Amol Palekar came to INOX (Forum) on Tuesday with Sharmila Tagore to promote his next film Samantar. The twist in the tale? The film is in Marathi, even though a big chunk of it has been shot in Bengal, including Belur and Kalna. The actor-turned-director faced t2’s volley of questions...

Why are you promoting a Marathi film in Calcutta?

We were in Delhi also. The whole effort is to take regional cinema beyond its linguistic and geographical boundaries. Because I strongly feel, and more and more these days, that it’s unfortunate we don’t get to see each other’s cinema. What is happening in Malayalam I don’t get to see in Maharashtra, what is happening in Marathi cinema you don’t get to see in Calcutta. Marathi films, in fact, bear the maximum brunt because Mumbai is the common ground for everybody. It is really tragic. On one hand we see Iranian and European cinema and we are constantly bombarded by Hollywood and Bollywood but we are missing out on our own cinema from different corners of the country. If we can do that we will be happier and richer. So with that thought in mind, we have decided to take this Marathi film beyond Maharashtra with subtitles. The added attraction about Calcutta is that Samantar has also been shot here.

You have been mixing up Hindi and Marathi films. On what basis do you choose the language?

I have done films in English as well. You know every subject comes with its own demand. It demands the language it should have, it demands what kind of locations it should have, it demands what kind of actors it should have, it demands what kind of music it should have. In that music, whether it should have songs or not. All I do is listen to those demands and try and fulfil them sincerely and honestly.

Why did you shoot most of Samantar in Calcutta?

Samantar talks about lost traces of two lives. One life is of Keshav who is now a successful industrialist in Mumbai. At the end of the day when he retires and sits down in his rocking chair, he is a very lonely man. This is one track. The other track is of Shama (Sharmila Tagore) who has chosen to be a recluse. She is leading a creative and fulfilling life by doing pottery and sculpture. She is based in Calcutta. Now these parallel tracks when they meet, what happens? That’s what the film is about. And that’s why the two tracks needed to be in two different cities. The cinematography (Ashim Bose) has been designed that way.

You are acting in your own film after ages...

(Laughs) Yes, the last time I acted in my own film was in 1985, when I did Ankahee. After that I haven’t donned both the caps. When I read Sandhya’s (Gokhale, his wife) script, it was my instant, spontaneous reaction: I want to do this role. The kind of multi-layered character Keshav has, the outlook he has towards life, along with his melancholy, his loneliness... all put together, I really felt excited. I wanted to find out whether I am able to play this man in an understated way, without going overboard, without playing to the gallery, without shouting from the rooftop.

When you did a Hindi film with big stars (Paheli), you reached out instantly to millions of people. So why do you want to restrict yourself with regional cinema?

I think it’s high time that we reject this myth that as soon as I make a film in Hindi, things will be easy. No, it is not. If I make a masala film in Hindi, if I make a cliched, formula film in Hindi, it will be easy. But I don’t make those films. So no matter in which language I make my film, it will be equally tough. Plus in a regional language, the audience is far more receptive to experimentation.

So, now when you look back at Paheli, was it a blot on your career?

I am very happy with Paheli, as much as I was happy with Thodasa Roomani Ho Jayen, as much as I was happy with Thaang, which I made last year.