Father Figure
(Putting up the unedited version of Sachin Khedekar interview that appeared in Pune Mirror on 24 Sept, Sunday. Pic courtesy: Nikhil Ghorpade)
Sachin Khedekar is in a happy place right now. It’s almost as
if he’s dropped the weight of serious, heavyweight roles that he’s famous for,
relaxed his shoulders and allowed a lighter side of him to show up, surrendering
himself to a few new, young directors who’ve dared to see him in a softer
light. From essaying the roles of historical stalwarts like Subhash Chandra
Bose and B R Ambedkar, to playing powerful patriarchs in films like Astitva, Mi
Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy, Ajcha Divas Majha, Kaksparsh, the actor is now
exploring gentler shades of masculinity with the recently released Muramba and
upcoming Baapjanma. It has been, he agrees, a journey of liberation. “I have been
bogged down with roles which placed a lot of burden on my shoulders. It went
against my personality. However, over the years, these roles sort of rubbed off
on me. They enriched me and I was a changed man,” Khedekar traces his evolution
from an easy-going person to an actor whose stature was magnified by the meaty roles
he depicted.
So it was a refreshing surprise when Varun Narvekar
approached him to play a sensitive, emotionally engaged father in his debut
Muramba. “I don’t know how he saw that side in me and I don’t know how he
convinced me but I followed that text very closely. Nipun(Dharmadhikari, who
debuts as a director with Baapjanma) comes with a different set of
sensibilities. Playing Bhaskar Pandit was another high as an actor,” says
Khedekar of his character in Baapjanma.
A story of a father, a busy, self-absorbed man who fails to
notice his children have moved away from him till loneliness hits him, the film
goes about dislodging the parent from his pedestal, making him communicate with
his children as individuals, to find a place in their lives once more. “Bhaskar is a careerist, disciplined person with
little time for anything else and one day, he decides to chuck it all and make
amends. But of course he can’t change overnight. What impressed me is that
Nipun could write this slow, difficult journey of a man completely rooted in
today’s times, with a lot of humour. He builds up this huge drama scene and
then writes this one line that makes it light as a balloon,” he says, palpably
excited about the young blood in the Marathi film industry and the possibilities
they offer to ‘senior’ actors like him. “After 30 years of working even I’m looking
for people who can look at me in a different light. How does one grow as an
artiste otherwise? Artistes like Varun and Nipun are assets for the industry and
we should nurture them,” Khedekar says.
Riding on the wave of
three releases (Muramba, Prasad Oak directed Kachcha Limbu and Baapjanma) this
year after a dry spell, and rejuvenated with new creative collaborations,
Khedekar is looking forward to push the envelope as an actor even further. Now
that he’s portraying mellower men on screen after presenting many ‘men of the
world’, does he ever see himself challenging the ideals of masculinity by
playing the role of a homosexual, especially when Marathi cinema is exploring
sexuality on screen? “That would be the ultimate breaking bad. It should be
very interesting,” he says, aligning with British actor Colin Firth’s quote he
recently tweeted. “If you have any prejudices based on religion or race or sex
or nationality or anything like that – well you’re in the wrong profession
completely,” Firth quotes his drama school principal. “I have always believed
that as an actor who’s working on the character’s mind, if you’re not open to
ideas and different views, nothing will seep in,” Khedekar believes.
That’s one reason why today’s social media scene, where views
and counterviews flit about a polarised cyberspace, disturbs him greatly. “The
social media offers both sides to issues. They think we are putting out two
sides so you have to select one. But I don’t want to select anything! Can there
be a being like that? An actor’s being should be like that,” he says, also
reflecting on some of his roles getting claimed by different political outfits.
“I have no political ambitions at all,” he tells us on a day that Kamal Hassan
joining politics is making news. In fact, Khedekar thinks endorsing any
particular ideological position undercuts his place as an artiste, who has to absorb
and convincingly bring different characters’ beliefs on screen.
However, there are
issues he personally feels for that he would like to endorse through his
profession. “It’s the little things really – like following traffic rules,
paying taxes. Why can’t we do it? It will make us a better country if we do it.
If I’m offered a film where I can endorse these concerns, I’ll be happy,” says
Khedekar. Till that comes his way, however, he’s happy having fun in Golmaal 4
and Judwaa 2. “I’m a professional actor at the end of the day. 70% of my work
has been in Hindi films after all,” he signs off, but not before underlining
that right now, quality remains the stronghold of Marathi cinema.