On the last day of judgment, when God asks me to name some men and women whom I knew to be good people caught in a materialistic world (how do I describe the world of movies, especially Hindi movies?), I will not hesitate to put the name of Hrishikesh Mukherjee Hrishikesh Mukherjee at the top and I am sure, God will agree with my choice.

Which other director has worked with almost all stars from Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand to Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Mehra, Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt, Dr.Shriram Lagoo, Naveen Nischol and Amitabh Bachchan and Nutan, Sadhana and Sharmila Tagore and Jaya Bhaduri, Rekha, Rakhi and Amol Palekar, Asrani and Deven Verma and Deepti Naval, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman and Nabendru Ghosh, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Dr.Rahi Masoom Raza, Gulzar, S.D.Burman, Writers and stars such as Shankar-Jaikishan, Sal Choudhary, RD Burman and music director Anil Kapoor work with Jackie Shroff, Juhi Chawla and Anupam Kher. And the list is endless and incredible!

Harshida who used to eat at the New Theater in Kolkata worked with the best directors and his films shifted to Mumbai with Bimal Roy (he had worked with him in ‘Devdas’) and Gulzar as a junior assistant, Worked as Chief Assistant Director to Bimal Roy along with Raghunath Jhalani and Mini Bhattacharya!

Harshida started her career as a director with memorable films like Anupama, Anuradha and Satyakam and went on to make cult films like Golmaal, Anand, Namak Haraam, Guddi, Abhiman Milan Fined, Bemisaal and Rang Birangi, some of which spanned 30 films. Naam was directed and co-produced by him with N.C. Sippy. During the 50 years of his illustrious career, he changed the careers of many actors. The above-mentioned achievements could have made anyone else treated like a god, but Harshida was a picture and an epitome of humility. His only interest and passion in his life was to make films.

And to know that this great man has given me a special place in my heart, which is something I will be proud of for the rest of my life.

I first met Rishi da at Mohan Studios when he was shooting for ‘Namak Hara’ with Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh and Rekha. And he was so nice to me that I started having second thoughts about all men I thought I should be nice like Rishi Da but it only took me a few more months to learn that not all men are nice And in fact, most men (and women) were bad or were on their way to becoming bad.

But, I had my first long meeting with him during the shooting of his film ‘Rang Birangi’ and I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel thrilled when he said he reads my column every week. This meeting was the beginning of many meetings with a man who showered me with a ‘batten’ love and care and even respect that I clearly did not deserve. He then made it a point to invite me to all his shoots, which I loved because of the ease and simplicity with which he shot his scenes, even the most difficult scenes. If he had a problem, it was because of the language, be it Hindi or Urdu, but he made up for this weakness by having complete command over the scenes he was shooting.

He was honored by Indian film directors for his contribution to Indian cinema. There was not a single star who worked with him and was in Mumbai who did not attend the grand ceremony. The most interesting part of the evening was Dr. P.C. Alexander, the ruler of Maharashtra, who almost gave an expert lecture on Rishi Da’s films. The other highlight of the evening was Amitabh and Jaya presenting him with blank letters of consent to do any film Rishi da wanted to make with him. This was the first time I saw Rishi da getting emotional. Any person in his place would have become emotional!

His only son, Sandeep Mukherjee was also a director who made a film. He was also a severe asthmatic and died suddenly in Bangalore. Rishi da was in a state of shock but even in this state he called me to his house ‘Anupama’ on Carter Road and told me that Sandeep had left some money in his bank and Rishi da wanted me to take full charge of the money Take it and use it as you want. It was a huge amount and I told Rishi da that, I was very weak in handling money matters and without losing a minute Rishida said, “You take the money and use it for yourself.” But I didn’t do that.

The corporate companies had almost taken over the industry and were dictating the terms for the directors, but the directors had to walk their lines and Rishi Da went to one of these corporates without any ego, but he then He was taken aback when a little girl at the reception counter asked him his name and then told him to wait until his boss had time to see him. He went out of the office. Ramesh Sippy, the producer of ‘Sholay’ had the same bad experience.

Rishi Da was making a film titled Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate in the hope that the stars Anil Kapoor, Jackie, Juhi and Anupam would be highly respected and cooperate with him, but he had the worst experiences while working with these stars. And he vowed not to work with such powerful stars again.

He started making TV serials and was pleasing her on his own terms. However, he started falling ill and was diagnosed with serious kidney problems and had to go on dialysis two or three times a week, an experience that was very painful. It was during this painful time that I called him one morning and the nurse on duty only picked up my call and said that Rishi da could not speak to me. I was a little worried.

But, the next morning, Rishi da called me and apologized for not taking my call. He said that he was in his dialysis session and he was in severe pain and that’s why he could not talk to me. Tell me, who among today’s great men and women can have the courtesy and humility to say sorry to a junior journalist?

His condition had worsened and Sunil Dutt called me and asked me if I would accompany him to meet sick Rishi da. A great man was seriously ill and another great man was requesting to join me after seeing the sick great man. How could I not go with Dutt Sahab to see Rishi Da?

We reached out to Anupama only to be told that her condition was very bad and no one was allowed to see her. He seemed to have seen Dutt sahib or heard his voice and called us back. He had forgotten all his pains and sufferings and talked to us for an hour, reminiscing all the good times he had spent with us. He got restless and we decided to leave and it was a very tearful farewell, but Rishi Da tried his best to smile.

A few days later, Rishi Da passed away in eternity. His body was placed in the ground in front of the National College in Bandra and stars and common people paid respect to his body with folded hands and bowed heads. But when I saw him with Dutt Sahab, I saw that smile, even then it seemed that it was the smile of a good man, a smile that neither death nor time could erase.

Wherever you have gone, wherever you are, there will be only joy, we all know this and the ages to come will know.