Rakesh Nath (Better Known As Rikku) A Man For All Seasons And All Time

Ali Peter John

Whenever he was missing from home as a little boy in a village in Hoshiarpur in Punjab, his parents and specially his sister were not worried in the least. They did not have to go looking for him or rush to the nearest police station to lodge a missing complaint. They were all very sure about where he could be and their guess was always right. They would find him in a nearby or even a faraway theatre screaming the latest releases, especially if it was a Dharmendra film. Every Dharmendra film was like a huge festival for him, a better way of celebrating all the festivals together by seeing only one film at one time. He fulfilled his greatest dream when he met his idol, Dharam Paaji in Nangal, where the noted director Bhappi Sone was shooting for his film,“Jheel Ke Us Paar".The only other ambition and adventure a young man like Rikku had was to be a sportsman and he was very good at    basketball and even boxing.... But films were always a passion(junoon) for him.

His undying love for Dharmendra had to take some shape and it did for him, when he decided to leave Punjab and reach Bombay where his“Dharam Paaji"was a very big star, the same“Dharam Paaji"who was a young and handsome man when he first saw a film of Dilip Kumar and then saw every film of Dilip Kumar till he too decided to leave the fields of Sanihal where he used to help in his father’s farm and also worked as a driller whose job was to drill holes in the most hardened rocks. Rakesh Nath was fired by the same fascination, the only difference was that he hero-worshiped Dharmendra who had become a very big star after a very hard and grim struggle when he even had to go hungry for several days and dependent on the owner of a canteen in a Studio called Kakaji or Guptaji who was known for helping all strugglers of which many went on to be very big stars and legends, writers and poets.

Rikku had his own share of struggle, but his tall figure and his willingness to learn anything and do things that were considered difficult or even impossible gradually took him closer to his goal. One thing was very clear which helped him to be what and where he is today, and that is the fact that he never aspired to be an actor because  he knew very well that he did not have it in him to be an actor.

Coincidence or call it circumstances made him meet a known director called Desh Gautam who was doing very well for himself those days. The director saw some rare sparks in Rikku and took him on as an assistant director which gave him the exposure that he needed if he had to make anything of himself in the world of Hindi films…

It was during the making of one of Desh Gautam’s films that Rikku got to know the well-known actress, Ranjeeta who was impressed with his ability to get things done. She asked him why he was whiling away his time doing something which would take him years to be a director. She suggested that he take to being a secretary or manager of stars and she offered him his first job as her own secretary. It was the beginning of a new and challenging life for Rikku and he took it on head on. And within no time he was known as one of the best secretaries as he had shaped Ranjeeta’s career from a new actress to a superstar. He was so good at his work that he knew all the ways of how his client could prosper and one of the things he did was his forming a team of Mithun Chakraborty who was still struggling and Ranjeeta and the team did more than a dozen films together and were known as a saleable team with more and more filmmakers wanting to make films with them…

It was at this time that Boney Kapoor who was a new producer was interested in launching his younger brother, Anil Kapoor as a star and Rikku proved that he could manage the careers of both Ranjeeta and Anil. Ranjeeta soon got married and gave up films to settle down abroad and Rikku had all the time to concentrate on how to groom Anil into a tough competition for all the other actors in the race and Rikku proved to be a big success again and Anil and Rikku formed a formidable team till Anil reached the very peak.

It was soon the turn of an almost unknown girl from a middle-class Maharashtrian family to take her bow after doing a couple of films which were sure to take her nowhere. It was Anil Kapoor who asked Madhuri Dixit and her family to ask Rikku to take charge of her career and once Rikku took charge of Madhuri’s career, there was just no stopping her from being in the race for the number one position among female actresses. The wonders Rikku worked with Madhuri can only be described by Madhuri one day when she has the time to look back and see what she could have been if Rikkuji ( as she called him) had not come into her life at the right time and under the right circumstances. The success story of the team of Madhuri and Rikku cannot be denied by anyone who has been a witness to film history during the last 30 years. I could have and I still can write a whole book on how Madhuri and Rikku worked together to write one of the greatest success stories. After Madhuri got married to Dr. Shriram Nene and it seemed like she would never come back to Hindi films again, Rikku had to take up other challenges, but he always missed the privilege of working with Madhuri. He was such an important and crucial factor in Madhuri’s life that he himself became a legend on his own and every new star, male or female who came to films wanted Rikku to be their secretary or manager, but Rikku was human and was aware of the fact that he would not be able to handle too many careers in a complex and complicated world like the world of Hindi films.

