Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 17, 2017)

The last five years have been nightmarish for Dekh Bhai Dekh writer-actor Lilliput. Once a familiar face on the telly, M M Faruqi, who renamed himself ‘Lilluput’ in the ’80s, admits that he is buried in debt and struggling to find work today. “For the last one year, I have been making the rounds of producers’ offices with two scripts. Some say, ‘Dekhenge, sochenge,’ while others are blunt, ‘Baune uthke chale aate hain director banne,’” he sighs.

He also recalls how he got the rare opportunity to play a non-comic role in the TV series Woh (1998), a loose adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel, It, which was recently in the news with its eponymous Hollywood adaptation. While Lilliput’s performance was lauded, he can never forget how a top star derided him, saying sarcastically, “Accha, you can do serious roles also, I thought dwarfs were apt for only comedy”.

The slights didn’t stop there. Another actor, this one highly-educated, once joked that Lilliput’s pager number was longer than him. “This time, I replied. ‘Kuch logon ki zubaan bhi mujhse lambi hai, ab kya kar sakte hain.’ I think he got the message,” Lilliput reminisces, sounding frail and unlike the feisty Cheena, who took on Kamal Haasan’s Raja in Ramesh Sippy’s 1985-romance Saagar or the assassin of the TV series, Razia Sultan.

One remembers how he juggled the roles of a gambler, raakshas and jadoogar in the 1988 TV series, Vikram Aur Betaal and wonders if he’s unwell and he admits his financial instability is a cause for constant concern. “When I arrived in Mumbai in December 1975, I was the first dwarf actor here and decided to make a brand of myself. I thought in a big industry like Bollywood a dwarf can find lots of fun roles to play so I christened myself Lilliput and began to audition,” he flashbacks. He dabbled with theatre and films and even graduated to television.

However, despite his growing popularity, an assistant director, who is a big name today, had warned him that the film industry would never look beyond his height. “In hindsight, I realise he was right,” sighs Lilliput, who is presently shooting for director-friend Vikram Razdan’s short film. “Offers today are few and far between. I accept all of them,” he says. Lilliput has played “a normal man” in the play Tota Maina Ki Kahani and acted in films like Bunty Aur Babli and Kabhie Tum Kabhi Hum. Between 2011 and 2013 he was seen in TV shows like CID and Adaalat.

“But the Hindi film industry lets the length of a man’s legs define his capability. It doesn’t understand that a man doesn’t think with his feet,” he reflects, acknowledging that it was the lack of roles that made him try his hand at writing. Writer-producer Anand Mahendroo encouraged him and he went on to pen dialogue for the 1992 Shah Rukh Khan-starrer, Chamatkar, and the popular sitcom, Dekh Bhai Dekh.

He also wrote Indradhanush for Mahendroo and a few other projects, before Subhash Ghai signed him to play the pint-sized villain opposite Amitabh Bachchan. “The film never took off but Subhash ji still recommends me to friends. No other director saw me the way he did,” he says, admitting that many of the other producers were exploitative and unprofessional. One made me wait for six months for payment before asking me to settle for Rs 50,000 instead of the agreed upon Rs 2 lakh. Twice, a fortnight’s shoot has been cut down to three days and the money paid after three months. I’ve had to borrow from friends and acquaintances without the resources to repay them,” he recounts.

Lilliput says everyone in the industry knows him, but he has no friends because he doesn’t indulge in idle talk or go for parties. “And if you are not a part of that world, you are not a part of the industry. Yahaan dost kahan hote hain, yahaan vyaapar-wale mitr hote hai,” the 68-year-old smiles, pointing out that his elder daughter has had to take over as the family’s breadwinner. He brings up Game of Thrones’ award-winning actor Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister and has been pushing relentlessly towards the empowerment of dwarfs.

“I see that better roles keep coming his way in Hollywood while India still can’t understand that a dwarf can fall in love, fight, travel and even play mind games. Here, a dwarf is a lesser human being because of his height. Every day I feel wasted as an artiste and that’s my biggest regret.”