Amol Gupte Thought Kaminey Offer Was A Crank Call  Amol Gupte |
Amol Gupte, an acclaimed writer-actor, thought that someone is playing a prank on him when he was first approached for the role of Maharashtrian Mafioso in Vishal Bharadwaj's Kaminey.
"I thought it was a crank call. A man named Honey introduced himself as Vishal Bharadwaj's casting director and offered me a very important role, in the same space and zone as Langda Tyagi in 'Omkara'. I banged the phone down not believing a word of what he said”. “But Honey showed up in Gupte's office”, Amol Gupte said.
Amol Gupte was shocked to see that Honey was in possession of his resume as an actor from the time he had cleared his first diploma in films.
Amol Gupte told, “He had my resume as an actor right from the time in 1981 when I did my first diploma film as an actor. Honey was aware of all my 108 films as an actor in student films, also Ketan Mehta's 'Holi' and Dayal Nihalani's 'Gurudakshina'. They convinced me I was an actor. Finally, I had to meet Vishal. My wife Deepa and I knew Vishal and his wife Rekha from the time I was doing dubbing direction for Kamal Haasan's 'Chachi 420'. And I love his films”.
"I could've made a career in acting in Mumbai. But I was wedded to the camera and the lens not as an actor but on much broader level. For 10 years, I shifted to painting and lived the life of a painter”, he added.
Amol Gupte claims that acting is an ongoing process and he has lived every character while writing for Taare Zameen Par.
"From the moment the promos (of 'Kaminey') started, I've been flooded with calls about the film and my look. Acting is an ongoing process. All day long we're acting in one way or another. So I was never away from it. And in 'Taare Zameen Par' I lived every character from little Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) to the English and Hindi teachers - Mr. Sen and Mr. Tiwari”, Amol Gupte said.
Talking about doing more acting assignments, the actor says, "If it helps me to fund my film projects. But it has to touch me in some way. Otherwise I'd have become a permanent actor after 'Holi' 22 years ago”, he said.
The actor/writer is currently planning to direct, Sapno Ko Ginte Ginte, a movie is about the life and psychology of children like Taare Zameen Par.
"It took me so long to start another film after 'Taare Zameen Par' because I needed to tighten my script. The kids are the star of 'Sapno Ko Ginte Ginte'. But I do need a big brand to make the audience to come watch my film. However the star shouldn't feel he is doing the film and the children a favour by being part of the film," said Gupte.