Rikku however worked with other stars like Salma Agha who he also helped in starting her own production company, so what if it was a company which was backed by a money magnate from Pakistan called Mahmud Shupra? The film called “Begum Sahiba” with Salma naturally in the title role was not made. Rikku also took care of the careers of the two sisters, Shilpa Shirodkar and Namrata. The other actors whose careers he helped to groom were the singer-actor Adnan Sami. His actor-friend Aditya Pancholi introduced him to a new young actress, Kangana Ranaut, who he also helped in taking her first few steps in the industry. Rikku was perhaps the first man to know the true potential of Kangana who he believed would go very far one day.

Rikku has seen the whole world literally and had experienced a world full of emotions and feelings. Madhuri who was now a mother of two sons was having second thoughts about making a comeback and it was Rikku again who not only encouraged and inspired her, but also got her some very interesting assignments with films like“Dedh Ishqiya"and“Gulaab Gang"besides getting her the plum assignment of doing the reality show,“Jhalak Dikhlaja"for Colors for which he got her a price which was staggering to say the least. She had also done a major film like“Aaja Nachle"but the fact remained and all those in the know were aware that Rikku was again playing a vital role in making her a big star all over again.

However, it is difficult to say when what will change with whom and that was exactly what happened between Madhuri and Rikku. The husband and wife, Madhuri and Dr Nene were working out there own plans to go ahead with Madhuri's career and little did Rikku know that his being out of Madhuri's new success story was that he who was with Madhuri since the time she was taking her baby steps in the industry was out according to their ingenious plans in which there was no place for emotions or gratitude for things done like miracles by a man who had dedicated his life to make Madhuri Dixit one of the all-time great success stories. Madhuri should have taken the decision with her hand on her heart, but unfortunately, she didn’t and the man who had shown her all the ways, all the way was now not to be in charge of her new career and many found it shocking.

 Her decision taken under the guidance of Dr Nene left Rikkuji in a daze for days, but he has tried his best to get out of it. One of the positive things he has done is making a film called “Guns Of Banaras” with his son, Karan Nath as the leading man. I have seen the film and I know how Rikku has put his all into the making of the film. He is now working round the clock  to release the film in the right way, all in the interest of his only son…

On a bright Sunday morning I was talking to Rikku who I have known for the last 38 years and been together through all the ups and downs. He showed some signs of being disillusioned by the attitude and behavior of people and how even the most near and dear people who once hanged on to you for dear life were easily forgetting all the days and nights in the sun they could only because of him. I could read a thousand pages of a book he could write about his experiences with all kinds of people at all times and during all circumstances. But, the man has no regrets and said, “I have done my best for people. Now, whether they remember what I have done for them or not will only show their character  which keeps changing according to their needs to have a better life”.

I have had the same kind of experiences with people, some of them more bitter than the ones Rikku has faced, but I strongly feel that whatever we have done was done when we were “high” on life and all that we can now do is to hope that god gives us all the reasons to live a peaceful life and not a life in which we will have to sit and stop the tears from flowing down whenever we feel that we have been taken for granted and have been hurt and even humiliated, because after all, that is what life has been reduced to by some unfaithful, selfish and very, very dishonest people.

Yeh duniya hai, Rikku, mere dost, iss duniya se ladkar jeena hoga tumko aur humko aur aage toh wohi jaane jisne tumko aur humko banaya hai.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Rakesh Nath, Rikku Rakesh Nath, Karan Nath, Madhuri Dixit