THE LAST NIGHT IN THE LIFE OF RAAJ KUMAR ....

In the fifty years

I have been around ,

I have seen the rise and fall of empires and the beginning and end of careers , stars , superstars and legends ......

Raaj Kumar was and will always be remembered as one of the most enigmatic star and human being

He had a flourishing career as an actor in a class and with a style all his own . His voice and how he used it was one of his strong points.

And it was this very strong point that became a life and death problem for him towards the end of his life .

It was during the making of Subhash Ghai's "Saudagar" that he was diagnosed for throat cancer and he still kept shooting for "Saudagar". It was while shooting that a worried Subhash Ghai asked him if the rumour about his ailment was true and Raaj Kumar in his typical manner said, "jaani , Raaj Kumar marega toh koi badi bimaari se , woh kiya sardi jhukaam se thodi na maregaa "

The cancer of the throat kept growing malignant and he did not let anyone in the industry know about his pain and suffering . He had come to know that he was about to die .....

That night , he asked his family to be with him in his room at his bungalow in Worli.He had with him his wife , his two sons Puru and Panini and his daughter Vastavikta . He kept reciting the "Hanuman Chalisa"(which was so unlike his  image as Raaj Kumar , the difficult to understand actor ) He had a few words with his family and then said good bye to life .......

What he had told his family that night became clear only the next morning . He had asked his sons to take his body to the electric crematorium at Shivaji Park and finish his cremation as soon as possible and only then let the industry know that he had passed away.

The news of his death reached the Mehboob Studio where Mehul Kumar who had made three big films with him and without any difficulties , was shooting and I was with him.We rushed to the bungalow , only to see his family sitting as if nothing had happened . Raaj Kumar died just as he had lived . He was an enigma till the very end .

I.S.Johar , the well-known actor , filmakar and writer was known for his iconoclastic image and as a man who did not respect  traditions and customs . He knew he was dying and asked  his people to take his body to the electric crememtoruim at Sion before anyone in the industry or anywhere else knew about his death .

Raj Khosla , the one-time assistant of Guru Dutt and who had directed a wide range of films died on a very rainy day and his body had to be kept waiting till the heavy rain in Bombay didn't show any signs of coming to an end . And he was finally cremated even as it kept raining, with only a handful of people (which included me) attending .

Dev Anand was perhaps the only man I knew who died the way he wanted to .He had gone to London with his son Suneil . And one night while he was in his suite with Suneil ,he asked Suneil for a glass of water and before Suneil could bring the glass of water to him , Dev , the eternal Anand had moved on to eternity.He had often talked about not having any fanfare when he died.His wish was fulfilled in a strange way . His body was not brought to Bombay for sixteen days and was finally laid to rest in a place in London .

Why am I talking about death today ? It is because I see more and more men and women in this good , bad , sad and mad world of films in Bombay behaving as if they were here forever . When will people realise that life and success and all the fame and wealth are here only for a few moments and life and death are the only powers that are permanent ?