“Sangeeta, the blind singer in the unending lanes of Dalmandi, meets four other women.  Noor Bibi of Satara, a symbol of stability, Premchand’s Nirmala, Sindhu, from the pages of Abhisarika, eternally yearning for her lover. In their unique bonding, the women consolidate power and define their identity in a man’s world. Then there is Shakuntala, inspired from the poetry of Kalidasa who resides in a small hut of Kerala’s jungle and it is here that Shakuntala meets her lover, they unite in a Gandharva vivah. Isn’t it a unique story?”

 To be continued

Our second meeting, was when I went to interview him at his home in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai. While he talked about his life, his domesticity buzzed in the background, children opened and closed the refrigerator, his daughter hummed a song and his cook chopped and cleaned in the kitchen as the pressure cooker whistled impatiently.  

It was a normal day in an extra-ordinary life and the majestic canvas with all the paints and brushes placed in the center of the living room was part of it. I have memories of him as an artiste and as a filmmaker. His film Gajgamini released in the year 2000, didn’t succeed because his vision was ahead of his time.

I remember him stopping by my office, narrating the idea, said Gajgamini was born out of the black brick wall of Pandharpur. The muse manifests herself into four different characters. “The wall is the metaphor and the narrative the bridges that binds time, people and spaces”. I heard him in silence, stared at his snow-white long hair and the trademark cane comfortably resting against my desk. Black coffee was served on my desk and Hussain saab continued…

“MF Hussain is as big an artiste as Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso and Van Gogh only we don’t realize it now” said Shabana Azmi while inaugurating his exhibition in Dubai. The year was 2004.

In the following years, a controversy related to his painting blew out of proportion and Hussain was forced out of India. He died in June 2011 a lonely man in a foreign country, far away from his family and loved ones.

In my long career I met MF Hussain a couple times. The first time, when I was visiting Bakul Patel and he dropped by suddenly. The first thing MF Hussain did on arrival anywhere, was to go the washroom and clean his feet. Everyone knows that he traveled barefoot everywhere, to parties, to funerals, to movies and to restaurants.

To be continued

Sunil Dutt had slight temperature the previous night; he had spent all day packing all his belongings into shift into their new home next week. He had been calling all his friends personally to attend their housewarming party, but the party did not happen. Dutt said goodbye before shifting into his new home. He had been writing his memoirs and they were left incomplete on his desk.

His children fulfilled both his incomplete dreams. His body covered in the Indian flag was departed from from Imperial Heights his new home and his daughters, Priya and Namrata completed his memoirs and released it at a grand event in Mumbai.

In the coming years, the Dutt siblings face many hardships, Sanjay Dutt battled with more misfortunes and Priya Dutt battled with perils of a political career but life goes on and as long as the sibling and all the children are together under one roof on separate floors, they know they can count upon each other.

concluded

Sunil Dutt and Nargis built their careers on merit, Nargis was14 when her mother launched her in 1943 Taqdeer while Dutt started on Radio Ceylon before his debut in 1955 Railway Platform. Everyone knows about their love story and the fire on the sets of Mother India. Life was bliss until 1979 when Nargis rushed back from Delhi suspected of having jaundice. She was taken to Breach Candy Hospital and the next day, flown to New York, admitted to Sloane Kettering Cancer Center.

Everyone assumed she would soon return soon but she returned only a year later after innumerable surgery.

Life fell apart for the Dutts post the demise of Nargis and it took years for the family to put together the broken pieces but tragedies visit uninvited and so that morning when Sunil Dutt did not wake up at his usual hour, his staff contacted the children. Everyone came rushing but it was too late.

To be continued

The villagers knew that Papaji always kept his promise. He promised the villagers he would showcase Mandoli on the big screen and shot Dakoo Aur Jawaan there, in fact, Reena Roy and Vinod Khanna stayed at his family home.  He promised his mother he would build a memorial in her honour and he did, on the banks of river Yamuna. When he died, Sunil Dutt was working on his autobiography and his children felt they owed it to their father to complete the book and together accomplished Mr and Mrs Sunil Dutt a story heart breaks!

They had so much in common, both were born in the year 1929. She as Fatima in Calcutta to a Muslim mother Jaddanbai, a thumri singer and father Uttamchand Mohanchand, a Mohyal Brahmin. He was born as Balraj Dutt in Khurd, Jhelum to landlord Devan Raghunath and his wife Kulwant Devi, both Mohyal Brahmins. While Sunil Dutt had a troubled childhood reared by his widowed mother who faced many hardships to raise three children, Nargis was raised in the lap of luxuries and easy success.

Both remained committed to responsibilities, Nargis carried her personal staff, driver Kasam bhai and maid Ameena to her new home, whom her children addressed as nana-nani and Sunil Dutt was the father figure for all his siblings.

To be continued

May and June are months associated with Nargis and Sunil Dutt. Nargis was born on 3 May and died on 1 June. Sunil Dutt was born on 6 June and died on 25 May. Their anniversaries are as entwined as their lives. Sunil Dutt once told me that every time he returned from work, Nargis would be waiting on the parapet of their garden overlooking the sea, “It was her favorite spot and after she was gone, I would often sit there, just to feel her presence.” 

When you lose a beloved, the mind rewinds to their smallest details. In 2007 the Dutts had resurrected their bungalow into a swanky building and were looking forward to shifting there. The family had planned a grand housewarming coinciding with Sunil Dutt’s birthday and he called all his friends personally a few days before the big day, Sunil Dutt passed away in his sleep!

They say time heals all wounds but some wounds never fade. For the film fraternity he was Dutt saab, for the villagers of Mandoli, he was Pappaji. Ever since he migrated from Pakistan with his mother Kulwanti in 1948, Balraj Dutt remained connected to his roots. When his debut film was released, he traveled the entire village by a truck to Lakshmi Theatre, Yamuna Nagar and kept up with this tradition for all his new films.

To be continued

Before the pandemic I had bumped into her Madhuri Dixit inside an elevator as we headed for the same screening and she looked genuinely delighted to see me. So, was I and asked if she was content with her journey of marriage and movies? She flashed the famous radiant smile, said, “Good or bad times, I’m always content as long as I’m creative and constructive”. What about money, not everyone is as fortunate as her?

“Well, I’m not obsessed with possessions, money is important, it instills security, particularly for a woman, it provides a roof above the head, makes you liberated but beyond a point, money is just paper. I’m a believer of destiny, nothing in life happens just like that, there is meaning to every encounter and I submit to that drama of life.”

She is right, she submitted to destiny and it brought her back to motherland, show business and to dance, here’s wising a dancing year in advance.