Yesterday was Anupam Kher’s birthday and today is Women International Day  so I present the actor and the female gaze.

In Saransh, his wife Rohini Hattangadi and he give shelter to a young couple in their home and when they discover that Soni Razdan is pregnant, the couple is convinced that the unborn is the soul of their departed son.  In Vijaya Mehta’s Rao Saheb Rao, a young barrister, returns from England with progressive ideas to reform his village. He is sympathetic and attracted to a young widow/ Tanvi Azmi and we are made to believe that he will marry her and set an example for others but he is unable to translate his ideals into action.

In Tezaab, Shyam Lal lives off the earnings of his daughter/ Madhuri Dixit, a dancer and when she opposes him, he gets physically violent with her. In Sansar Kher after a conflict with his older son, divides the mansion with a line drawn in the centre of the hall, separating Raj Babbar and Rekha from the rest of the family but in a crisis, Kher’s wife, Seema Deo has to trespass the line and aid her daughter-in-law and Anupam Kher isn’t willing to forgive her.

Mahesh Bhatt’s Daddy was about an alcoholic father/ Anupam Kher struggling to give up drinking for the sake of his daughter/ Pooja Bhatt, the character rises and falls and rises again determined to gain his self-respect and win back the love of his daughter. In Lamhe he is the friend who advises Sridevi to unload her feelings to Anil Kapoor whom she secretly loves but cannot share her feelings with anybody. Anupam Kher senses her conflict and supports her without judgements.

But Yash Chopra was one up on him and cleverly shot multiple scenes with the actor in the prevailing time thereby making it impossible for him to escape the continuity. By the time Rishi realized what had happened it was too late and it is a different story that by the time he returned from his trip, Rishi was looking forward to shooting Kabhi Kabhie.

Today, Kabhi Kabhie is unimaginable without Rishi Kapoor and for that matter without Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor or Raakhee. Neetu Singh played Waheeda Rehman’s illegitimate daughter and Simi Garewal- Parikshit Sahni played Neetu’s foster parents. It is so many years but the songs and the scenes of the film are entrenched in our memories.

Till as long as he lived, Kabhi Kabhie remained close to Yash Chopra’s heart and even though he has made so romantic films, there is none to match the fragrance of Kabhi Kabhie. He always said, “It’s not money but love that drives people and even as we talk, somebody, somewhere, is expressing love to someone, somewhere”

When the film was getting cast, while the older set of actors confirmed agreements easily, Yash Chopra had a tough time convincing Rishi Kapoor for the role. He declined the role outright, saying he wasn’t willing to play second fiddle to senior heroes. There was no other big star in Rishi Kapoor generation to suit the part and Chopra was seriously worried. He pleaded Shashi Kapoor to influence his nephew and Kapoor promised to bring Rishi on the sets and he did. 

Before the long outdoor in Kashmir, there was a short schedule in Mumbai to make the team comfortable and Shashi Kapoor reported for his shoot accompanied by a sulking Rishi. The young actor was literally bullied into shooting a scene by the older men. Rishi was flying out of the country next morning for a month and determined to not return to Kabhi Kabhie sets for sure.

To be continued

Chopra commenced the shooting of Deewar and in between launched Kabhi Kabhie with a grand mahurat. In 1975 Deewar was released and declared superhit and soon after, the unit left for month long schedule to Kashmir for the shooting.

“Those days were different; the unit traveled and worked together like a large family and shooting was more like a picnic” recalled Yash Chopra in one of the many interviews I did with him in my long career. He said he was always exploring ideas and one idea that haunted him was about what happens to a person who marries a partner he does not love? The poet/ Amitabh Bachchan in his film Kabhi Kabhie become a bitter man, while Pooja/ Raakhee falls in love with her husband/ Shashi Kapoor.

“Most Indian women are like Pooja; they place their family before themselves but men react differently and Kabhi Kabhie was about perspectives and how they affect our quality of life. It was also about different generations expressing love in different ways. So, while the Amitabh-Raakhee’s romance is shayrana laced with Shahir Ludhianvi’s poetry, Shashi Kapoor and Raakhee are a cheerful couple and Neetu Singh -Rishi Kapoor more aggressive and energetic in expression.”

To be continued

Forty-five years ago, on 27 February, Yash Chopra released its first multi starrer, Kabhi Kabhie. The filmmaker had been obsessed with the subject for a long time and shared the idea with many heroes, including Rajesh Khanna during the making of Daag but the film was finally offered to Amitabh Bachchan.

Originally the film was to begin shooting in 1974 and release in 1975 but the combination of so many star dates was getting difficult and, in the meantime, Salim Javed shared a script with Chopra that blew his brains, Deewar.

The trio together went to meet Amitabh Bachchan on his sets and Bachchan was so enamored by the idea of the don that he suggested to Chopra that they shoot Deewar before Kabhi Kabhie and that’s what happened.

To be continued

Today, when I watch Nutan’s old films I am overwhelmed with her magical moments on the celluloid.  I want to turn the clock and bring her back to ask her what was she thinking when Shubha Khote was singing to her ‘Baat baat mein rutho na’ in Seema. Were they real tears or mixed with glycerin when Sunil Dutt whispered ‘Jalte hain jiske liye’ over the telephone in Sujata? What was she feeling romancing the rain with ‘Kali ghata chaye mora jeeya ghabraye’ and who taught her to flirt with the moon in ‘Mora gora aang lay le’? 

I want to tell her that she boarded the wrong boat in Bandini for had she chosen Dharmendra; she would have lived happily ever after. I want to tell her that she was priceless in ‘Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar’ Paying Guest because even though the song is rendered by Dev Anand what stays with me are her twinkling eyes. I want to say so many things, will you give me an opportunity Nutan?

Concluded

Another decade passed by and one day, I bumped into journalist and Nutan’s close friend and confidante, Lalita Tamhane. Lalita told me that she was writing a book on the actor in Marathi but was not sure if she would be able to complete it.

Why is that, I asked her, ‘Because she is suffering from cancer and has very little time’ responded Lalita breaking down, “She has given so many years to cinema, so many unforgettable films and isn’t it strange that nobody visits her, inquiries after her? Why is showbusiness is so cruel?’

Tamhane’s words stayed with me.  She had struck a raw nerve, ageing is cruel and ailing old people are very easily forgotten though I’m not sure if we forget them or the family does not want invaders, probably a combination of both but the fact of the matter is that is that we cherish people only after they are gone and that’s particularly true of our legendary artistes.

To be continued

As hours went by, Nutan became refreshingly candid and discussed other journalists with me. ‘Most of them come with a set of prepared questions and never check their facts. They want controversies, make allegations and misquote you without a care in the world. “I don’t need to explain my work, my films to them’.  I told her I watched her interview on Bimal Roy on Doordarshan the previous evening and loved the way she described the crucial scene in Bandini.  She smiled, ‘Bimalda was a master craftsman and a great story teller. What Kalyani is going through before poisoning the patient is portrayed through a welding scene in the background’.

Nutan discussed Sujata and untouchability too but I’m not sure if I fully understood what she meant at that time, but the conversation and her melodious voice stayed with me for a long, long time and yet we never crossed paths. We met again, almost decade later, at a grand party organized by Subhash Ghai for Meri Jung and Nutan was there accompanied by her husband Rajneesh Bahl but they did not mingle with anyone, sat in a corner all by themselves and left early.

To be continued