DILIP KUMAR IN DALLAS
http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2014/06/dilip-kumars-autobiography-released.html
Dilip Kumar is an Indian
Phenomenon and is one of the three original icons of Indian cinema; they set
the standards of acting in India. Indeed, he is the only living legend of India Cinema.
In the last 50 years, almost every major actor has taken pride in acting like
Dilip Kumar - from Amitabh Bachhan to Rajendra Kumar and several in between.
His autobiography is
released now, and in the synopsis, two things caught my eye.
The story he tells about
his sister dressing down his barber for sitting in the drawing room, and
Dilip apologizing to the Barber for the mistreatment and having words with
his sister.
I see a whole lot more about this man here - humility for one, and treating
people with dignity and respect and considering others on par. The age old saying, great men are humble beings is so true.
Some 20 years ago he was here in Dallas with AFMI - two things happened during
his stay.
First he was booked in Richardson Omni Hotel, probably for proximity to the
venue, it was not a five star hotel - Taj Bhai and I were assigned to take care
of them, when we checked them in - Saira Banu went around checking the
pillows... she was not happy with the room size and its furnishings and made it
known, she was looking to be in a five star hotel.
Indeed, once Lata Mangeshkar was placed in Lowes Anatole for
precisely that reason, and a few others have done it too. Amitabh Bacchan
would have demanded the whole floor.
I was absorbing it all, and before we could do something about it, Dilip said
to Saira - this program is for charity, the money saved is going to benefit the
education of children, let's stay here.... Need I say more about his humility?
Second item involved Raj Sharma - a budding actor of Dallas. I was in charge of
setting up meetings with Dilip including the media. So, Raj walks in as scheduled, touches
Dilip's feet and sits down on the floor - a Indian tradition to show respect to
the elders... within a few seconds Raj said to Dilip - that he is
going to acting school and will be an actor soon... amazing thing happened
then.! Dilip got up, gave a hand to Raj, pulled him up and asked him to sit
face to face across on the other chair.... and said, "We are now on
par".
There were a few more
rich conversations in those 2 or three days with Dilip, and will write some
other time. In the limo we spent nearly 4 hours on the road, and had some great conversations. Dilip and Saira were in Bangalore before they came here, that was a historic week in India - every where Milk was seen flowing from Ganesh and they had just seen that... then I had a conversation about Pluralism and some of the remarks he made, made me a greater fan of him. I was completely taken back receiving Saira Banu at the airport, she was the kashimir ki kali hoon may, mujh se na rootho babuji... and I saw the auntiji in Saira and wondered for a long time about our images of people years ago... and thought of Rip Van Winkle story.Mike Ghouse is an Indian American Public Speaker, thinker and a
writer committed to offer pluralistic solutions on issues of the
day. www.MikeGhouse.net
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Why Dilip Kumar refused to work with Nargis in Mother India
Arindam Mukherjee
New Delhi, June 16, 2014 | UPDATED 19:36 IST
Film actor Dilip Kumar's
autobiography is a delight for lovers of Hindi cinema. Titled 'Dilip
Kumar: The Substance And The Shadow', and narrated by veteran journalist
and writer Udaytara Nayar, the book is rich with trivia and anecdotes
from the life of the veteran actor. In this book, the thespian opened
his heart for the first time to speak about acting, family, co-workers
and lovers, the people who influenced and changed his life.
Here are 10 nuggets, among plenty else, from the book:
1.
On his first appearance on the screen in Jwar Bhata: "When I saw myself
on the screen, I asked myself: 'Is this how I am going to perform in
the films that may follow if the studio wishes to continue my
services?!' My response was: 'No.' I realised that this was a difficult
job and, if I had to continue, I would have to find my own way of doing
it. And the critical question was: HOW?"
