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Ali Peter John
Sometimes it takes just a moment or a few moments to see the heart and the soul of a man....I was at the Dr.Barfiwala's Maternity Home where my daughter was born on March 31,1983 .I was walking around not knowing what to do with my time as her mother was under anaesthesia and the-one day old baby was asleep or that is what I thought. After all, it was my first experience of being the father of a daughter.
I was still wondering what to do when I saw the veteran and respected comedian (even at that time I asked myself why they brand very good actors as comedians and villains)Jagdeep walking towards me .He greeted me and asked me what I was doing there. I told him about the birth of my daughter . He was thrilled and asked me to take him to see the mother and child. He blessed both and asked me if I needed any kind of help.That one gesture made by Jagdeep thirty seven years ago stayed on in my mind and will say on.....
I had several short and long meetings with him and every time I looked beyond his eyes and saw something very soft and sensitive about him which I felt was being hidden behind the mask he had to wear as a popular comedian who had no redemption and couldn't be saved from the life he was I think forced by circumstances to live as a comedian all his life.
It was the third "Screen "awards and we were going to honour all the male and female comedians of the industry and I was to contact all the comedians to participate in the event. When I met Jagdeep , he didn't ask me any question after I told him about the event. He said ,"just give me the venue,date and what time you want me to be there and I will be there ". I was very happy for him when he got the kind of applause I had not expected. He was as popular as Mehmood at the function.
He once told me a very interesting and emotional story.He was completely broke and had a family to support. He decided to go and meet the well-known film maker K.Asif and ask him for help. He walked all the way to Asif's house and met Asif and told him about his plight. Asif himself was in dire straits, but he did not let Jagdeep know about the conditions in his own house.
He walked up to a place where he had his clothes and took out whatever money he had and gave it all to Jagdeep ,even as his family looked at him with all kinds of feelings which told the true story about their financial condition and the large-heartedness of K.Asif, the man who put all his money and his life and thirteen of his best years in the making of "Mughal-e-Azam "....
I use to meet him regularly during the time he was directing "Soorma Bhopali ".
I could see that he was not really happy directing a film and there was an unexplainable sadness in his eyes. It could be many of the reasons why he never tried directing a film again. He had done hundreds of films ever since he started his career as a child artist, but it was according to me a tragedy that he was only recognised for the bit role he played as Soorma Bhopali in "Sholay ".....
If Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru could appreciate Jagdeep's talent, if Bimal Roy could see a bright future for him as an actor, if K.A.Abbas could recognised his talent and if many years later Rajkumar Santoshi could find in him the actor who would add that touch of glory to his film, if audiences of five generations could find in him an actor who brought happiness into their lives, Jagdeep must have been some one very special, a talent that was great and a gem of a human being....
Then, why was Jagdeep always relegated to a place which he should not have found his place in ? Why did the Industry not try to find out the true worth of the actor in him ?
These are just two of the many questions about Jagdeep that will hover in the air asking for answers. And if there is one man who will not wait for the answers it will be Jagdeep who has now flown to hopefully a better world where he will find the recognition which he didn't find in this world.
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