Birthday Special: Prakash Mehra The “P.M” Who Made Amitabh A Star

Ali Peter John

He was lying critically ill in the V.I.P ward of the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. It all started with a severe lung infection and heavy bleeding in his stomach. Then slowly every vital organ in his body was infected and even the best doctors and nurses were scared to come anywhere near him for fear of being infected. He was literally treated with gloves. He couldn’t smile, he couldn’t talk even though he made gallant attempts. He just shook his head when asked any questions. He was conscious but was lying inert, without any life left in him. He faintly recognized guests like Amitabh Bachchan, Ranjeet and Kadar Khan. He kept making all kinds of gestures to his son Puneet who was by his side all day but neither Puneet nor anyone else could understand what he wanted to say (how I wish they could!). He kept his eyes closed most of the time according to all those who saw him and even tried their best to make him open his eyes and have one look at them. There were times when he desperately tried to say something which was agitating his mind but he was helpless…..

This was the same man who ruled the Hindi film industry once, ruled it the way very few men have been able to. This was the same man who took one of the greatest risks to create the greatest ever superstar, Amitabh Bachchan. This was the same man whose entry on the sets brought about complete silence all around. This man was Prakash Mehra who has given Hindi film entertainment a new definition and meaning. He had tremendous confidence in himself. He had the courage to take risks very few filmmakers could dare to. His signing a flop actor like Amitabh Bachchan to play the leading role in his film “Zanjeer” after stars like Dharmendra, Raaj Kumar and Dev Anand turned down his offer because the hero was an angry man  who never laughed, who never sang or danced and did not run around trees with his heroine. He proved that he could make the same hero into a cult figure and make the unknown actor he signed to be the hero and soon the greatest ever star this country has ever seen, Amitabh Bachchan. He had his own style of living life and his own ways of making his films. He did not like playing around with technique or telling unbelievable stories. He told stories about characters taken from everyday life, men and women fighting against the various wrongs committed against them. He was a greater story teller than a filmmaker and was accepted as one of the most fabulous story tellers on celluloid.

His story was one of the best known success stories which inspired many and even changed their lives. A story which came to a sad end at 7.57a.m on May 17.

Prakash Mehra was born in a village in the district of Bijnaur in Uttar Pradesh. He was carried away by the magic of the written word and the larger than life images he saw in Hindi films. He won recognition as a poet when he was hardly in his 20’s. That was also the time when he took a train to Bombay where he firmly believed his destiny was waiting, the city he decided to surrender to for better or for worse.

Life was a grim struggle in the beginning. Till he found a friend in Satyen (Satyendrapal Chaudhary). They shared the same room as PGs and also their dreams. Mehra first found a job as an assistant with Dhirubhai Patel, “a specialist” who made films on god and goddesses. He was forced to do the job because of the royal salary of Rs.120/- a month he received which he always said kept him away from the fear of roti kapda aur makaan. He later joined Mohan Segal, an enlightened filmmaker who made sensible and sensitive films. He learned all that he could about directing films and especially the art of telling stories on celluloid.

It was his friend, Satyen who had grown into an expert in the business of filmmaking who came to his help. He managed to find a financier who could help Mehra in directing his first film. The result was “Haseena Mann Jaayegi” with Shashi Kapoor and Babita (now best known as the mother of Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor). The film made on a moderate budget with some good music by Kalyanji- Anandji and an interesting story  turned out to be a big hit and Mehra was on his way. He was recognized as a director who could make a film which could not only bring in the audience but leave them satisfied, leading to his films turning into box office hits. He was seen as a bright bet for the future but the very second film he directed, “Ek Kunwaara, Ek Kunwaari” was a miserable flop and was forgotten and is still not mentioned as one of the films directed by him. The only good things about the film were some memorable lyrics all written by him. This failure however did not come in the way of his march ahead. He soon worked on other films like “Samaadhi” with Dharmendra and Jaya Bhaduri teamed up for the first time, “Haath Ki Safai” with Vinod Khanna, Randhir Kapoor and Hema Malini and “Aakhri Daaku” again with Vinod Khanna and Randhir Kapoor. Prakash Mehra was now a director who was taken seriously by all in the business of film entertainment and a director from whom the people expected good and wholesome entertainment. He was now on the lookout for new subjects to make films which would help him make a mark and keep away from the beaten track.

