The Marathi stage
He came to cinema through Marathi theatre, and never lost his love for it. In Natsamrat (2016) he played an ageing stage legend, a role many saw as a love letter to the theatre that made him.
The man himself
What He Loved
Away from the lights, his loves were simple: a stage, a paintbrush, a patch of farmland, and the people who live off the land.
Painting and art
Before he was an actor he was an art student, trained at the Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art in Mumbai, and he worked in commercial art early on. Painting stayed with him all his life as a quiet way to say what he felt.
His farm near Pune
His farmhouse outside Pune was where he went to be alone with his thoughts. He liked to walk the fields and sit by the well there when something weighed on his mind.
Farmers and the soil
He spoke up for farming and rural India for decades. Through the Naam Foundation he gave that love a practical shape: money for families in crisis, then water for their fields. Read about his service →
A life without show
For a star of his standing he lived remarkably plainly. He was known for keeping a small flat in Andheri, Mumbai, and turning down the luxuries that usually come with fame.
The Army and its soldiers
He trained with the Maratha Light Infantry for three years and went to the Line of Control in 1999. His bond with soldiers and the families near the border never faded. Read about his service →
He could play anyone on screen. Off screen, he only ever wanted to be himself.