Nana Palsikar (Hindi:
नाना पळशिकर)
(1907 – 1 June 1984) was an Indian film actor, who appeared in over
80 Hindi films. He made his film debut in 1935 with Dhuwandhar, and
went on to play character roles in both Hindi mainstream and arthouse
films. He was also cast in small parts in a few international
productions such as Maya (1966), The Guru (1969), and Gandhi (1982).
Palsikar was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor
twice, in 1962 and 1965. He was recognised with an award in the same
category by the Bengal Film Journalists' Association in 1965.
Palsikar made his first
film appearance in 1935 along with Leela Chitnis in Sumumar
Chatterjee's Dhuwandhar. He appeared in two more films in this
decade, Kandan and Durga (1939), both of which were produced under
the Bombay Talkies production house and were the two final films
directed by German director Franz Osten.
After a long break of 14
years, between which he appeared only in one film Bahurani, (1940),
he returned to the screen in Bimal Roy's 1953 picture Do Bigha Zamin
(Two Acres of Land), in which he played Dhangu Maheto, alongside
actors such as Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy. The film was a major
critical success and won several national and international
honours. He followed it with supporting roles in other
successful films of this decade, such as V. Shantaram's Jhanak Jhanak
Payal Baaje, Bimal Roy's Devdas, Raj Kapoor's Shree 420, Sombhu
Mitra's Jagte Raho and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anari.
In 1960 Palsikar
appeared in Kanoon, a courtroom drama involving a murder case.
Directed by B. R. Chopra, the film saw Palsikar playing Kaalia, a
petty thief who is caught and charged with murder for no fault of his
own. Palsikar's performance earned him his first Filmfare Award for
Best Supporting Actor. In a retrospective review in 2009, The Hindu
noted, "the star of the second half is Nana Palsikar, who slips
into the role of a petty thief with a commanding performance."
In 1963, Palsikar
appeared in Khwaja Ahmad Abbas's Shehar Aur Sapna (The City and The
Dreams). It is a social film which portrays the struggle of pavement
dwellers in the backdrop of rapid industrialisation. The film, a love
story that takes place in a drain pipe, received the President's Gold
Medal Award and the National Film Award for Best Feature Film.
Palsikar's performance as Johnny earned him his second Filmfare Award
for Best Supporting Actor, and he was acknowledged as Best Supporting
Actor (Hindi) by the Bengal Film Journalists' Association.
John Berry's Maya (1966)
saw Palsikar playing Sajid Khan's father. In 1969, James Ivory cast
him in the foreign co-production The Guru. Ivory said, "I didn't
know a great deal about him when we cast him... He was said to be a
very good actor, which I took on faith." Judith Crist from
the New York Magazine described his small part of "The Guru's
Guru" in the film as "an unforgettable cameo".
In the 1970s, Palsikar
continued to portray father figures or authoritative characters such
as judges. For instance he played the role of a father in many films
such as B. R. Chopra's Dhund based on Agatha Christie's play, The
Unexpected Guest, in 1973 and Yaaron Ka Yaar in 1977. However these
roles were generally relatively minor and he was often uncredited for
his performances, such as his role as a judge in Jwar Bhata in 1972.
He continued playing a
father into the 1980s, appearing in Aakrosh (1980), playing Om Puri's
dad. His last major film was in the epic film, Gandhi in 1982, a
Richard Attenborough directed biographical film based on the life of
Mohandas Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against
British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th
century. However his role very minor, playing a villager. His last
ever appearance was shortly before his death in 1984 in the film
Kanoon Kya Karega, again playing a parent.
He died on 1 June 1984
in Mumbai, aged 77.
Awards :
- 1962: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award - Kanoon
- 1965: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award - Shehar Aur Sapna
- 1965: BFJA Awards, Best Supporting Actor (Hindi) - Shehar Aur Sapna
Nana Palsikar's Filmography with Super Star Rajesh Khanna :
- Aakhri Khat (1966) -
- Baharon Ke Sapne (1967) .... as Bholanath
- Aurat (1967) -
- Doli (1969) - as Ganpat Lala
- Dushmun (1971) - as Ganga Din
- Joroo Ka Ghulam (1972) - as Nandlal
- Prem Nagar (1974) - as Puran
- Karm (1977) - as Shivlal (Premnath's father-in-law).
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