Veteran Actor-Filmmaker Amol Palekar To Be Honoured With META Lifetime Achievement Award 2026

Veteran actor and filmmaker Amol Palekar will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st edition of Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META). He will receive the award for his contribution to Indian theatre and cinema.

The 2026 edition of META, instituted by the Mahindra Group and produced by Teamwork Arts, is set to take place in New Delhi from March 19 to March 25, 2026. The theatre festival will have performances by some of India's renowned stage productions and will conclude with the awards ceremony.

With a career spanning over five decades, Palekar, 81, has worked in theatre, film, and television. He started his career in Marathi theater with Satyadev Dubey and later formed his own group, Aniket, in 1972. After a 25-year break from theater, he returned with the play Kusur in 2019.

His contributions to Hindi cinema is also immense. Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Chitchor (1976), Bhumika (1977), Baaton Baaton Mein (1979), and Gol Maal (1979), among others, are some of his iconic roles.

Palekar also directed films like Ankahee, Thodasa Rumani Ho Jaye, Bangarwadi, Daayraa, Anahat, Paheli and more.

In television, he directed serials such as Kachchi Dhoop, Mrignayani, Naquab, Paool Khuna and Krishna Kali.

He was last seen in Raj and DK's crime-thriller series Farzi (2023), with Shahid Kapoor, Vijay Sethupathi, Raashii Khanna, and others.

About META festival

This year META has received a record 422 submissions from theatre groups from more than 20 states and over 100 cities in nearly 60 languages and dialects. META Secretariat has shortlisted 10 productions to compete across 13 categories during the event.

The selected plays will be performed in Kamani Auditorium and Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, Delhi. The festival will end with the META Awards Night on March 25, at Kamani Auditorium.

The selected plays will have themes like mythology, politics, social change, devotion, and identity in languages like Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Hindustani, Sanskrit, Bundelkhandi, English, and even Gibberish.

The 2026 META jury panel include prominent personalities, including Rajit Kapur, Satish Alekar, Ila Arun, Amal Allana, and Anuradha Kapur.