2. On his love for Madhubala
"Did it happen with me? Was I in love with Madhubala as the newspaper
and magazines reported at that time? As an answer to this oft-repeated
question straight from the horse's mouth, I must admit that I was
attracted to her both as a fine co-star and as a person who had some of
the attributes I hoped to find in a woman at that age and time... She,
as I said earlier, was very sprightly and vivacious and, as such, she
could draw me out of my shyness and reticence effortlessly
3. On
his break-up with Madhubala, the actor says the relationship soured
during the making of Mughal-e-Azam. Remembering the most sensuous scene
from the movie he says: "The outcome was that halfway through the
production of 'Mughal-e-Azam' we were not even talking to each other.
The classic scene with the feather coming between our lips, which set a
million imaginations on fire, was shot when we had completely stopped
even greeting each other."
4. The actor refused a role in Mother
India because he had romanced Nargis in his previous two films. "When
Mehboob [Khan] sahab discussed Mother India with me in the early 1950s, I
thought it was a brilliant and timely concept and it had to be made at
any cost. The role he could offer me was one of the sons of heroine
Nargis and I pointed out that it would be an incongruous casting after
all the romancing she and I had done in earlier films, such as Mela
(1948) and Babul (1950).
5. On his love for outdoor shooting, he
reminisced the making of Bimal Roy's Madhumati. "To us - Pran, Johnny
Walker, Bimalda, Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee) and me - the time after
'pack-up' was very interesting. We got over the pressure of the day's
work by spending the evenings in cheerful conversation and poetic
exchanges while the cooks in the unit readied our dinner. Pran and I got
along famously talking in Punjabi while Bimalda and Hrishida tried to
outdo us in Bengali... It used to be a little awkward the following day
when Pran had to brim with hostility as the negative character in the
script. I must say he was amazingly true to the character Ugranarayan."
6.
A stickler for rehearsals before his performance, Dilip Kumar says that
actress "Devika Rani had advised me and all the actors she employed at
Bombay Talkies that it was important to rehearse till a level of
competence to perform was achieved. In the early years, it was a
necessity for me to rehearse, but, even in the later years, her advice
stayed with me when I had to match a benchmark I had mentally set for
myself. In fact, I am aware that I am known for the number of rehearsals
I do for even what seems to be a simple scene."
7. On his famous
hairstyle, and his barber: "The poor man [his barber] always had a
problem with my hair which grew at jet speed, demanding fortnightly
trimming. He was constantly crestfallen by my hair's refusal to be
combed back and kept in place the way he wanted...The barber came home
one afternoon and I had instructed him to wait if I did not reach the
house on time. He took the liberty of sitting in the drawing room and my
eldest sister took it as impudence on his part and gave him a dressing
down, which was in progress when I made my entry. I apologised to him
and I found him more bewildered than angry. Later, I took up the matter
with Sakina Aapa [elder sister] and we had an unpleasant spat."
8.
The evening of 23 August 1966, when Dilip Kumar met Saira Banu and fell
in love: "When I alighted from my car and entered the beautiful garden
that leads to the house, I can still recall my eyes falling on Saira
standing in the foyer of her new house looking breathtakingly beautiful
in a brocade sari. I was taken aback, because she was no longer the
young girl I had consciously avoided working with because I thought she
would look too young to be my heroine. She had indeed grown to full
womanhood and was in reality more beautiful than I thought she was."
9.
The actor learned how to play a sitar for the movie Kohinoor (1960).
The movie "will remain etched in my mind for the efforts I made to learn
to play the sitar. It was another chance for me to test my flair for
the comedy genre in acting... I enjoyed the making of Kohinoor also for
the camaraderie that grew between me and Meena Kumari after Azaad as we,
who were known for our forte with emotional drama and tragedy, came
together for another light-hearted film.
10. Amitabh Bachchan was
mesmerised by Dilip Kumar's performance in Gunga Jamuna. "Recently,
while we were chatting casually, Amitabh Bachchan mentioned to me that
he had repeatedly viewed Gunga Jumna as a student in Allahabad to
understand how a Pathan was effortlessly playing a rustic character of
UP and speaking the dialect with such ease," said the actor in his book.
