The man who said no to Salman Rushdie

Time seems to have stood still in the sleepy Baptista Colony in Mumbai's Andheri suburb, that leads to the home of comedian Manmauji Mishra. Known for his signature bald head and smile, he's back from a sitting for his untitled film, the shooting of which will soon commence. "A friend of Sanjay Mishra, Hardik Mehta approached me for the role and I took it up," says Mishra who seems a bit tired. He reclines against a stack of pillows to speak. The humble dwelling belie the fact that he has done over 1,000 films. "Films happened by pure chance. I think it was written," says this diploma holder in Textile Engineering from the Government Textile Institute of Kanpur. "I worked as a technical advisor with several mills like Swan, Century, Empire for a year after I came to Bombay."

During one such shift at the Empire Mills in 1973, a watchman informed him that some big actor was outside and wanted to speak to someone in the mill. "I went out to find myself shaking hands with none other than the legend Mehmood." Mishra was intrigued. The legendary comedian (then at the peak of his career) was driving to Famous Studios when his Impala car had stalled. Concerned about leaving the car unattended in a desolate neighbourhood, he requested Mishra to allow it to be parked in the compound till his driver came to fetch it later.Before leaving, Mehmood thanked him and gave Mishra his card and asked him to meet at his bungalow. "After my shift, I decided to take up Mehmood bhai up on the offer and went over to his palatial bungalow situated on a hillock near what was then the Amber-Oscar cinema." The watchman rudely told him to leave saying saheb was busy.

"When I pleaded he raised his voice to berate me and I was about to leave, dejectedly," remembers Mishra. However, the raised voice had caught Mehmood's ears. He looked out from the window to see Mishra walking away.

"The same watchman came running to me and said, "Saheb has asked me to get you back." At the gate a barefoot Mehmood hugged and apologised to him and took him in. "The doors of my house will always be open for him," he informed the watchman. Inside, the entire cast and crew of Bombay to Goa were assembled and looks and costumes were being finalised. Since then, "I became good friends with comedians like Mukri, Bhagwan Dada, and Sunder who were regulars there. I remember meeting a very thin Amitabh Bachchan who, as a struggler, lived in the same house. Mehmood would encourage Bachchan to go about in one of his many cars. 'Abhi tum hero ho, gaadi mein ghuma karo,' he would tell him."

Mishra's jokes and mimicry saw Mehmood develop a liking for him. That began his bit appearances in films on the legend's recommendation. When Mehmood was being cast in Naukar (1979) with Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan (née Bhaduri) he insisted Mishra play his junior. "From then I went on to act in several films as his junior. Producers would line-up outside Mehmood's house to cast him given how he drew crowds. I got work only because of him."

It took him four years to discover the avatar that gave him such a long innings. "Kaushal Bharati was making Darinda with Sunil Dutt, Feroz Khan, Parveen Babi and others. He told me, 'Johnny Walker's character has a full beard and moustache with long hair as a sadhu. If we give you the same look as his assistant, you won't be recognised and it'll not help you find more work.' I was at a loss." Bharati asked him if he could go bald. "I went out to get tonsured at a barber on the footpath outside and came back in 10 minutes, only to find everyone on the sets including Sunil Dutt burst out laughing. That was my first role as a baldie."

Since then, there has been no looking back. Mishra went on to do a spate of hits like The Burning Train, Mahaan, Satte Pe Satta, Dost, Qatil, Mangal Pandey, Dil, Farishtey, Awwal Number, Khiladi, Baazigar, Aankhein, Dulhe Raja and Jhankaar Beats among others. "I was working 3-4 shifts daily and it got very hectic, so much so that I never grew my hair back again," he laughs. Soon he was holding the world record for doing over 1,000 parts as a bald man. He became so well-known that author Salman Rushdie reached out to him for an interview. "I had no idea who he was. I was busy that I gave him an appointment after six months.

"So in 1986, Rushdie met him with a photographer and cameraperson trailing me for two days from 6 am to late in the night when I slept," he remembers, "They were supposed to come the next day too, but Rushdie called to say that he had to be at Chhagan Bhujbal's bungalow. He asked me to come there saying he would interview us jointly. I refused. I said you can come if you want to or drop it, but I won't come anywhere." We try to detect any regret, but he says he leaves these things to destiny. "When Rushdie wrote about me in a magazine, he categorically mentioned how I'd refused to break my schedule to travel and meet him at the other end of the city." By the time Rushdie could submit the records to The Guinness Book of World Records like he had promised, The Satanic Verses controversy erupted. "By then the Limca Book of Records got wind of this and entered my name in their records."

He feels comedy as a genre has changed completely since he began. "Now you see the hero doing everything from being a villain to a comedian. People like Shakti Kapoor, Johnny Lever and Kader Khan have all been rendered jobless. Scripts are not written with these tracks anymore," he laments, but he admits that comedy is getting a fresh run because of TV and live performances. "Sitcoms are more real, so people enjoy these more than going to cinemas these days." He is tempted to try the new format, but his health holds him back. "This change has come when I'm nearing 75. Some of these comedians shoot round-the-clock in 15-18 hour shifts. I don't think I'll be able to or want to do such hectic work now."