Remembering legendary actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar 1950-2014

Sadashiv Amrapurkar was born on 11 May 1950, in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra  Shevgaon Taluka, Ahmednagar, Nashik Division, in Maharashtra, India.
Sadashiv began acting during his school and college days. While completing his Masters in History at Pune University, he was already pursuing his passion in theatre.  Amrapurkar started his career as an actor in Marathi theatre, eventually acting and directing nearly fifty plays, before transitioning to films. He made his film debut with the role of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in a Marathi historical film directed by Jayoo Patwardhan and Nachiket Patwardhan.
In 1981-82, Amarapurkar acted in a Marathi stage play, Hands-Up!, alongside stage actors Avinash Masurekar and Bhakti Barve-Inamdar. This play was successful and Amrapurkar was noticed by director Govind Nihalani who was searching for an actor to play the central negative character in his movie Ardh Satya. The movie went on to be a hit and Amrapurkar's acting was appreciated. Amrapurkar won a Filmfare Award for his performance in the film.
After Ardha Satya, Amarapurkar starred in Purana Mandir, Nasoor, Muddat, Jawani, and Khamosh. In 1986, he starred as villain in Amitabh Bachchan starrer Aakhree Raasta. In 1987, he starred as the main villain in Dharamendra starrer Hukumat which went on to be a blockbuster that grossed even more than Mr. India. From 1988 he increasingly appeared in villainous roles in films like Mohre, Khatron Ke Khiladi, Kaal Chakra, Eeshwar, Elaan-E-Jung, Farishtay, Veeru Dada, Naaka Bandi, and Begunaah.

In the mid-1990s he migrated towards supporting roles and comic roles such as in Aankhen, Ishq, Coolie No. 1, Gupt: The Hidden Truth, Aunty No. 1, Jai Hind, Master and Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United. He played the role of Dr. Khanna in the 1996 film Chhote Sarkar.
He acted in more than 300 movies in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, Haryanvi, Telugu and Tamil. In 1993, he won the best actor in a villainous role Filmfare Award, the first time such award was instituted. In 1993 he also played the role of Inspector Pyare Mohan, in Aankhen, which won him accolades as a comic hero. A versatile actor, director and writer, he won a number of state as well as national level prestigious awards in theatre and film.
Amrapurkar was a philanthropist, social activist, and was engaged in a number of social organizations like Samajik Krutadnyata Nidhi, Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, Snehalaya, Lokshahi Prabodhan Vyaspeeth, Ahmednagar Aitihasik Vastu Sangrahalaya and many others. He always had a soft spot for the rural youth and strove for their development. He directed some well-known artists like Shanta Jog, Smita Patil, Sreeram Lagoo, Bhakti Barve Inamdar, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Neena Kulkarni, and Suhas Joshi.
He was a philanthropist, social activist, and civically engaged in a number of social organizations.
He died on 3 November 2014, 64 years old.