Film Fare

Awara
Reshma Aur Shera
Nargis and
Feroz Khan
on the set of
Raat Aur Din
RAATAUR DIN TOOK 10YEARSTO COMPLETE.ALLTHREE OF
US,BHAIYYA,NAMRATA AND I, WERE BORN DURING IT.IN
THE SONG DIL KI GIHRA KHOL DO,MOM WAS CARRYING
ME.SHE HADTOWEARA CORSETTOAPPEAR SLIM
But I’d have saved
anyone else as well.
I fell in love with
the woman she
was.” Mom was
a caring person.
She had gone out
of her way to look
after his sister, who
was suffering from
tuberculosis. Mom
arranged for the
medical facilities
without dad even
knowing about it.
Coming to dad’s
films like Mujhe
Jeene Do, Reshma
Aur Shera (1971),
Yeh Rastey Hain
Pyar Ke (1963),
Milan (1967)...
I appreciated the
message in them.
I enjoyed the
comedy Padosan
(1968), the potboiler,
Geeta Mera
Naam (1974),
where he played a
dark character, was
equally enthralling.
The film had him
flaunting side-locks
and bell-bottoms.
My brother, Sanjay,
loved dad in that
film. Dard Ka Rishta
(1982) resonated
with us as we too
had gone through
the excruciating
journey of having
your kin suffer
from cancer.
TEEN TIME
My sister Namrata
was a great fan of
Rishi Kapoor and
would make it a
point to watch his
films at our Ajanta
Arts theatre. Dad
didn’t like our
sneaking in for
previews. “Don’t
you dare, it’s not
right. You’re not
invited!” he’d
sternly say. But
projector Dada
would let us in.
He’d place high
stools for us to
sit on and watch
the film from the
projector room.
I remember
watching Karz
(1980) like this.
Amusingly, I was
a huge fan of Bunty
(Kumar Gaurav,
now married to
sister Namrata
Dutt). Bhaiyya
and he began their
careers together. I
happened to attend
a trial show of
Love Story (1981)
and flipped for
him immediately.
I couldn’t stop
gushing over his
smile. But my sister
thought he was no
patch on Bhaiyya.
However, there was
no convincing me.
Then my brother
and Bunty became
friends. He’d come
home. I’d watch
him all starry-eyed.
I began showing off
to my school friends
that I knew him.
One day they said
let’s go and meet
him. I brought them
along. We stood at
his gate saying we
wanted to meet him.
Thankfully, Bunty
came on the terrace
and waved out to
us. I was nervous