fortunately for Sachin Khedekar, a man of equal gifts, Marathi cinema still offers a small but vital window for creative expression.

In the past two years, Khedekar has shot to the top of his game with roles ranging from a flawed patriarch in the period melodrama (Kaaksparsh) to small-time government official compromising himself for his son’s childish dream (Taryanche Bait); a wily Chief Minister with a sudden stab of conscience (Aajcha Diwas Maaza) and finally, an urbane, middle-aged doctor who decides to give love another chance (Prem Mhanje Prem Mhanje Prem Asta!?).

Simultaneously he’s stepped into Amitabh Bachchan’s giant shoes hosting the Marathi edition of Kaun Banega Karodpati? which, after a successful opening season is ready to roll out with the second in January 2014. Around the same time his portrayal of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in Samvidhan, Shyam Benegal’s 10-part series about the making of India’s constitution, will be aired on television.

But the Khedekar I like best is the one who performs an hour-long soliloquy on stage in a poignant adaptation of playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar’s nostalgic non-fiction piece, Mounaraag. Or the one who recites Gulzar’s poetry with feeling in Baat Pashmine Ki, a celebration of the writer-director’s work. A couple of other Marathi stage shows he hosts allow him to “soak in the purity of music”.

Sitting at his Vile Parle residence over a cup of tea he describes these as pockets of sanity to offset the mindless work offered to him in Hindi cinema. It’s hard to fathom why he’d even agree to a walk-on part in Krrish 3 or being the comic relief in Singham. “At least that way I get to be a part of 100-crore projects,” he quips, but obviously these films put the butter on his bread.

In Marathi though he has a loyal following and can pick and choose his parts. For instance in actor-turned-director Nitish Bharadwaj’s Pitruroon, based Sudha Murthy’s novella and co-starring seasoned actress Tanuja, he plays a double role for the first time.

“Here’s a man who sees someone just like himself, and, being a professor of archaeology, he decides to start digging for clues to this strange coincidence. Both have distinctive personalities; the other fellow, a god-fearing farmer, stammers a little. But beyond that the difference lies only in their social backgrounds—they don’t fit the good brother-evil brother stereotype.” He’s all praise for his director—“it’s remarkable for an actor to step out of himself and write such a detailed script”—and his co-star. “She’s extraordinary. You can’t take your eyes off her. I think some of it has to do with her lineage, although one never believed cinema could be in someone’s blood till I saw her.”

Khedekar has no pedigree and describes himself as “an actor by practice”. He started working on the Marathi stage and television nearly 25 years ago apprenticing with stalwarts like Vinay Apte and Sai Paranjpye. On the latter’s advice he put his head down and did whatever came his way till people started associating the name with the face. “Television was my identity card. Fortunately I found directors like Lekh Tandon and Ravi Rai (he did Sailaab and Thoda Hai Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai with them) who had good stories to tell.”

This was before the age of daily soaps and luckily he’d moved on to the big screen before that deluge. The most memorable film of this phase was Astitva,in which he played Tabu’s distrustful husband. It marked the beginning of a long professional association with good friend Mahesh Manjrekar. The duo starred in the blockbuster Me Shivaji Raje Bhosle Boltoy with Khedekar as a meek commoner who gets inspired by Shivaji (Manjrekar) to stand up for his rights.

“Today there’s a dedicated audience that chooses Marathi films over the Friday Hindi release, which is why actors like me have diverse roles to pick from. Eventually your career is shaped as much by selection of work as it is by performances.”

Which is why he’d never say no to Benegal. “When you work with him, he just erases your complacence. Also, playing real life heroes like Subhash Chandra Bose (in the biopic Bose: The Forgotten Hero) and Dr. Ambedkar, what you learn through the process stays with you. As an actor one is always conscious of how one looks before the camera. It’s liberating to create such characters devoid of narcissism.”

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