DOPHAR KO MAIN USSE MILNE SE DARR RAHA THA , RAAT KO MAIN UNKE SAATH GAA RAHA THA

- Ali Peter John
It was only my third year in‘Screen'and my editor, Mr S.S Pillai who had taken an unbelievable liking for me was looking for every opportunity to give me the most challenging assignments. His intention was to expose me to the way the film industry and its people worked and behaved. From the funeral of the great music composer,S.D Burman's funeral and the funeral of a famous financier Shankar B.C and the birthdays of stars who had just started their careers like Rakesh Roshan and Asrani, he sent me to cover every kind of event. But he did not stop with all this kind of work, he was also interested in letting me see the world outside and the best way he found was to send me to cover the shootings in places like Lonavala, Khandala, Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar, but I was in for a big surprise when he called me to his cabin one morning and asked me if would like to go to Ooty to cover the shooting of a film called“Karz". How could I say no to such an attractive temptation and invitation, but he also had a condition. He said he would send me only on the condition that I would interview the well-known actress Simi Garewal who had made a big splash with her sensational scenes in Conrad Rooks'‘Siddharth"and Raj Kapoor's“Mera Naam Joker". At first I felt like saying no to him because I had not even seen Simi in reality, but in the other hand, I thought of the travel by air, the stay in a beautiful hill station like Ooty and meeting my only star-friend till then, Rishi Kapoor. I agreed to my editor's condition and within the next two days I was on a flight to Bangalore from where I would have to take an eight hour drive to reach Ooty....

I reached Bangalore airport and soon got into a car that was waiting for me with some other journalists in it. We were all to travel to Ooty for the shooting of“Karz". It was evening and we had all the ammunition to keep ourselves warm as the climate kept growing more and more chill. I hope you know what I meant by ammunition, whisky, my friends, pure Scotch whisky which had the power not only to drive away all the cold or even all the fear if we had any. We were not in the least aware of the reality that we were driving through the state of Tamil Nadu which was a dry state and both consuming and carrying any kind of liquor was prohibited. We had reached what looked like the midst of a forest when we saw a flood of lights focused on the car we were travelling in. They were all policemen and they stopped our vehicle and we knew were in deep trouble and threw out the glasses we had in our hands, but what could we do with all the bottles that were kept under our seats? The policemen got into our car and started shouting at us in a very harsh and rude manner. We did not understand anything of what they were saying and only after they spotted some bags under the seats that they became wild and made signs to us to open the bags. I don't know how good sense got the better of me and I just said“chemicals, chemicals,M.G.R, friend, Subhash Ghai"and they put off their lights and said‘right'which was a signal for us to leave. We behaved as if nothing had happened and brought out the bottles we had hidden beyond easy reach and started drinking again. It was only when it was nearing midnight that I got inquisitive to know what was in the bags which turned out to be gunny bags inside which were hundreds of bottles of Scotch which the unit of the film had kept in the car in the belief that all would be well as long as the‘stuff'was in the possession of the‘Press'. It was only when we reached the Fernhill Palace Hotel that I realised how I had saved the entire team of journalists from sure imprisonment and God alone knows how many days in jail. The words, chemicals, chemicals, M.G.R and Subhash Ghai were magic words which saved us. Those days Subhash Ghai had just made a name for himself and M.G Ramachandran who was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu had struck up some kind of mutual admiration society and he and his unit had a red carpet welcome and a safe stay in Ooty...

Subhash Ghai, his brother, Ashok Ghai and the associate producer of the film, Jagjit Khurana were waiting for us even though it was almost the next morning.

The other journalists introduced themselves to Subhash Ghai and were allotted rooms by Ashok Ghai. Subhash Ghai who I had known but was yet to be the great friend he is today looked at me and asked me where my luggage was and why I was not wearing warm clothes. I suddenly remembered that I had left my luggage at Bangalore airport and came to know that the luggage would come only after two days.

