On 05 February Rauf Ahmed, a prominent editor who influenced the course of film journalism passed away in his sleep at his residence in Mumbai. On 06 August was Ahmed’s 76th birth anniversary. My mind rewinds to his final journey, when his daughter Namrata, said to me, “My daughter and I have decided that we will not mourn him but rather celebrate his life”. I salute their spirit and this week’s blog will celebrate my happy memories of my one and only editor, Rauf Ahmed.
I met Rauf Ahmed in the summer of 1977 I think, when he was editor, Cinema Journal, film weekly of The Free Press Journal. On our very first meeting he assigned me a weekly column titled Casually Speaking modelled after the famous Deviyani Chaubal’s Frankly Speaking. My column featured below Bikram Vohra’s column space, and therefore I came into the spotlight without trying for it.
One of the earliest stars I became friends with was Sarika, an upcoming star after the mega success of Geet Gaata Chal. Her mother had invited me home and persuaded her daughter to give me a sensational interview that I had very casually submitted to Rauf Ahmed at his office. Ahmed did not have the time to read the story instantly but called me late evening to find out what triggered this conversation. He was making sure that the interview was authentic and my answer stupid as it sounds now, was ‘She spoke, I wrote’.
To be continued