Birthday Special:MOGAMBO USS DIN ITNA DARR GAYA THA KI BAS... BY Lt. Ali Peter John

It is one of the strange phenomena I have noticed during my long journey through this good , bad , sometimes sad and sometimes mad world of Hindi films - Ali Peter John

Some of the most fearsome villains have been the best men around . They have been soft - spoken ,dignified disciplined , well behaved , good - mannered and ever - smiling faces who have also been in the forefront when it comes to serving the causes of the nation , in times of war , floods scarcity and in emergencies like a tsunami , earthquakes and above all for the causes of the industry.

Villains like Pran , Prem Chopra , Gulshan Grover and above all Amrish Puri have been the nicest men I have known and I know that I will never know such good men who were the worst kind of men in the films they worked in.

I knew Amrish Puri since the time he used to do theatre and lived in a small flat which was a part of an old bungalow in the middle of the busy market in Santa Cruz East .

And he paid hundred rupees a month as the rent and got paid hundred rupees per show in theatre .

He then played some very strong roles in the films of Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani , among others and then he did roles in many small films and played the side kick of the main villain , till he did "Hum Paanch" , "Gandhi" and Steven Spielberg's " Elephanta Jones and The Prophet Of Doom " for which he shaved off his hair for the first time and then remained bald till the end .

He was the most popular and hated villains , but he also excelled in light-hearted roles in films like "Viraasat": and DDLJ and Kamal Hassan's" Chachi 420" among other films .....

My magazine, Screen wanted to do a cover story on him , but none of the other staffers were willing to meet him .

And when I talked to him about the interview , he said he would do it only if I accompanied whoever was doing the interview.

That was a regular problem , but I agreed because of my close association with "Puri Sahab" as I called him , like many others .

The interview was done early one morning at his bungalow , "Vardaan" , next to the bungalows of Manoj Kumar and Hema Malini in those days.

He casually mentioned to me that he was now being paid more then any other villain was paid at any other time , he had crossed his price of ruppees one crore . The interview was over and he looked anxious and said ," Ali Sahab, zara please samaal lena"

I was busy with some outdoor work and was not in office while the interview was being edited and processed .

And when the interview appeared as the "cover story" , the heading "screamed" , Amrish Puri's price is one crore" I knew "Puri Sahab" would scream when he saw the heading on the cover . And what I expected happened.

He called me and was screaming , shouting and even crying . He kept saying , " Ali Sahab, maine aapse kaha tha ye ladkiya badmaashi karenge.

Ab dekho unhone woh baat likh di jo sirf aapke aur mere beech thi. Inhone likh diya ki main ek crore leta hoon.

Ab ye Sena aur saare bhai log mere peeche lag jaayenge " I saw how anxious he was and went to see him at Vardaan and tried my best to pacify him .

It took me more time to calm him down than that girl had taken to interview him but I managed , I sit don't know how .

Our association was the same , but he never gave an interview to any journalist from my magazine .

There was another incident in which I saw Puri Sahab panic . Subhash Ghai wanted to sign him as the villain of "Saudagar" but they couldn't agree on Puri Sahab's price.

He sought a meeting with Ghai . And when he reached Ghai's house, Ghai was making a sketch of the villains role with the face of another actor .

Puri Sahab looked at the scetch and asked Ghai what he was doing and Ghai told him , " aap hamaare saath kaam nahi karna chahate, toh humko koi doosra actor ko lena toh padega , na ' .

Puri Sahab did not wante to let go the role and offered to do the role at Ghai's price. It again showed how even an established actor could be so insecure in this industry .

Puri Sahab was almost child - like and even inocent . I once asked him to go with me to a Ganpati function in Girgaum which was organised by my right hand man in my magazine , "Pramod Manjrekar" and he not only drove all the way to Girgaum in the heavy traffic , but also said exactly what I wanted him to say about my friend , Pramod who was a peon for the entire staff, but was a loving and caring friend for me.

KUCH INSAANO KO KHADAH KO EK SE ZYAADA ZINDAGIYA JEENE KA MAUKA DENA CHAAYIYE. AUR UNN INSAANO MEIN PURI SAHAB KA NAAM ZAROOR HONA CHAAHIYE.