Sadashiv Amrapurkar will live through Maharani: Mahesh Bhatt

Mahesh Bhatt pays tribute to 64-year old Sadashiv Amrapurkar who died in Mumbai after a short battle with a severe case of lung infection. Sadashiv had memorably played Mahrani, a transgender villain, in Bhatt's 1991 hit film Sadak.

Sadashiv was a student of people's theatre, who learnt from life and embraced characters inspired by people. He was a rooted person, who carried the ethos of Maharashtra. He was ready to take up any role and portray the character on screen with elan and conviction.

Sadak's Maharani, the transgender character which was inspired by a real-life eunuch named Tikku, was the character that came to life because of Sadashiv's conviction. He was an enigmatic person who touched the raw chord of the nation with his inspiring characterisation of sari-clad menacing Maharani.

The character was referred to as "gross" and "down market" by many at that time. But, I guess time is the biggest critic, which has still kept Maharani alive in the minds of film lovers. Sadashiv was a people's man and an extremely evolved and versatile actor who knew exactly how to capture the emotions of a character.

I had spotted his raw talent in Govind Nihlani's Ardh Satya in which he played Rama Shetty. I was convinced to cast him in one of my films and when I narrated him the story of Sadak, he showed child-like excitement to play the role. The minute we saw him in a sari, looking perfectly in character as a eunuch, we knew that the character was going to be dramatic.

Sadashiv worked in number of other films, dabbled with comedy and other unique roles with unusual energy. His voice, language and mannerisms had a distinct earthiness, which helped him play some of the so-called "crass" and "crude" roles on screen with confidence. I wanted him to play the role of transgender politician Nirmala Pandit [a character based on a politician from Madhya Pradesh] in Murder 2.

He, however, simply turned down the offer, insisting that he would not want to tamper with the memory of Maharani. [The character was ultimately played by Sandeep Sikand]. I knew that he would have made the character look very distinct from that of Maharani, but, as an actor, he refused to part with the magical experience of being Maharani.

As told to Priyanka Srivastava