It was at such a time that a team of struggling writers, Salim and Javed approached him with a subject, Salim who was a failed actor and who is now the father of Salman Khan, Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan and Javed Akhtar a good poet desperately looking for work and now the husband of Shabana Azmi and father of Farhaan and Zoya Akhtar. The team narrated their subject to Mehra, a subject which was turned down by every other filmmaker because of the character of the hero who was an angry man throughout the film and did not even touch the heroine in any frame.

The story teller in Mehra loved the story and wanted to make it. He approached stars like Dharmendra who had promised to do his next film after “Samaadhi” but who said, “Bring me any other subject, but not this one, please.” Raaj Kumar did not like the “Bijnauri oil” Mehra used in his hair and used it as an excuse to refuse his offer and Dev Anand wanted songs because he believed “a hero without any good songs was no hero.” Mehra was almost on the verge of looking for another subject till Salim and Javed saw a flop actor called Amitabh Bachchan in a film called “Bombay to Goa”. They were carried away by one particular scene where the hero gives expression to his anger and smashes an entire disco single handedly. They rushed to Mehra and pleaded with him to see just that one scene. Mehra reluctantly saw the scene once and then several times and finally decided to take the risk to sign the flop actor to play the leading role in his film, “Zanjeer”. He then asked the leading lady, Jaya Bhaduri who was already signed if she had any objection if the “Lamboo hero” was cast as her hero because Mehra knew how many leading ladies had refused to work with him. Jaya was only too willing. She, in fact was waiting for this kind of opportunity for the “Lamboo hero”. She had full faith in his talent and besides she was madly in love with him. The film was made on a shoe- string budget and was shot within three months and when the film was released it was considered a certain flop but after the very first show audiences all over India gave the new actor,  Amitabh Bachchan the kind of applause very few actors have ever received. Within a matter of hours the flop hero was the nation’s new superstar who had over thrown the ruling superstar, Rajesh Khanna.

The mind -blowing success of the film made Mehra and Amitabh a perfect team to make one big hit after another. Mehra seemed to know the magic of Amitabh the actor which he successfully used in films like “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar”, “Laawaaris”, “Namak Halaal” and “Sharaabi”, all of them major hits, one bigger than the other. On the other hand Manmohan Desai who was amazed by Amitabh’s performance in “Zanjeer” made a number of films with him as the angry young man who could also be a very great entertainer. They were followed by Yash Chopra who gave the angry young man a suave and sophisticated image. It was this new Amitabh who changed the entire climate in the world of entertainment. Revenge and anger were in and love and romance were pushed back by the almighty power of just one man, Amitabh Bachchan, the discovery of Prakash Mehra, it was the kind of success which Mehra did not seem to like or share with other filmmakers and even made his displeasure known in several ways.

 And like all good things come to an end this story also had to meet with an end. The final blow came when Mehra was making “Jaadugar” with Amitabh and Manmohan Desai, his arch rival was making “Toofan” which were based on almost the same kind subject and neither of them knew the truth even though they had a common hero. The result was staggering. Both the films flopped miserably. Manmohan Desai couldn’t bear the shock and shocked the industry when he jumped to his death and Mehra too turned psychic.

