Sachin (actor)

Sachin Pilgaonkar, often known by his first name Sachin, is an Indian film and television actor, director, singer and producer.
Starting as a child in the Marathi film, Ha Majha Marg Ekla, he went on to work in around 65 films as a child artist, before switching to adult roles, and being part of films like Geet Gaata Chal, Balika Badhu, Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se and Nadiya Ke Paar as a lead actor, which were all successful. He has worked in Hindi, Marathi and also in Bhojpuri cinema, and has acted, produced and directed successful comedy shows on Indian television, including Tu Tu Main Main and Kadvee Khatti Meethi. He also directed several hit Marathi Films starting with Mai Baap, Navri Mile Navryala, Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi, Amchyasarkhe Aamich and Navra Mazha Navsacha.

Early and personal life

Sachin was born in Mumbai in a family from Pilagaon, Goa. His father Sharad Pilgaonkar managed a printing business in Mumbai. His father was a film producer
in 2010
He is married to actress Supriya Pilgaonkar, whom he first directed for his debut Marathi film, Navri Mile Navryala and subsequently became successful pair in Marathi cinema. The couple has a daughter, Shriya Pilgaonkar.

Career

Films

Pilgaonkar started his film career as a child artist. He was to act in Madhavrao Shinde's 1961 film Soonbai, but the plans did not work out. He was then chosen for Raja Paranjape's Marathi film, Ha Maza Marg Ekla at the age of four, for which he won the National Award. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan handed him the award. As a child actor, he first appeared in the Dharmendra-Meena Kumari starrer Majhli Didi, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and also appeared in prominent films such as Jewel Thief, Chanda Aur Bijli, Brahmachari and Mela. He worked closely with the child actor Naeem Sayyed, with whom he first acted in the Shammi Kapoor-starrer Brahmachari at the age of nine. They did 15 films together as child artists.
He switched to playing lead roles for a brief time with Rajshri Productions' Geet Gaata Chal, for which he was cast opposite Sarika. The film's unexpected success made them a lead pair for other films. The pair went on to work in Balika Badhu, College Girl and Rajshri Productions' and Nadiya Ke Paar.
With Trishul, he switched back to supporting roles and was part of successful movies such as Sholay, Avtaar, Sur Sangam and Satte Pe Satta, but as the demand for roles reduced he took to direction, making Marathi movies and producing TV serials. He is one of the most well-known Marathi film directors. In 1992, he directed Subhash Ghai's Prem Deewane, and in 1996 directed Aisi Bhi Kya Jaldi Hai.
In 2011 he directed and starred in Jaana Pehchana, which is a sequel to Sachin's earlier film Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se.
He acted in the 2017 film Katyar Kaljat Ghusli based on the play of the same name, playing Khasaheb Aftab Hussain. The role required him to speak in only Urdu, with which he was comfortable thanks to his training in the language by Meena Kumari in 1966 while together working on the film Majhli Didi. He also credits Sanjeev Kumar for helping him with the practicing of difficult scenes and Hrishikesh Mukherjee for teaching him to edit films.
Sachin, along with Laxmikant Berde, Ashok Saraf and Mahesh Kothare formed a successful quartet, starring in several hit movies in Marathi cinema in the 1980s and 1990s.

Television

Pilgaonkar turned to Indian Television in the 1990s, when he directed Hindi comedy show Tu Tu Main Main on Hindi National channel Star Plus, which starred his wife Supriya and Reema Lagoo. He also directed a show Rin 1 2 3 on Hindi National channel DD Metro, which used to show parodies on Bollywood movies. He also directed the sitcom, Hudd Kar Di starring Dara Singh, which too initially did well, but later was pulled off. In the meantime, he also anchored Hindi music shows like Chalti Ka Naam Antakshari and various other events and Marathi film award ceremonies. In 2006, he, along with his wife, Supriya, won the Hindi dance Reality Show Nach Baliye, pocketing Rs. 4 million, beating nine other celebrity contestant pairs. In late 2007, he started a new program on Zee Marathi, known as Eka Peksha Ek, which is based on dance, finding hidden talent in all the areas of the state of Maharashtra.
He appeared as a judge of reality comedy talent show, Chhote Miyan on Colors TV.

Direction

Pilgaonkar has also been directing Marathi films since the 1980s. He started directing with Mai Baap which received critical acclaim, but started tasting commercial success only with 1984's Navri Mile Navryala, which also starred his future wife, Supriya. Further movies like Gammat Jammat and Maza Pati Karodpati cemented his place in the Marathi film industry. Further, he tasted major success in 1988's Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi, which starred himself and the two reigning superstars of Marathi cinema, Ashok Saraf and Laxmikant Berde. The movie was a runaway hit, establishing Sachin as a hitmaker. He then changed track to experimental cinema with the next two films, but returned to comedy with Amchyasarkhe Aamhich, which proved to be yet another hit. He directed Berde's son Abinay Berde in the 2018 film Ashi Hi Ashiqui, produced by his wife Supriya.

