The room is packed to the wainscoting as audiences wait to
hear the renowned Marathi and Hindi actor speak of his latest inning, ‘Dr
Prakash Baba Amte: the Real Hero’, which is drawing full houses. But this actor
has been too deeply inspired by Dr Prakash Baba Amte’s life to take any credit
for it. “The story of Dr Amte’s life and work and the people around him in
Hemalkasa has been so inspiring that the content of the film itself makes it a
success, more so, when people are in turn inspired by it,” avers Patekar, while
commending the performance of Sonali Kulkarni who plays Dr Prakash’s wife Manda.
He endorses director Samruoddhi Porey’s aspiration that ‘if people have been
touched and inspired by the film, then it has achieved its success.’ Portraying
the character of the protagonist, for an actor who is self-admittedly too
different in nature to the humble and mild-mannered Dr Prakash, Nana Patekar
nevertheless stayed true to the role.
Receiving rave reviews ever since it opened October this year, the film is apparently making the desired impact, much to the elation of Patekar and the entire team. “We were not sure how this film would take off, but such a story needs to be told and it can be nothing short of inspirational,” reiterates Patekar.
On a personal level, Baba Amte’s work and that of his sons, Prakash and Vikas, have been a topic of much interest to Patekar who has been following their story for the past few decades. One potential reason is that he is in the process of making his own biopic of this family he has grown to love and admire. “I will be scripting, directing, producing and promoting this film and it is likely to start within a year,” he promises of the new venture where he will take on the challenge of playing both Baba as well as Prakash Amte. His thinly veiled support of the naxalites around the Hemalkasa region has raised eyebrows, but Patekar reasons that he is querying why and what drives them. It is an issue that is likely to be addressed in the film.
Keen on pursuing socially relevant films as he pursues his directorial ventures, Patekar nevertheless clarifies that he will continue to do commercial as well as art cinema. “Too much of any one becomes monotonous,” he maintains.