Mehra’s arrogance got the better of him. He was all set to prove to his one time favourite “Lalla” (Amitabh) that he could make successful films even without him. He couldn’t. He made “Zindagi Ek Jua” with Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit, the craze of the times but the film proved to be a dangerous gamble for him. He could make a film with Amitabh in six months even at the peak of Amitabh’s career but it took him years to make “Zindagi Ek Jua”. He felt harassed and humiliated by the tantrums of the two stars. The film was also the biggest flop of his career and moreover the stars blamed Mehra for having lost his magic. He then made “Muqaddar Ka Faisla” (a hangover of “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar”), which also failed miserably even though he had Raaj Kumar as the hero.  His frustration crossed all limits when he made “Bal Brahmachari” in which he introduced Raaj Kumar’s son, Puru Raaj Kumar which was like the last nail and sealed his fate.

His sons had no interest in keeping their father’s empire going. He had a major split with his friend and adviser Satyen. To make matters worse his wife Neera fell a victim to a mysterious ailment which no doctors could cure and was in a coma for more than five years after which she died. One of his sons turned his office and dubbing studio into a resto bar which also closed down after a short time. Mehra had turned into a recluse and refused to come out of his bedroom for months and refused to see any of his friends or associates. The only hope he had was to request Amitabh to do a film for his banner again but Amitabh had cut off all ties with some of his early filmmakers because of reasons of his own. This decision shattered Mehra and he was no longer interested in living, it seems. One morning he was rushed to hospital in a critical state and never returned home because his story which had begun in Bijnaur had come to a sad and lonely end in some corner of a posh hospital with no one by his side, leaving behind several incomplete stories, ambitions and dreams. “Zindagi mein kabhi kabhi kismet aisa khel khelti hain aur insaan sirf dekhte reh jaata hai aur bewaqoof insaan aur kar bhi kya sakta hai?”

MORE ON PRAKASH MEHRA

- Everyone knows by now that it was the team of Salim- Javed who recommended Amitabh Bachchan to Prakash Mehra for the role in “Zanjeer”. The truth however is now out. It was not Salim- Javed but Anwar Ali, the younger brother of renowned comedian Mehmood who had worked with Amitabh in his first ever film, “Saat Hindustani”. Anwar had become a very good friend of Amitabh and had even requested his brother to let his friend Amitabh live in his bungalow. Mehmood who was the co- producer of “Bombay to Goa” had recommended Amitabh to director S. Raamanathan to play the leading man in what was an all- Mehmood film. Anwar also played a role in “Bombay to Goa” and was a witness to the growth of Amitabh the actor. Soon after the release of “Bombay to Goa” Anwar lost no opportunity to talk about Amitabh to everyone he knew in the industry. He almost pleaded with Salim- Javed to see at least a part of “Bombay to Goa”. They saw Amitabh perform and then recommended him to Prakash Mehra who after a great deal of debating finally decided to cast Amitabh. Both Amitabh and Salim- Javed have always been grateful to Anwar Ali. Amitabh has also done a film called “Khuddar” for Anwar as the producer. Anwar has always been a part of the Bachchan family ever since he made that gesture of talking about Amitabh to Salim- Javed

- Mehra was a man of various moods. He could be very rude and rough. But he could also be very loving and caring. He could be a very solemn and silent man but could also be a man full of humor when he wished. The only man who knew all about the moods and the madness of Mehra was his friend for 40 years, Satyendrapal Chaudhary

- Mehra was barely educated but he could write and philosophize on some of the most serious aspects of life. His poetry was compared to some of the best poets writing in Hindi.

- He rarely saw the sun. He was a late riser and reported on the sets only after three and then worked till very late in the night. His actors and technicians knew his style of working and had no complaints. They could not afford to have any because he was the self proclaimed “the Prakash Mehra” or “Mr. Mehra”. Once a senior journalist who at one time worked with him as an assistant and got a salary higher than him because of his command over English addressed him as “Prakash” and he screamed at him and said “Gentleman, My name is Mr. Prakash Mehra, not Prakash, you must know who you are today and how you must talk to a big man like me and if you don’t you can leave this place.” The entire gathering of the press was stunned. Desai, his one-time friend thought it was one of his friend’s jokes but he was very serious and Desai had to leave.