Subhash Ghai asked me,“Tu fakeer hai kya? Itni thand mein tu Ooty mein kaise rahega"? Before I could say anything, he asked his brother, Ashok and the production controller of the film, Mr Chugamal to go to the well-known supermarket in Ooty,Chellaram's and get me all the clothes, footwear and sweaters I would need for three days. God in the guise of Subhash Ghai had saved me from sure death from the biting cold in Ooty....

The shooting had started at the Palace and then shifted to the tea gardens in the distance where a song was being picturerised on Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim who were later joined by Pran who was playing the father of Tina and was not the usual badman he had been for more than forty years. Suddenly there was a lot of chaos and the shooting was halted as Subhash Ghai and Tina Munim had a showdown and Ghai threatened to call off the shooting of the film as he said he was not the kind of directory who would take‘any nonsense from any of his stars or anyone else for that matter, as I am the director and I will issue orders and not take orders from anyone'there was a stop to the shooting till all the other stars, Premnath, Pran, Rishi Kapoor and the veteran actress Durga Khote made both of them see sense since the film had already been shot for more than six reels. Piece returned and the shooting continued...

I still had my own problem to be solved. I was still tense about my interview with Simi Garewal. It was Rishi Kapoor who saw me in that tense condition and asked me what was troubling me. I told him about my interview with Simi. He said all would be well and asked me to see him in his suite at least an hour before the time Simi would give me. I saw in Rishi a kind of saviour descended on the hills of Ooty..

I followed Rishi's advice and met him at seven-thirty pm sharp because I had to meet Simi in her suite at nine pm. He brought out a bottle of Black Label Scotch, placed it on the table and made two large pegs and asked me to gulp my drink down without any soda or water before he could pour me another drink and then asked me how I felt. He saw me smiling and even joking and said,“Just have two more and then you can not only go to Simi but to any power in the world. Black Label is a cure and a strength to anyone who has the pleasure of having it".

At nine pm I was ringing the bell outside Simi's suite. At nine-thirty, she herself poured me a drink and by ten‘O'clock we were talking like long lost friends and didn't realise when it was midnight and it was Christmas and her mother was playing the organ and Simi and me were singing Christmas carols till early in the morning. I had forgotten all fear and all complexes not only about Simi but all the big and small stars, filmmakers and directors I would meet in the next many years of my career.

That trip to Ooty had taught me many lessons which I can still not forget and the first thing was to know the weather of the place you were visiting and the right kind of clothes you would have to wear, because I would not find another Subhash Ghai, Ashok Ghai, Mr Chugamal, Mr Jagjit Khurana and Mr Farooqui who was the associate producer of“Karz"and stars like Rishi Kapoor, Pran and Premnath who all proved to me that stars were not man-eaters or monsters but were as normal as any other human being unless you rubbed them the wrong side or unnecessarily harm or hurt them in thought, word and deed. It was a lesson that was going to last me for all the years I was working in‘Screen'and a lesson I follow even now when it is more than ten years after I have retired and I'm still active writing about stars of the good old days and even the stars of today, even though I sometimes find it difficult to strike the same chord with the new generation as I used to once....

Subhash Ghai is the ruling Showman and the founder of Whistling Woods International, Pran, Premnath and Durga Khote have become pages of history, Simi has almost retired and does a TV-chat show once in a week, Tina is now Tina Ambani, the wife of Anil Ambani and has been looking after the administration of the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Andheri, Laxmikant of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo has a road named after him and his bungalow has been demolished to make way for a residential complex where his family lives, Anand Bakshi, the lyricist without whom Subhash Ghai couldn't think of making film has written the last line of his last song of his life and many others associated with the making of“Karz"have said‘alvida'to the world of films and the world. And as I look back on that first trip to Ooty, I realise how the whole world has changed, but there are certain memories that cannot be wiped away by even the most furious floods of time and“Karz"will always be one such immortal memory for me...

P.S--Incidentally, I still have the card Simi sent to me thanking me for the article I had written about her in 1979 after meeting her during that unforgettable meeting made possible for me by Rishi Kapoor who was the most romantic young hero of those days and how I miss him today !