Q: Is it true that you got paid about three thousand rupees for Saat Hindustani?
A: I got paid about five thousand, perhaps lesser. But it was a strange feeling of elation because I was working in films for the first time and on top of that then there was the opportunity of working with Abbassaab. Everybody knew him and the films he made.
He also had a column on the last page of Blitz newspaper which I used to read regularly. Abbassaab was a socialist and his daily living was also based on his beliefs and philosophy. He would never live in luxury and talk about the common man. He was an unbelievable personality. Even when he was making the film, he never made anybody feel like a star by giving him special treatment. We travelled to Goa for the shoot in third class. We stayed in government circuit houses and all in the same room. There was no electricity and we had lanterns with us. We would all sleep on the floor, including Abbassaab.
Q: There was a period of struggle after Saat Hindustani…
A: Everybody goes through such a period. We can’t blame anybody for this. A lot of money goes into making films and if you have never seen my work, why will you give me a job?Things start getting better when you get small roles and people start talking about you. Like Dutt saab took me in Reshma Aur Shera, Abbassaab introduced me to Hrishikesh Mukherjee who said, ‘Okay, I will give you a role in Anand’. In Parwana, I worked with Om Prakashji. He liked my work and spoke about me to some more people.
Q: You have seen both success and failure. What is the learning that you have gained from them?
A: Babuji used to tell me man ka ho to accha, aur na ho to zyada achha. He told me that if something doesn’t turn out the way that you want then perhaps God wants it that way, so that is why is it’s even better.
Q: What about Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s influence?
A: A lot of people still think that I did the maximum number of films with Manmohan Desai or Prakash Mehra, but they are with Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The kind of films he made can’t be seen today…You could neither label them as art films nor could you say that they were commercial cinema. There used to be the truth of life in them, which is a very hard thing to achieve. People only talk about his hit films but Hrishida’s films Guddi, Abhimaan, Milee, Chhupke Chhupke. Bemisal, or Jurmana were something else. His vision was clear because he was a good editor; even before the scene was shot, he had actually edited it in his mind.
Q: You worked with Dilip Kumar in Shakti. How influenced were you by him?
A: I have been his fan since childhood. Waheedaji and he are my idols. Nobody in India can match his acting ability. The actors who came in after Dilipsaab are lying if they claim that they have not been influenced by him. I still watch Dilipsaab and get to learn something from him everyday. Kitni bariki ke saat har kirdaar par mehnat karte the.
Q: Newer generations feel that the ultimate in acting is Amitabh Bachchan…
A: I would tell them that they are mad. They should watch Dilipsaab and some other big stars of that era.
Q: You are being modest….
A: No, actors then were so natural. Woh baat nahin rahi. We still try to be natural like them. With superior technology, graphics, computer graphics, we look better and more beautiful. But look at Dilipsaab, Rajsaab, Motilal, Balraj Sahni — how they used to portray their roles so easily and so naturally.
Q: Is there a role you covet?
A: If I get a chance I want to do Ganga Jamuna. I used to wonder that Dilipsaab who used to stay in a city like Mumbai, could manage to speak and behave like people in UP so well. Because I also hail from Uttar Pradesh, I could understand the nuances of the character, and admire Dilipsaab’s effort even more. It was startling.
Q: Would you say that your biggest mistake was joining politics?
A: I wouldn’t say mistake. We were friends with the family since the time of my parents. Sarojini Naidu liked my father and took him to meet Panditji. I thought since a bad accident has happened in the family, we should all stand by them. I was asked to contest the elections, I did. After entering politics I found that it’s a game and I was not a good player. Before I put my own inadequacies on the people who had chosen me to represent them, I thought that I should leave the game. So I accepted defeat and bowed out.
Q: It might have affected the friendship….
A: Not exactly. We were always family friends and we will always be that way.
Q: You still have a lot of friends like Amar Singh. Are you a very loyal friend and like such loyalty in return?
A: If you are making a friend thinking that you will have to give something and will get something in return, then I think that you are not doing the right thing. We become friends because we like certain things about each other. When you give it a number or an expression, then that is not friendship. That’s a deal. When I consider somebody a friend, he is a friend. When I met Amar Singh, he was not where he is today. And neither was I. He has now become a member of my family.
(NB: The interview published has been translated from Hindi but every care has been taken to convey the nuance of the answers.)
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