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By Sharad Rai
In fact, there's something I forgot to mention about the beginning of my journalism career. Along with my love for cinema, I developed a strong habit of reading novels. It became like an addiction – I had to read any novel I could find. I remember, when I was in 12th grade, I had already read most of Gulshan Nanda, Rano, and Ibne Safi’s novels. I didn’t like Ved Prakash Sharma’s writing though.
There was a PR person named B.K. Verma, who was the public relations officer (PRO) for Dara Singh and Sanjay Khan, and he lived in a building near their bungalows in Juhu. I was a young journalist, eager to meet people. Verma told me that Gulshan Nanda was coming to meet Dara Singh. I had met Dara Singh a few times before, and since I had published an interview with him, meeting him was no formality. Meeting Gulshan Nanda was like a dream come true! Dara Singh asked, "What do you want to ask him?" I found out there that Gulshan Nanda’s writing was in Urdu, even though he was one of the most popular Hindi novelists of that time. He also revealed that many other writers, like Kader Khan, Javed Akhtar, Kaifi Azmi, Gulzar, Kamal Amrohi, and even Dharmendra, were used to writing their poetry diaries in Urdu. Gulshan Nanda laughed and said, "Even after writing in Urdu, stories get stolen."
He further explained, "After many of my stories got stolen, I moved from Delhi to Bombay (now Mumbai) and started narrating my stories directly to producers." I also had an urge to write stories during that time, as every MA Hindi student dreams of writing. I was no different and seriously believed I could write too. I had written several stories that were published in well-known magazines like Hindustan, Saraka, and Mangaldeep. Maybe it was the influence of reading novels. Today’s youth probably doesn’t even know the names of these magazines.
Becoming a Journalist....
During those days, I met producer Gautam Bhatia, who was making a film Ustaadi Ustaad Se with Mithun Chakraborty. This film was being accused of story theft by the Film Writers Association (now Screen Writers Association). I went with Gautam Bhatia to the Writers Association (Ranjit Studios) for the first time, where I discovered there were hundreds of complaints of story theft. Huge sums of money were spent to make these films, but the stories were stolen. Nowadays, remakes are bought legally, but back then, things were different.
As a reference, I should tell you that some of my stories, which were published in just two or three pages in various magazines, became the foundation for several films, and after watching those films, I didn’t even bother complaining. I knew nothing would happen. These films included Pankaj Dheer’s Mera Suhaag (which was based on my story 'Chhalna', published in Tarun Milap), Mahesh Bhatt’s Gumrah (which was based on a dramatic retelling of an incident I wrote in Movie Jagat about Geeta Khanna), and Aamir Khan’s Peepli Live (which was inspired by my short story Andhvishwas published in Mangaldeep Diwali special). Interestingly, when my story was published in Mangaldeep in 1983, the writer-director of Peepli Live hadn’t even been born yet. On the other hand, in films like Geet Mere Pyaar Ka (directed by Kishan Sethi), Peepar Wa Parke Baram (a Bhojpuri film produced by Arvind Ojha), and Raj Shekhar’s TV series Sant Narsi Mehta (on Aastha Channel), where I had only given story advice, my name appeared in bold letters on the screen. This is the truth of the film industry.
Then something happened that made me lose interest in film writing meetings, and I decided to become a full-time film journalist instead.
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