BARJATYAS , YASH CHOPRA ,DEV ANAND ,GULZAR AUR WOH ANJAANA RAAHI... BY ALI PETER JOHN

Some good people and many bad people (the number of the latter keeps growing ) wonder why I keep bringing my mother into some of the pieces I write and how I wish I could tell them all that it is my humble way of paying my tribute to my simple but great mother who I lost more than fifty - five years ago - Ali Peter John

I would not have been if she would not have brought me into this world and I would certainly not be what I am if it was not for her constant support , strength and inspiration even though she was an ordinary woman who didn't even have a formal education .

She was more worried about me than her other two sons and was concerned about what I would do in a world where man would bite man. She however couldn't fulfill her dream for me as she died leaving me an orphan when I was fifteen.

I am nearing seventy now and my greatest regret in life is that I don't have my mother to see what I have tried to achieve in life.

The few stories below would have delighted my mother and I give you the stories to judge for yourself if what the boy who was his poor mothers son has been a kind of success or not...

I was sitting in my office at the Express Towers when I received a call from Mr.Sudhir Rahate , the Public Relations Officer of Rajshri Pictures. He asked me if I was free the next afternoon at 3.PM.

I wanted to say ,"Arre baba , apun ke paas time hi time hai", but the he talked to me with a certain kind of respect stopped me from saying anything like that and I asked him what the matter was .

He said the Rajshri family wanted me to see their new film,"Hum Apke Hain Kon "in their preview theatre at Prabhadevi . I told him I would be there.

I had heard some learned people talk about the film as a "shaadi ka antakshri" and calling it other frivolous names, but I wanted to know the truth about it myself and so I reached"Bhavana", the old building in which the Rajshris had their offices and the preview theatre on two floors.

I was taken by absolute surprise when all the Barjatya brothers and Sooraj Kumar Barjatya, the director of the film were waiting for me as if I was some VIP. They were all humility personified and after some hot tea and biscuits, I was led into the theatre.

I waited for some other guests , but the only man who came in was Seth Tarachand Barjatya , the founder of the Rajshri empire and I literally held my breath because I had heard reliable stories about how he had come to Bombay with nothing and how he had built his empire , which was so much like the story of Ramnath Goenka who had come to Bombay with nothing and had built the Indian Express Group of Newspapers all over India....

Sethji came and sat in the seat next to mine and started telling me about his empire and soon asked for the lights to go off and the film to start.

I was transported to another world where a grand Indian marriage was being celebrated with a lot of Indian music and emotions.

I could see Sethji looking at me enjoying what was going on and He left a little before the interval and I was left all alone till the film ended. I had never loved watching a film for almost three and a half hours and walked out in a happy daze ....

Till I was brought to the reality when I saw the Rajshri men standing in a line with folded hands and I didn't know what to do for say till Rajkumar Barjatya (God bless his soul), the father of Sooraj whispered into my ear and asked what I thought about the film.

I told him that it would run for years then for some more years.He couldn't believe what I was saying and then they all looked at me in disbelief and I kept telling them the same thing again and again and they kept folding their hands.

I finally said I was not a film critic or a reviewer or an expert , but only an ordinary filmgoer and film lover and that is what I felt about the film. I had two more glasses of tea and left for my office.And what happened to "HAHK"is colourful part of Indian film history .

Those days , walking into the office of Yash Chopra at Vikas Park opposite the Juhu Beach was very easy and not as difficult as it is even to enter the gate of his Yash Raj Studio these days and I could walk in at any time.

It was during one such meeting one afternoon that I saw Yash Chopra sitting all alone in his cabin and looking soulfully at a photograph of Madhuri Dixit on the cover of a Magazine with both his hands holding his head.

I had to wake him up from his reverie and ask him what his problem was and he mumbled in hindi ,"behan ki taaki , iske sath mujhe kaam karna hai , lekin mein kiya karu"I asked him if he wanted to sign her and he said he couldn't make his next film,"Dil Toh Pagal Hai"without her.

I again asked him who would say no to him . He said ,"are , woh Rikku hai na saala woh mera jeena haram kar dega ".

I told him to talk to Madhuri directly and left him in peace and he kept looking at that photograph again and gave me a bright smile before I left he had soon signed Madhuri for the film and had even received an assurance that Rikku, my dear friend would not interfere in Madhuri's work or her shootings ."DTPH" was major triumph for both Yash and Madhuri.

Like in the case of Yash Chopra , I also had access to Gulzar and visiting him every Tuesday became a way of life for years.

It was on one such Tuesday that he just mentioned the word Matchis to me and I still don't know why I told him it was the name of his next film and he was surprised and asked how I knew.

How could I tell him what just came to me out of some instinct and after knowing him and his penchant for unusual titles for his films ? Yes , "Matchis"was the titled of his film based on the holocaust in Punjab in 1984 ,a film produced by R.V.Pandit who did not believe in making films with black money and even showed donations made to well-known politicians and political parties white money .

The film which only had Tabu and Om Puri as known name and a new music director , Vishal Bhardwaj created waves and won appreciation and awards galore.

Its ran for a silver jubilee in many cities and Gulzar celebrated success for the first time and even had trophies and mementoes for the unit. And He surprised me by presenting me with a trophy too which was the first for a journalist.

Dev Sahab did me the honour of doing many things after he let me know first .He called me to his Pent House one afternoon and were sounding very excited.

He had several large note books lying on his table with felt pens which he loved to write. He told me ,"Ali, you are the first to know and see that Dev is about to start writing his autobiography "and he began writing and didn't stop writing till he had finished writing "Romancing Life ", his autobiography written in his own hand writing and all in capital letters .

The book was published by Harper Collins and several chapters were left out because they couldn't go into one book and Dev Sahab was promised that the chapters would be published at a later date ,a promise which was never kept.

It was time to release the book in Mumbai and he wanted Amitabh Bachchan to release it ,but he was hesitant.

I for whatever was my worth asked him to call Amitabh and tell him about the release. He did and Amitabh instantly agreed inspite of his busy schedule and the book was released at The Leela in the presence of every big star and celebrity from Mumbai.

The book had to be released in Delhi and Dev Sahab wanted the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to release it. Their birthdays fell on the same day , September ,26.

Dr Manmohan Singh was keen to release the book and asked Dev Sahab to release it at his residence and Dev Sahab gladly ageed .The book turned out to be a best seller and made Dev Sahab very happy.

In many ways , it was the last happy occasion in his life because soon his bungalow , "Anand "in Pali Hill was gone and he looked like a shadow of the ever so great and dynamic Dev Anand and then he flew to London , his favourite city, with his son Suneil Anand and never came back home, not even in a casket.

AUR WOH ANJAANA RAAHI KOI AUR NAHI, MAI HI THA, MAI HI THA, MAI HI THA