BIRTHDAY SPECIAL: MELKOTE KA EK GAON, ITNE SAARE SITAARE AUR WOH EK MEHNATI LADKA  ......

Ali Peter John

Sometimes it takes only one man to start a legacy ......

Surendra Kapoor was a tall and handsome young man who could have been a star in the 60s but his destiny willed otherwise . He became the secretary of the star couple Shammi Kapoor and Geeta Bali . Geeta died very young of small pox and some years later Shammi went in search of answers he couldn't find . And Surender was jobless.....

Dara Singh , the internationally known wrestler had become a star with his very first film , " King Kong" and Surender like many other small time producer signed Dara Singh for 2500 rupees. Surender produced some other films which did not do well and his elder son , Boney Kapoor took over his father's banner after taking permission from him ( his only experience in films was that he worked as an assistant director with Shakti Samanta )

Boney had made very good contacts in the industry and especially with the stars . He had seen a Kannada film and decided to make it in Hindi. He also signed Bapu who was the director of the original . And with his contacts and good will , he signed a galaxy of small and big stars , like Sanjeev Kumar , Amrish Puri who was still a newcomer, Raj Babbar, Mithun Chakraborty Gulshan Grover , Uday Chandra, Shabana Azmi and Deepti Navel.

The film which was titled " Hum Paanch" was to be shot against the backdrop of some hills and inside a village . The director , Bapu selected a location in a village near Mandya several kilometres away from the Bangalore Airport . The original name for the village was Melkote.

Boney showed the first signs of being a very capable producer who knew exactly how to plan and shoot a film . He knew he couldn't fly the team of stars and technicians every time they were needed to shoot. So he built an entire housing set-up in Melkote with special rooms for every member of the unit and the stars was given additional facilities like this best air-cooler and direct telephone connection with Bombay .

Boney had several assistants but his younger brother Anil Kapoor was given the responsibility of taking care of the director , the stars,  and the journalists. His job was to see that the shooting went on without any hindrance and he did his job to perfection and was soon the favourite of the unit and especially the director , Bapu . Anil did not mind taking up any challenge , even if it was to serve tea to the journalists from Bombay .

Little did Boney or Anil know that Bapu was keeping a very close watch on the young Anil.

One afternoon during the lunch break , Bapu told Boney that Anil had all the makings of a star- actor and also told him that he would like to direct Anil. The result was Anil doing his first film in Kannada directed by Bapu. who had so much faith in Anil that he opted for Anil when he was directing " Woh Saat Din" with Naseeruddin Shah, Nilu Phule , Padmini Kolhapure and Master Rajoo in key roles , but Anil stole the show from all of them and was welcomed as the new star- actor of Hindi films.

Today , he is a leading. actor , a leading producer and the father of Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, producer Rhea Kapoor and actor Harshwardhan.

JISKO PATA THA , KYA ANIL KAPOOR KO BHI PATA THA KI EK BAPU KI NAZAR KAISE USKI TAQDEER KI KAHANI BADAL SAKTI THI ?