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I had no clue about Kamal Bhasin’s acting abilities. Neither did I know that he had any inclination or interest in acting. I had always met him in Doordarshan, sometimes for a week at stretch because both he and I were nominated members of the Public Broadcaster’s Central Film selection Committee. Our task: to censor the already censored feature films and knock of scenes of sex and violence and subsequently certify the film for family viewing.

This was actually a money minting department. Every film telecast on Doordarshan earned the producer a decent amount of money and hence it was in his interest that the film be telecast on DD. We in turn were paid a measly Rs 250 for the three-hour viewing. Later the fee was raised to Rs 750 and finally Rs 1000 I think. Tea and biscuits were on the house. That the tea tasted like dishwater was another matter. Ask for something cold to drink and files had to be moved for a sanction. Kamal and I often opted for coffee and samosas from the canteen. He never let me pay.

The films which were cleared for telecast were also graded: Those given “A” earned more money than those graded as B plus and B and if you certified the film in C category it could not be telecast. Hence a producer had a stake on the film being cleared as well as its grade. Here was the catch: Pliable members could go soft on grading and accrue financial benefits to the Producer for a consideration, financial or otherwise, while tough nuts would not budge an inch. Given that there was no interaction between the Producers and selection committee members, it was DD personnel who would throw in gentle hints either to go soft or hit hard on a particular film. Kamal, I recall, was always enraged at subtle suggestions and would often express his displeasure publicly. Some months later, we figured that we would be asked to preview only those films in which DD had no stake. In other words, the Producer had “no setting” to use DD’s terminology. Simply put this means that everything was above board. DD had the option of handpicking members for previewing a particular film given that the Selection Committee had a dozen odd members and at a given point of time only three were called. So people like Kamal didn’t always make it.

Kamal Bhasin

But for that I knew very little about Kamal. Definitely not that he had acting capabilities. Or that he had played a significant role in the recently released and decently acclaimed Hindi film Teree Sang. He was calling me to attend the premier of the film, which I unfortunately missed.  But that is nothing new. Kamal is very good with invitations particularly the much coveted shows of Delhi including the annual International Trade Fair at the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Even before I can dial him, he dispatches invitations for the Fair, complete with the much in demand car passes, which are not issued easily.   So that is the Kamal I know. Not the Robin Uncle in Teree Sang or the film star who is slated to appear in Shahid-Kareena Kapoor starrer Milenge Milenge or in some more films that he is signed up for or the ones he has done before. The fact that I have known Kamal for years and not known about this aspect of his life, perhaps the most important, speaks volumes about his modesty and humility.

When he was telling me about the premiere that I missed, he mentioned how Anupam Kher had requested that he come up on stage: “Kamal jahan bhi ho stage par aao” Kamal recalled in an emotion choked voice: “And when I did he hugged me and said that I had played Robin uncle’s role really well” Kamal told me.

Kamal’s mentioning Anupam Kher took me back to his initial days in films. His and well-known director Mahesh Bhatt’s. Both Kher and Bhatt had come to me before their first film was released: Saraansh and Arth respectively. Bhatt came to me with journalist-editor Pritish Nandy’s reference. I knew Pritish as a poet more than I did as a journalist. We would often discuss what he wrote and I attempted to, over Chinese food.  Within a few years we lost touch and I don’t even know if he remembers me. I of course do because he took the trouble of reading pages and pages of my verse and actually told me that it was good. I am not so sure.

Anyhow, Mahesh Bhatt, then not so well known wanted to meet me and tell me about his film Arth: his debut film I think, and later a hit. It was a Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi starrer. I called Mahesh to my office in HT around 11 am. He came 10 minutes earlier and said: “Pritish Nandy said you would write about me and my film “.

I did not write on films or directors but I thought for Pritish’s sake I would give it a shot. It took Mahesh a day and a half to narrate every scene of that rather tiring story. He was full of it and I very, very bored. I wrote about Mahesh Bhatt and Arth. The film did well. He was gracious enough to tell everyone that my write up proved lucky. In fact before his Saraansh was premiered he told Anupam Kher that if I agreed to write on him he would be launched a star with his debut film. Kher called me and said: “Mahesh Bhatt told me that I would be a star if you wrote about me”. No truth in this but I agreed to meet Kher on the eve of the Saraansh premier at Delhi Taj Palace hotel or Maurya. I don’t quite remember which. It was an interesting interaction: about an hour. Kher was nervous like Bhatt was before Arth was released. Kher’s was a bold and unconventional role, like the film itself: he played a father who had lost his son and was running from pillar to post to get his remains. A touching film and among the best that Kher has done. That evening Kher made it: the film showcased his talent and within two odd hours launched a first rate actor. That Kher undoubtedly is. I may not say that about many of his current films but Saraansh is evidence enough. Also about what Mahesh Bhatt could do with his actors: work wonders. May not be able to say that about him now but could then.

Many years elapsed between Saraansh and my contacting Kher again. I was in Mumbai and not sure if he would even remember me. He was by then a successful and busy actor and except for that one interaction and perhaps his letter of thanks after my write up, we were not in touch. During my Mumbai visit many years later I called Kher, dead sure that he would never, never be able to place me. Those were not days of cell phones and even if they were I would not have his cell number. Like I don’t now. Kher was out I carelessly left a message not expecting him to call back. Next morning he called and asked if he could meet me. I was touched at his warmth and humility. He was, as I said, busy and successful. I was leaving that afternoon and said that meeting may not be possible. He asked me my flight and said he would try to meet me at the airport. I was somewhat taken aback because Kher came across quite contrary to the stuff film stars are made of, especially the successful ones:  vanity and inaccessibility. I tried to dissuade him but he said that if he could get away from his shooting he would come to the airport.

Anupam Kher

He didn’t and I left. Dismissed the interaction as his being polite. I did not doubt his intention or disbelieved him when he said that he would come to the airport. Kher didn’t seem that kind of a guy.

A few days later, I received an inland letter. Post cards and inland letters were common as means of communication then.  It was a hand written note, actually an apology …something to the effect that he reached the airport but missed me by a few minutes. It was signed Anupam Kher.

That note brought me in touch with Anupam Kher the human being: a man who values his days of struggle and acknowledges every person who he has interacted with: irrespective of what he or she did or did not. I watch Hindi films and many in which Anupam Kher is cast. Everytime I do, my mind takes me back to the inland letter and his gesture of driving to the airport. To my mind it was not so much to see me but to acknowledge that I had interacted with him at that point in time when he was just starting out. That is what I will always remember about Anupam Kher more than his roles or his performances.

So when Kamal Bhasin told me about Kher calling him on stage, I was not surprised. Kher is that kind of a man who would go lengths to make people feel comfortable and let them know that he cares and acknowledges their role in his life: however small or insignificant.

(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Posted by Kumkum Chadha on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 8:38 pm 
Filed under India · Tagged Anupam Kher, Bollywood, Bollywood actors, Kamal Bhasin, Mahesh Bhatt

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