Amol Palekar: Women were a commercial item added through dance number before OTT

Veteran Bollywood actor-directorAmol Palekar, who portrays the role of a retired Dalit Judge in 'Hallo Ho' that released recently on Zee5, is not afraid to call a spade a spade. And so it comes as no surprise that when asked about depiction of women in Bollywood, he went for a no-holds-barred approach.

"Unfortunately, if we look at the majority of our mainstream films, ‘Tum gagan ke Chandramaa ho, Mai dharaa ki dhool hun’ continues to be the typical portrayal of our heroines. She is either a Santoshi Maa or a Mother India. She is a commercial item to be added through her dance number," he said.

"Female-centric films were a rarity, but with the emergence of OTT platforms, wonderful female characters are scripted. This is a commendable change. I, as a director, have always tried to project the inner strength of women. Even in ‘Paheli’, Lachchi owns up to her decision to be with a man who loved her knowing that he was not her husband. People fighting the proliferated antagonism despite their marginalisation inspire me. Their struggle comes alive through the characters in my films," Palekar told a news website.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Upon enquiry about the thought process behind taking on the role of Arjun Dangle in 'Hallo Ho', the National Award-winning actor said that it is the character's integrity that prompted him to take on the role.

"I play Arjun Dangle, a retired Dalit judge. He heads the fact-finding committee appointed by the National Women’s group as he is known for his integrity and swears by the Constitution. The original script had some rough edges. In fact, I posed two pertinent questions to the makers – were they ready to refine the script? Why did they not opt for an actor from Bahujan samaj? We have great talent who is not given due exposure. I had warned them that casting an outsider for a Dalit’s role would be criticized. But they insisted on having me and were ready to alter certain not-so-progressive scenes. I have not seen the film so cannot opine on how it has been treated. But Saarthak is a sensitive man so I am sure he must have taken due precautions. Once we got clarity on various shades of the character before the shooting, I surrendered to the director. As an old-timer, I do not even look at the footage on the monitor," said the actor, who is also known for his contribution towards Marathi cinema, other than his work in mainstream Bollywood.