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In 2019, Amol Palekar returned to acting on stage after a 25-year break, taking on an 80-minute, physically and emotionally demanding role in Kusur. His explanation for choosing it connects that return to a career that audiences often associate with the approachable middle-class characters of Chhoti Si Baat and Gol Maal: “So the challenge is always to try something else.”
Why Palekar returned to the stage for Kusur
Palekar’s return to stage acting came after 25 years away from performing in plays. The production was staged at Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, where he had previously worked in theatre. He played Ashok Dandavate, a retired Mumbai Assistant Commissioner of Police who volunteers in a police control room.
The drama unfolds around an overnight call from a woman who appears to be experiencing domestic abuse. Palekar remained on stage for the play’s full 80 minutes. He described its complexity and intensity, and said the sustained performance was “physically and emotionally daunting.” Scroll’s 2019 interview with Palekar reported both the role’s demands and his reasons for taking it on.
A real-time social thriller
Kusur was described as a real-time Hindi social thriller adapted from the Danish film Den Skyldige. Sandhya Gokhale wrote the play and co-directed it with Palekar; JSW and Anaan Nirmitee produced it. A BookMyShow press release dated November 11, 2019 announced its November 24 premiere at the Tata Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai. Those are details of the historical production, not a current performance listing.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Palekar said audience members had asked him to act again, and that their affection made him feel he should try the stage once more. He also framed the choice as a test: “I think: if this is what people love, let me try something else and see whether they love that too,” he told Hindustan Times in 2019.
“Try something else” was a working principle, not a rejection of his screen persona
Palekar became widely associated with resourceful, recognizably middle-class men navigating everyday complications. Films such as Chhoti Si Baat (1976) and Gol Maal (1979), along with Rajnigandha and Chitchor, helped establish that screen image. But he did not describe his work as confined to one type: he also pointed to performances in Bhumika and Khamosh as evidence of a different range.
In the Scroll interview, Palekar explained that repeating success could become boring to him. “So the challenge is always to try something else,” he said when discussing the movement from theatre into film acting and direction. The line captures his appetite for new challenges; it does not mean he rejected every popular role or that Kusur began an ongoing theatre career.
Everyday realism—and why it can age
Palekar’s connection to the everyday textures of Hindi cinema was not only about playing an ordinary person. Scroll recounted his links to director Basu Chatterjee through theatre and film-society circles, and his gratitude to Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, whose films he gave priority to.
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He also noted that the details that made Chatterjee’s films feel grounded might not transfer unchanged to a contemporary setting. As an example, he cited the daily local-train courtship in Baaton Baaton Mein: train travel had become more cumbersome, he observed, and younger people’s idiom had changed. The point is not that an older film loses its value, but that convincingly depicting ordinary life depends on the circumstances and language of its time.
Palekar’s career beyond acting
In its November 2019 profile, Scroll reported that Palekar trained as a painter at Mumbai’s JJ School of Art and began directing plays in the late 1960s. His film debut was in the 1971 Marathi film Bajiraocha Beta; he began directing films in 1981 with Akriet. He also directed television, including Kachchi Dhoop and Mriganaynee. The profile identified We Are On! Houn Jau Dya (2013) as his most recent film as director at that time; that is a dated career snapshot, not a current filmography.
Palekar told Scroll he had not appeared in a film since Samaantar (2009), which he also directed. At the time, he said recent offers asked him to repeat familiar roles. His stated criteria were that a role should challenge him and the material should interest him; he also said he did not want to take part in regressive content. These were his views in the 2019 interview, not a statement about every later offer or project.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What was planned for the 2019 run
The announced plan was for 25 performances in Mumbai, Pune and Guwahati. Hindustan Times reported that Palekar said he had decided to perform 25 times, while Scroll described the run as expected to include that number of shows. The contemporaneous reports establish an intended plan, not that every planned performance took place.
Palekar emphasized a quality of theatre that differs from film: the audience is physically present for the live performance. As he told Hindustan Times, “The theatre is rooted in the real world, and I think that is probably its greatest strength.” For Kusur, that immediacy met a role he regarded as intense and demanding—an apt expression of his willingness to test himself in a different medium.
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