Aanjjan Srivastav: Achyut Potdar should have been given many more opportunities

Today’s generation might remember Achyut Potdar from the viral meme from 3 Idiots (2009), which showed his professor character asking Aamir Khan’s Rancho, ‘Kehna kya chahte ho?’ The veteran actor, who passed away on August 18 at the age of 90, however, was much more than that. In his four-decade-plus career that spanned Hindi and Marathi films as well as television, the artiste built a collage of real characters and grounded performances. 

Those who grew up in the late 1980s will remember Potdar from the much-loved show, Wagle Ki Duniya. When mid-day reached out to the show’s lead star Aanjjan Srivastav, he got emotional remembering the late actor. “We lose colleagues one by one, and it is painful. Achyut deserved more. He should have been given many more opportunities. He always brought credibility to his roles. That was his strength — he made small roles memorable.” 

Srivastav fondly remembered their first encounter during the making of Wagle Ki Duniya. Potdar played a trade licence officer and left a lasting impression. “He just said, ‘Come and take your licence’. The simplicity of that delivery elevated the entire sequence,” recalled Srivastav.

Potdar’s brush with acting began only at the age of 44. Until then, he worked in different fields, beginning as a professor in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.

He went on to join the Indian Army, from which he retired after five years, in 1967, as a captain. It was while he was working at Indian Oil Corporation as an executive that he made his screen debut with Govind Nihalani’s Aakrosh (1980). What followed were roles in Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai (1980), Tezaab (1988), Parinda (1989), and many more films. Among his television offerings, Shyam Benegal’s Bharat Ek Khoj stands out.

Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, who worked with him in 3 Idiots and Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), told mid-day that he cherished the senior actor’s sense of humour. “I will always remember him as a spirited man who kept the set alive with his humour. [He was] a good actor who brought joy to every scene,” he said.

Aanjjan Srivastav, Vidya Balan and Rajkumar Hirani

Meanwhile, actor Aamir Khan mourned the loss of his 3 Idiots co-star by sharing a heartfelt note on the Instagram handle of his production house. The post read, “He was an amazing actor, a wonderful human being and a great colleague. We will miss you, Achyut ji. My heartfelt condolences to his family.”

For Vidya Balan, Potdar was special — after all, he played her father in her debut Parineeta (2005). On August 18, she learnt about his passing away just as she left for home after the special screening of Parineeta, ahead of its re-release. “Achyut ji wasn’t present. I had spoken to him on his 90th birthday last year, and I knew that he didn’t move out of the house much. So, I thought of calling him after the screening. Just as I got into my car, I got a message from his daughter Anuradha informing me that Achyut ji had passed on. That felt terrible,” she told mid-day.

A still from ‘Parineeta’

She has fond memories of shooting with him, especially of his love for Kolkata. Balan added, “He and his wife would go around Kolkata whenever we had time in between the shoot. He was such a wonderful man.”

Balan’s grief is shared by Rajesh Mapuskar, who directed the actor in Ferrari Ki Sawaari (2012) and Ventilator (2016). Remembering Potdar as always the first one to arrive on the set, he shared, “If there was one phone call I’d always answer, it was his. Those calls stopped in the last two years. Sadly, now my phone will never ring with his name flashing on the screen.”

Achyut Potdar in ‘3 Idiots’. Pics/AFP, Instagram

125
Number of films Achyut Potdar worked in

Trivia

. Achyut Potdar was a professor of economics at a university in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.
. He then joined the Indian Army from which he retired as a captain in 1967.
. Later, he worked with Indian Oil as an executive for 25 years and retired at the age of 58 in 1992.