DAY 1928
Jalsa, Mumbai July 26, 2013 Fri 11 : 43 PM
Riki Biswas birthday on July 27 th … happy birthday and love from us all …
Sunita Roy Bachchan .. with daughters came across from Bihar to meet ..thank you for the pooja, gifts and eats for Aaradhya ..
40 years of ‘Abhimaan’
July 26 th .. the day of my accident in Bangalore on sets of 'Coolie’ ..
To Riki, dearest friend of Kankana, a most wonderful birthday tomorrow 27th July, with wishes of happiness and joy always .. from us all … birthday bumps and mevaa ..
40 years of 'Abhimaan’ … that is like 40 years of our marriage ..the last shot of the film of Jaya and me coming out of the theatre after singing the climax song, and the crowds mobbing and applauding us, was done the day after we returned from our honeymoon in London …
A film made almost as a compensation and a promise by Hrishi Da, Hrishikesh Mukherji, to Jaya and me, after having removed me from 'Guddi’, one where having shot for about 10 days I was asked to leave the film and Samit Bhanja from Bengal Cinema was taken, because my other films had released by then and the novelty of having an unrecognised face opposite Jaya was defeated ..
Abhimaan was made as a production of ours - Jaya and mine - called AMIYA, a mix of both our names, the nitty gritties of production being given to our two respective secretaries, Susheela and Pawan Kumar then, and under their names, but has remained with them still to date .. both our secretaries no longer with us now as managers ..
The story and the music and the direction and the writing still most haunting to many viewers … the brilliance of legendary SD Burman , father of RD Burman, his music most special, the performances of all the characters, the writing contribution by the great Rajinder Singh Bedi, author and thinker … everything just fell into a beautiful space … the fear among us all of its success, coming as it did soon after the very popular 'Zanjeer’ … and finally its lasting value with most viewers even today .. Hrishi Da always felt 'Satyakaam’ was his best, we thought otherwise and felt Abhimaan was … and often we would have fun on this topic on set … the glorious Mohan Studio in Andheri, which played host to so many masters of cinema, including the great Bimal Roy … not to mention that most of Prakash Mehra’s films were shot there too - Muquaddar ka Sikandar, quite extensively … and the memories of it … the famous 'kotha’ set, which just when the last shot was taken after a long and gruelling schedule, and we were all moving out to retire home .. collapsed and fell … destroyed almost by providence … no one was hurt ..
The fight sequence with Amjad Khan on the street which ended up inside one of the market stores on set … the crash against a glass almirah as he throws me a punch … and when the shot ended, one of the assistants noticing the ceiling of the shop set getting red in colour and wondering what it was .. realising to his horror and surprise that it was the blood shooting out from my leg, where a glass piece had gouged a vein on it .. rushing to the nearest clinic and getting it stitched up … battling the crowds that had gathered at the medical facility, so I could get attention to the wound as soon as possible !!
Ahh … the vagaries of film making !!
And because I was at Mohan Studios so often, a specific little tin shed in the back yard of the floor was made for me, by the owners, to be my permanent make up room … one where we put all our little personal belongings … pictures, furniture and all .. which I had to painfully remove, when the Studio premises went up for sale to developers - studio floors not so much in use any more … directors opting for real locations nowadays ..
One wonders how much history those grounds have borne, how many greats of cinema through the ages worked and gave to us the magnificence of their genius !!
Abhimaan a story Hrishi Da designed, inspired by an incident he was aware of, but never disclosed to any one … !!!
कितने अधूरे सपनों का है ये पूरा सफ़र …
