Apart from being a terrific actor, Sadashiv Amarapurkar was a philanthropist and a social activist
The demise of veteran actor Sadashiv Amarapurkar in a hospital came as a real shock especially when his daughter informed about his ‘stability’ just a few days back.
The actor, known for his role in Sadak, was admitted to the hospital with a lung infection in October. While he was known for playing villainous characters on screen, Amarapurkar had an opposite personality in reality.
Born and brought up in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family and lovingly called Tatya, he was quite into social services and also led activism for lesser privileged. He was actively involved in activities of social organisations like Samajik Krutadnyata Nidhi, Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, Snehalaya, lokshahi Prabodhan Vyaspeeth, Ahmednagar Aitihasik Vastu Sangrahalaya and many others.
He had a soft corner for rural youth and scouted emerging talent from villages. In March 2013, he was beaten when he was protesting against water wastage during Holi festival near his residence.
In 1981, Amarapurkar acted in a Marathi play Hands-Up!. He received accolades for his performance and got noticed by director Govind Nihalani, who was hunting an artiste to play negative character in Ardh Satya.
The movie introduced a new villain for Bollywood and got the actor his first Filmfare Award.
His role in Sadak peaked his popularity. The character of Rani, a eunuch, who runs a brothel, proved his mettle. When Mahesh Bhatt narrated the character, he warned the actor that his role might fail also. But the daring actor sported the look with gusto and impressed everybody. He has done over 300 movies in different languages. Sadashiv married his high school love Sunanda Karmarkar. Be it in school or college, he was always interested in acting. What set Amarapurkar as an artiste apart from other actors is his capability of embracing variety of roles. He was equally lauded for his comic timing on screen.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar and veteran actor Anupam Kher were among the popular names to condole the death of the versatile talent. “Waking up in Kolkata to the sad news of the passing away of Sadasiv Amarapurkar...a colleague and a gifted talent...prayers! When a colleague suddenly passes away there is a sudden vacuum, of times spent together, of acknowledgement of their work (sic),” wrote Big B.
Anupam Kher tweeted, “I am so saddened to know about the demise of a fine human being and a wonderful actor Sadashiv Amarapurkar. He was a kind and a learned man.”
“An effortless actor, Sadashivji had his own style & always brought something unique to the table. We have lost a genuine human being. RIP. Saddened to hear about the demise of #SadashivAmrapurkar. I had the privilege of working with him in my debut film Trishakti (sic),” wrote filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar to pay him a tribute.