How Subhash Ghai Created Dr. Dang!

Ali Peter John

He had already made a name for himself as a showman, from a struggling actor, to a writer and to the man behind Mukta Arts ( the name of the banner is his tribute to his beautiful wife, Rehana who he named Mukta after marrying her ). He had made big films like “Hero”, “Ram Lakhan”, “Karz” and other. But he now wanted to make one of his most ambitious film, “Karma”. He had brought together Dilip Kumar and Nutan for the first time, they had been teamed in a film earlier, but it couldn’t be completed. He had also cast his favourites, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and had brought in Naseeruddin Shah in a commercial film for the first time. People in the business of Hindi films were excited by the cast and were eager to see the clash between Dilip Kumar and Naseer, who belonged to two different generations and two different schools of acting…

But, Subhash Ghai needed a very different kind of villain who would play the head of a terrorist outfit. He did not want to cast any of the established and experienced villains. There were many villains who were willing to do anything, make any adjustments and even compromise when it came to their price. The one man who was most interested was the most popular villain of the time, Amrish Puri.

Ghai had his own way of going about choosing an actor to play a particular role which he himself found difficult to imagine most of the villains claim. He used to spend hours trying to sketch out the character and it was only after several days of his being obsessed with the character of Dr. Dang. He finally took a decision to cast Anupam Kher as a “soft but devilish villain”.

The industry was surprised and even shocked to hear about Ghai's choice of Anupam Kher, because Anupam had been established as an actor who played soft and sensitive and characters who were mostly good in reel life. His own established distributors asked him to reconsider his decision but Ghai refused to change his decision.

Ghai had also designed the kind of cloths Dr. Dang would were and the beard he would have. Anupam was both very excited, but was also extremely nervous because he had most of his scenes with the master of acting, Dilip Kumar.

I was asked by Anupam to lend him moral support on the day he was to face Dilip Kumar for the first time and working with the legends was his most ambitious and distant dream which had suddenly come true. We were sitting in his makeup room at the Esel Studios where a large set of a prison was put up. Anupam was so tensed that he couldn’t even open his mouth and his palms were sweating. The time for the shot had passed, but Anupam was still nervous to go on the set.

Ghai sensed that there was something seriously wrong. He walked into the makeup room and Anupam grew more tense. Ghai, an experienced player of the game touched Anupam palms and abruptly asked him to go home. Anupam was on the verge of crying. He believed that he had lost the opportunity of a lifetime. Ghai managed the situation and put Anupam at ease when he asked him to take a lot of rest and come back the next day. The next breath Anupam breathed was that of a new man and a new actor. I went with him to his new flat on Hill Road and more than relaxing, he kept asking me and himself, “Mereko nigalenge toh nahi?, Mereko nigalenge toh nahi?”. I told him to have some good sleep and get ready for the big test the next day.

The next day was indeed one of the greatest days in Anupam’s life and career because he not only gave a perfect shot, but was also appreciated by the legend who had great respect for him after seeing him perform in “Saaransh”.

“Karma” which was based on Dr. V. Shantaram’s“Do Aankhen Barah Haath”was a very big hit and Anupam as Dr. Dang was a very big sensation and the role of Dr. Dang opened up and an entirely new world for him…Soon after the success of “Karma”, Ghai launched his dream film, “Devaa” with Amitabh Bachchan in the title role. The entire industry was present the The Leela and Anupam couldn’t believe himself when he saw him and his wife Kirron sitting with Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu and Raj Kapoor with his wife Krishna. The two legends and their wives kept praising Anupam for his roles in “Saaransh” and the very contrasting role of Dr. Dang. Anupam who was wearing a sherwani suit specially made for the occasion couldn’t believe what was happening to the boy from Shimla. He normally didn’t drink, but on that special night, he got drunk and started dancing on the table where the legends were sitting. All eyes were focused on him and the legends found his act very amusing and also very deserving. But Kirron found it very embarrassing and got him down from the table and took him home. Life was never the same again for Anupam after living the role of Dr. Dang..

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Dr. Dang, Subhash Ghai