Other pursuits

In 2017, Pilgaonkar wrote his autobiography during the completion of 50 years of his film career titled Hach Maza Marg. For noted director Govind Nihalani's directorial debut in Marathi with the 2017 film Ti Ani Titar, Sachin wrote a ghazal titled "Badal jo ghir ke aaye" under the pseudonym of Shafaq.
In 2018, Pilgaonkar starred in the song Amchi Mumbai Changali Mumbai, which was widely panned by his fans as well as haters.

Awards

National Film Award for Best Child Artist for Ha Maza Marg Ekla
19th National Film Awards – National Film Award for Best Child Artist for Ajab Tuje Sarkar
1978 – Filmfare award
2016 – Filmfare Marathi award for best actor for the film Katyar Kaljat Ghusli
Filmography

As actor

;Films

Year	Movie	Role	Language	Notes
1962	Ha Maaza Marg Eekla	Child Artist	Marathi
1965	Dak Ghar	Amal	Hindi	adaptation of Rabindra Nath Tagore's play
1967	Majhli Didi	Kishan	Hindi
1967	Jewel Thief	Shishu Singh	Hindi
1968	Brahmachari	Child Artist	Hindi
1970	Bachpan	Ram	Hindi
1971	Krishna Leela	Child artist / Lead role	Hindi	Portrayed Lord Krishna
1973	Birbal My Brother	Lead role	English
1975	Sholay	Ahmed	Hindi
1975	Geet Gaata Chal	Shyam	Hindi
1976	Balika Badhu	Amal	Hindi
1977	Paaradh	Actor	Marathi	with Nutan, Sarika, Dr. Shreeram Lagoo
1978	Trishul	Ravi	Hindi
1978	College Girl	Actor	Hindi
1978	Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se	Arun Prakash Mathur	Hindi
1978	Adventures of Aladdin	Actor	Hindi
1979	Ashta Vinayak	Actor	Marathi	Hugely successful Marathi film with Vandana Pandit, Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande, directed by Sharad Pilgaonkar
1979	Gopaal Krishna	Krishna	Hindi
1979	Aur Kaun	Actor	Hindi
1980	Judaai	Ravikant S. 'Ravi' Verma	Hindi
1981	Sweety	Actor	Hindi
1981	Krodhi	Raja	Hindi
1982	Satte Pe Satta	Shani "Sunny" Anand	Hindi
1982	Nadiya Ke Paar	Chandan Tiwari	Hindi
1983	Avtaar	Sewak	Hindi
1984	Navri Mile Navryala	Actor	Marathi
1985	Ghar Dwaar	an Orphan	Hindi
1985	Sur Sangham		Hindi
1985	Tulsi	Gopal	Hindi
1987	Gammat Jammat	Gautam	Marathi
1987	Maa Beti	Khetan	Hindi
1988	Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi	Sudhir and Sudha	Marathi	Inspired by Hindi 1966 Movie – Biwi Aur Makaan
1988	Maza Pati Karodpati	Actor	Marathi
1988	Ghar Ek Mandir	Sanjay Kumar	Hindi	not to be confused with Ghar Ek Mandir
1989	Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon	Amar	Hindi
1989	Atmavishwas	Actor	Marathi
1989	Bhutacha Bhau	Nandu	Marathi	Inspired by Hindi 1984 Movie – Gazab
1990	Amchyasarkhe Amich	Actor	Marathi
1990	Eka Peksha Ek	Bhanu	Marathi
1991	Aayatya Gharat Gharoba	Actor	Marathi	Inspired by the Hindi movie Dil Daulat Duniya, starring Rajesh Khanna & Sadhana
1996	Aisi Bhi Kya Jaldi Hai	Mr. Sanjay Malhotra	Hindi	director also
2004	Navra Maza Navsacha	Vakratund	Marathi
2008	Amhi Satpute	Actor	Marathi
2010–2011	Ideachi Kalpana	Actor	Marathi
2010–2011	Sharyat	Actor	Marathi
2010–2011	Jaana Pehchana	Arun Prakash Mathur	Hindi	Sequel for "Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se"
2013	Ekulti Ek	Arun Deshpande	Marathi	with his daughter Shriya Pilgaonkar
2014	Sanngto Aika	Ambatrao Gholap	Marathi
2015	Katyar Kaljat Ghusali	Khansaheb Aftab Hussain Bareliwale	Marathi
2017	Qaidi Band	Dhulia	Hindi
2018	Hichki	Prabhakar Mathur	Hindi	Naina's estranged father
2018	Ranangan	Actor	Marathi

;Television

Year	Title	Role	Channel	Remark
2006	Tu Tota Main Maina	Tota	DD National
2014	Supriya-Sachin Show Jodi Tujhe Majhi	Host	Star Pravah
2019	Mayanagari-City of Dreams		Hotstar

As director