Upendra Limaye


Biography

Upendra Limaye is a versatile actor who has performed a wide variety of roles on stage, screen and television, earning several prestigious awards for his acting.
He has acted in numerous experimental plays, Marathi parallel films, television serials, Hindi mainstream movies and a few South Indian films. He has worked with renowned stage and film directors like Madhur Bhandarkar, Ram Gopal Verma, Amol Palekar, Rajiv Patil, Jabbar Patel, Satish Alekar, Vinay Apte, Waman Kendre, Chandrakant Kulkarni, Anant Mahadevan, Karupaniannan and others.
He began acting in school, in plays organised for social gatherings. Developing a liking for the stage, in college he opted to major in dramatic art. While studying, he co-founded, with three like-minded friends, an Experimental Theatre platform called ‘Parichay’, which produced a variety of plays over the course of next 9 years. And his various roles in those plays established him as an accomplished actor and brought him into prominence. This led to parts in Marathi parallel cinema and eventually in Hindi mainstream movies.
A multi-faceted actor with an astounding range, he brings a searing intensity and honesty to his performances. When he commits to a role, he is known to go all the way to bring the character alive. His essential integrity illuminates and deepens even the most ordinary of the characters he portrays.
His fresh, sincere and inspiring approach to acting was evident in his lead role in the Marathi film, ‘Jogwa,’ directed by noted film maker Rajiv Patil. His controlled, understated yet forceful performance earned him the Best Male Actor award at the 56th National Films Awards in 2010, making him the first Marathi actor to be honoured with the distinction in the awards’ history. Besides ‘Jogwa’, he has appeared in several National award-winning films, like ‘Mukta,’ ‘Bangarwadi,’ ‘Sarkarnama,’ ‘Dhyasparva’, ‘Chandni Bar,’ ‘Page 3,’ ‘Traffic Signal,’ to mention a few. He continues to be in popular demand by Marathi, Hindi and South Indian film makers.
Upendra Limaye is married to Dr. Swati and has a daughter, Bhairavi and a son, Ved.

Family Background

He was the first member of his family to become a stage, television and screen actor. He had no hereditary ‘gift’ to bank on. Nor any of the advantages of the privileged. His rise as an acclaimed actor was the result of many unnoticed things. Passion, hard work, learning from actual experience, an open, enquiring, receptive mind avidly imbibing influences from all around him, humility to listen to and learn from the noted, established personalities in his field he came to work with, faith in himself. And, above all - as he frankly admits it - sheer luck. Luck in being at the right place at the right time and meeting the right people who gave him opportunities, boosted him, helped him hone his craft and evolve into a sincere, committed, professional artist.
Upendra Limaye was born and grew up in a middle-class, conservative family in Pune’s Sadashiv Peth. His upbringing was shaped by a curious mixture of both: orthodoxy and somewhat liberal leanings. His father’s side was strictly conventional, adhering to the respected, age-old traditions. But his mother’s family, living nearby, was somewhat open and liberal, drawn to humour, poetry, artistic pursuits, tasteful cinema etc. Thus, he grew up, assimilating the best of both. He respected traditions, yet harboured a yearning for innovation.

School Plays

Upendra Limaye studied up to the 10th standard in New English High School, Tilak Road, Pune. He was more interested in extra-curricular activities than studies. This prompted him to start taking part in the school’s social gatherings plays. He didn’t know it then. But the seeds of his career were sown in those school dramas. The school nurtured the growth of dramatic art. And his drama teacher, Mrs Bhanutai, supported and encouraged him, boosting his confidence in his ability to act. He took part in several school drama competitions, also became the school’s cultural representative, and developed a real liking for drama.
For Junior College, he took admission in Bharti Vidyapeeth. Here, too, the cultural atmosphere was just right. He continued acting in plays, took part in various inter-collegiate drama contests, even won some awards for his acting. Yet, he remained merely curious about the field of acting, imbibing inputs for his craft from whatever sources were available at the time.
That changed in the 11th standard when one day he happened to see a professional drama called, ‘Padgham’, directed by Jabbar Patel. With its student union theme and powerful performances, ‘Padgham’ exerted a profound effect on Upendra. For the first time, he felt the sheer strength of drama. He sensed its amazing power to entertain, influence and move audiences. He was awed by its potential to offer artists a limitless field for personal creativity and expression. Now he knew he wanted to be an actor.
So, after the 12th exam, he told his family he was going to join Lalit Kala Kendra, the Centre for Performing Arts, to major in dramatic art. No one objected to his decision. His father just told him, "Do whatever you like to do, but be at the top!" A familial injunction he has scrupulously tried to fulfill till date.
Enrolling in Lalit Kala Kendra marked the first turning point in his life.
But immediately after joining the college, to earn his upkeep, he secured a job with Pune’s Alurkar Music House, the only regular job he has ever held. The job, as destiny would have it, lasted just a year. For not long after, he met three like-minded theatre devotees, Sanjay Pawar, Subodh Pande and Abhay Godse who, like him, yearned to do something different in the theatre field. So, in 1988, the four friends got together and founded an Experimental Theatre platform called ‘Parichay’, and launched their novel dramatic movement.
In the next decade, Upendra acted in numerous experimental and commercial plays. With his talent getting recognised and lauded, barely three years after the founding of Parichay, he began getting parts in Marathi parallel cinema, produced by well-known film makers. He was now a versatile and recognised actor.
Looking back now, he feels, "it was the best period of my life…a sort of romantic, idealistic phase where we dreamt of doing great work, of producing pure art without any commercial compromise."

Filmography

Films

Television Shows

Awards

Natya Gaurav Award
Year : 1996
Play Jallai Tuzi Preet
Kalnirnaya Award
Year : 1996
Play Jallai Tuzi Preet
Maharashtra Times Award
Year : 2005
Film Page 3
Hamlog Award
Year : 2005
Film Page3
Rashtriya Ratna Award
Year : 2006
Film Page 3
Kalarang Award
Year : 2009
Film Sarkar Raj / Urus
Shivaji Ganeshan Award
Year : 2009
Film Jogwa
V. Shantaram Award
Year : 2009
Film Jogwa
Baburao Painter Award
Year : 2009
Film Jogwa
Sanskriti Kaladarpan Award
Year : 2009
Film Jogwa
Maharashtra Times Award
Year : 2009
Film Jogwa
Contribution to his Profession
Maharashtra Ratna Puraskar
Year : 2010
Contribution to his Profession
Ninad Puraskar
Year : 2010