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.