SACHCHE MAHAANAYAK KE MAHAAGAATHA KE KUCH JHALKIYAA

He was eight years old when he faced an army firing around in Pesawar , his birthplace. He was all alone and his family was anxious and worried for him - Ali Peter John

He hid himself under a shelter and went home unharmed . It was an incident that stayed on in his mind.

He was a part of a huge family and he was very fond of his mother whose memories he carried with him as long as his memory lasted ( he lost control over his memory ten years ago and therewere no chances of his memory coming back .

Towards the end , he couldnt even recognize his wife Saira . His two brothers , Aslam and Ahsaan died during the first wave of Covid 19 , but he was not aware of their deaths .

To think of it, the man who used to be aware and he enlightened about every little thing was not aware about anything that happened even in his house , forget the country or the world

He always remembered the early days at Bombay Talkies and the way he , Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Lata Mangeshkar used to travel by train to Malad Station and used to take a bus or a horse- driven cart to the studio

He often talked about the friendship between him , Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand and said , " we were competitors, not rivals " .

He called Dev Anand " The most handsome man I have ever seen " and he called Raj Kapoor " A comic genius with a conscience "

Besides being the great actor he was , also a writer who could write and sometimes rewrite scripts and make suggestions for songs to be improved and for dialogue to make an impact.

There was talk about his interfering in the work of his directors , but he said," I as an actor can only advise or make suggestions for the good of the film .

If the director felt l was interfering, he could put his hand down and stopped me . None of them did that . Why do they have to blame me for their weaknesses?"

There is not a piece of evidence about his overcharging any of his producers. The last big amount he received for a film was 12 lakhs of rupees. He often said, "l am the poorest actor in the industry" .

He was a good singer , but believed that one should only concentrate on the field he has come to . I am an actor and l know that l can only act .

Then why should l think of being a recognized singer , director or writer " . When he announced his decision to direct "Kalinga" , the media made snide remarks and most of them said he was officially directing his first film .

Very few people know that he had great The Bible , The Koran and The Bhagvad Gita completely and could speak with authority on them in any kind of audience

People find it difficult to believe that he has only done 82 films in his lifetime , but the fact is that he has only done 63 films in 70 years .

And he had very little wealth except for some property in Deolali near Mumbai and in Bangalore

There is also no evidence of his telling lies , cheating and abusing people . He could talk to the most ordinary people and presidents and prime ministers in the same manner and tone.

And he could stay in a seven star hotel or even a palace and a room in a studio without any complaints

The one man he respected the most in the industry was Ashok Kumar who he said encouraged him when he was doing his first few films for Bombay Talkies and even later. The last film they did together was "Duniya"

The man who was admired all over was himself an admirer of actors like Motilaal , Leela Mishra and Kanhaialaal and of the later generation, he admired the work of Sanjeev Kumar , Nana Patekar and Smita Patil .

Towards the end of his career he did one or two bad films made in the south , films like "Dharmadhikaari" and "Kanoon Apna Apna".

I asked him why he did these films when he knew that they were not worth his caliber, he said " kabhi kabhi daal roti kaa bhi sochnaa padtaa hai "

Rekha always had this dreams of working with him and when she found not one but two opportunities, the films she did (Aag Kaa Dariya " and "Qila " ) they turned out to be huge disappointments .

Aag Ka Dariya has still not been released after 25 years . He wanted to work in a few more films before he finally retired , but time or destiny was against his ambition and he stopped or forced to stop by extreme bad health in 2000 .

ABHI TOH KISSE AUR BAHOT BAAKI HAI. EK SACHCHE MAHAANAAYAK KI MAHAGAATHA ITNI JALDI KHATAM THODI HO SAKTI HAI .