Amir Khan won’t just launch a book on the work of his uncle, filmmaker Nasir Hussain on October 22, he will also write a foreword for it. The book, titled Music, Masti, Modernity — The Cinema of Nasir Hussain, has been written by journalist Akshay Manwani (who earlier wrote a Sahir Ludhianvi biography). In attendance will be director Mansoor Khan (Nasir’s son) and Imran Khan (Nasir’s grandson) along with the rest of the Khan clan.
Hussain is best known for hits like Teesri Manzil, Hum Kisise Kum Nahi and Yaadon Ki Baraat among other films. A screening of Teesri Manzil will precede the launch. The film completes 50 years and the book will be launched as a tribute.
Says Manwani, “I didn’t have to convince Aamir at all to write the foreword. He readily agreed. There was absolutely no problem on that front. And besides the foreword, Aamir facilitated a lot of my meetings with many industry-insiders, who had worked with Nasir saab. Aamir was very generous with his time. I interviewed him about five times, with a couple of those interviews lasting for two hours each.”
He adds, “I also reached out to people who blog on yesteryear Hindi cinema and film scholars. I spoke to National-Award winning authors, Jerry Pinto and Balaji Vittal. I also went to the National Film Archive of India in Pune where I got a lot of information on Hussain. This book has been a real labour of love and several people contributed in making it happen.”
What Aamir wrote: Excerpts
I feel very privileged for one more reason: I got to work under Chachajaan. I quit my formal education after completing junior college and started working with him as an assistant director. This brought me even closer to him. For four years I spent every waking moment with him. I sat in on all his meetings (creative and otherwise), music sessions with Pancham Uncle and Majrooh Sa’ab, business meetings with distributors and financiers. I travelled with him, ate with him, watched films with him, gave him his medicine, discussed everything under the sun with him.
Those four years were one of my biggest learnings ... my college! Working with him I got to see his professional side, and it was exactly the same as his personal side. He was very much the same person: jovial, full of fun, sharp sense of humour. His sets were like a picnic. Everyone working in good humour. The mood and atmosphere of any working space is created by the boss. And what a boss. Talented, kind, thoughtful, caring, intelligent, always cracking jokes. The only thing I discovered about him at work which I had not noticed at home was his leadership quality. Chachajaan was a natural leader, and everyone loved to follow him. He had a very quiet aggressive side to him, but which was never negative. It was a life force which propelled him.
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