EK SAGAR KE SAATH MERA GEHRA RISHTA

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By Team Bollyy
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EK SAGAR KE SAATH MERA GEHRA RISHTA

My life has been a strange book of some surprises, many shocks and the company of some extraordinary and enlightened men and women who have walked with me and helped me through my journey - ALI PETER JOHN

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And above all, the hand of God which refuses to leave me even when I have sometimes spoken and done things against its command...

I was walking aimlessly and hopelessly in the compound of the Natraj studio because I knew I would be able to see some shooting and some stars ( I had not joined Screen till then).

There was a sudden downpour with thunder and lightening. I had taken shelter under a tin roof and then I saw a young man approaching me and taking me inside his office to protect me from the rain.

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That man I later came to know was Prem Sagar who was one of the sons of the great filmmaker and writer Dr. Ramanand Sagar whose films I had seen but knew nothing about him.

That night the rain didn't stop and Prem Sagar dropped me home in his car , which was one of the many miracles in my life .

The next evening I went to thank Prem and was very fortunate to be introduced by him to his father, Dr. Ramanand Sagar.

I was too stunned to even say a word, but I could see a strange smile on his face which looked very bright and I saw a the marks of a deep scar on his forehead. That was my first meeting with the man who I called Sagar sahab all my life.

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The next time it was a very strange meeting with him. I had joined Screen. I was entering the same Natraj Studio when security man stopped me and asked me where I was going. I said I was going to meet Ramanand Sagar.

I begged him to let me go in beacuse it was my Roti ka sawaal. He looked at me as if I was dirt and said ," jao jao, dhakke maar ke nikaal denge toh mere paas aao".

I had passed my first test and before I could think of anything else a posh car came and stoppped near me .

It was Ramanand Sagar at the wheel and he said , " Aake baith jaa, Filmalaya studio jaa ke aate hain".

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I sat next to him and then the car reached the gate, I saw the security man running for his life .

He perhaps thought that I would complain to Sagar sahab who was one of the owners of the Nataraj studio. I didn't complain and the man called bahadur became my friend for many years.

Just two meetings and I had become a 'friend' of Sagar sahab though he was 60 years older than me.

He talked to me about his book 'Aur insaan mar gaya' which he had written about his experiences during the partition.

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I had read the book and was both horrified and touched by his writing the truth about the reality of the partition.

I asked him why he had not writen another book like that and he said, " Aisa subject bhi milna chahiye naa".

I was very happy to know that the foreword to the book was written by my guru K.A. Abbas.

We had many arguments about why he had not written a book like 'aur insaan mar gaya' again.

However, we used to meet every Thursday afternoon and have lunch with him and sometimes with his sons Subhash , Shanti , Prem , Anand and Moti. It had become a weekly ritual for me.

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My younger brother Roy had suddenly died and Sagar sahab was the first personality from the film industry to come to my house to comfort me.

It was the first birthday of my daughter and Sagar sahab made it a point to come and bless my daughter, and so did his sons.

There was a meeting of all the partners of the Nataraj studios , Shakti Samantha, F.C Mehra , Pramod chakraborty and Aatmaram , the younger brother of Guru dutt.

And all the partners charged me of being partial to Sagar sahab and not visiting them even when I was in the same studio and Sagar sahab who was the senior most said ," Arey saalo, Ali mera beta hai, woh kabhi bhi aa sakta hai mere paas, mere liye woh journalist nahi hai".

He one day called me to his office when no one was there and placed a strange proposal before me.

He said " Ali , tere naam mein teen naam toh aise hi hain, ek aur laga dein. Sagar laga, Main tujhe tere hisse ka ek share de doonga". I still don't know whether he said that as a joke or he was serious.

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The atmosphere in the country had become very poisonous after the Rathyatra of L.K Advani and the babri masjid case.

And Sagar sahab was seen as one of the inspiring forces because he had made Ramayana.

But it was under these trying circumstances that he came to my house to attend a religious function for my daughter ( we are Crishtians) together with his hanuman and the two men even raised the toast at the function even as the hundreds of people and the police looked on astonished, but after the function he walked towards his car like a saint walking through a storm and the crowd and the police looked at him in disbelief.

And the one time he showed how much he cared for me was when he attended my 50th birthday party which was marked by the release of my autobiography 'life - bits and pieces' ( Zindagi tukdon mein).

He made one of the best speeches at the function and repeatedly called me 'mera fakir dost'.

The other three times he made me feel special was when he was facing bad times after the flopping of three of his films , Baghaavat, romance and salma. His office looked very sad and there was a certain darkness all around.

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But he said God had come in his dream and told him to do something to honour him. That is when he got the idea to make Ramayan and his empire was back in all its glory again.

The second time I remember was when I was drunk in day time and had just walked into his house, Sagar villa .

He saw my condition and did not say a word about it, but took me to a special room where there was a very large collection of books dealing with the subject of Ramayan and Lord Krishna.

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After Ramayan, he had made another big serial called Shri Krishna. The third time was when he had started a big film called Sanam which he was to make with his favourite actor Dilip kumar and Rakhi.

The film had a grand beginning, but it couldn't make anymore progress which made Sagar sahab very disappointed.

He was always in a very best of health and that shine that I had seen on his face when I met him the first time was always there till one day I saw the smile had vanished.

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It was the time when he was diagnosed for an incurable ailment. He looked like a pale shadow of himself when I saw him at the Chautha of Vijay Anand.

And in the next three days, I received a call from his residence. The saint- like man had left this earth and gone in search of some other land where he could write better books and make better films both for God and man.

AAP SAGAR THE , SAGAR SAHAB, SAGAR KABHI SOOKH NAHI JAATA, SAGAR KA KAAM HAI BEHNA AUR BEHTE REHNA. AAP BHI SAGAR KI TARAH SHAANT HAIN AUR SAGAR KI TARAH AB BHI ANANT AUR AMAR HAIN.

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