- Even otherwise “PM” (another name he gave himself) always had a sour relationship with the press. Once when a number of gossip magazines wrote about his affair with a small time actress called Padmini Kapila, he banned the entire press and issued strict instructions to his staff to see that no one from the press came anywhere near him. This writer had the privilege of being an exception

- Mehra was always dressed in spotless white with a matching white handkerchief tied round his neck and matching white shoes and socks

- He was a chain smoker and loved the best Scotch. He always carried his own Scotch to other parties because he was always suspicious about the brand of Whisky being served at other parties.

-  He never thought of shooting abroad. He created some of the best and most expensive sets which were considered as landmarks which other filmmakers tried to follow

- He had the habit of looking down upon other filmmakers. The only name he took with respect was Raj Kapoor. He treated the biggest stars, even Amitabh Bachchan as “commodities who could be bought for a price, “they are toys who can be asked to dance anyway provided they were paid their price”.

- He was very possessive about Amitabh Bachchan and had its entire staff on duty at the Breach Candy Hospital when Amitabh was fighting with death.

- The one filmmaker he had an ongoing battle with was Manmohan Desai. They were rivals who worked with the same star Amitabh, who had to walk a tight rope handling both these difficult- to- handle directors. Manmohan often made fun of the kind of films Mehra made and Mehra considered Manmohan as “a mere tamaashewala who knew nothing about filmmaking or even telling a sensible story”. The end of their rivalry ended only when they made identical films in “Jaadugar” and “Toofan” which failed miserably and marked the end of their careers as great filmmakers

- Mehra was the first filmmaker to name Amitabh as Vijay in “Zanjeer”. Amitabh was Vijay in more than twenty films, some of them made by Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra.

- Music was the strong point of all his films. He always had the veteran music directors Kalyanji- Anandji to score the music for his films but  had Bappi Lahiri in two of his most successful films “Namaak Halaal” and “Sharaabi”

- Mehra used his poetry to create all the songs for his films. He wrote the first few lines which formed the themes of the songs and left the rest of the lines to be written by Anjaan, the father of the song writer, Sameer. The best tribute as a poet was paid to him by Mahesh Bhatt who requested him to write the entire theme song of a film called “Thikaana” which was a very big hit.

- Mehra was a large-hearted man who gave breaks to some of his assistants. Rakesh Kumar was the most trusted. He gave him a break by asking him to direct “Khoon Paseena” for his own banner. Rakesh went on to direct big films like “Yaarana”, “Mr. Natwarlal” and “Do Aur Do Paanch” with Amitabh Bachchan. He also gave a break to Sushil Mullick who could not live up to his expectations. Ram Sethi, a comedian and an assistant was also given a big break when he directed “Ghungroo” for his own banner

- He could not take any step without consulting his friend Satyen and many feel that his down fall started after he broke off  ties with Satyen

-   He had the greatest respect for the veteran actors Om Prakash and Pran and in later days Amrish Puri.

- He lived a regular life which was very irregular. His breakfast timings and lunch breaks and dinner were all at the wrong times which many believed could also be the reason for his battles with several ailments, asthama being the most common

- He was a very loving father to his sons, one of whom he called Amit as his tribute to Amitabh Bachchan. He also was a caring husband and proved it best when he was by her side while she was in coma.

-  The only time he got into some kind of controversy was when he had an affair with struggling actress Padmini Kapila for whom he had to lose friends like Satyen and the faith of his wife

-  He was a lost man towards the end and had even lost his memory

- His one big goal was to write his autobiography in which he wanted “to strip the industry and all its big names”. He even believed that he had written a book on his life and the times he had lived through. The man who once was considered the king of the world of Hindi films was a very lonely man towards the end and even when he breathed his last he slipped away into some other world all alone. I only wish he went like he wrote in one of his songs, “rote hue aate hain sab, hasta hua jo jaayega woh muqaddar ka sikandar kehlayega”

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