Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 30, 2020)

He was one of the wizards of Wonderland who made me believe in miracles. I grew up convinced that Sai Baba could restore eyesight, that blood transfusions from three different donors simultaneously could save a life and that Anthony Gonsalves lived in Roop Nagar, Prem Galli, Kholi No 420. If you haven’t yet guessed that I’m speaking about Manmohan Desai’s now-iconic 1977 action-comedy, Amar Akbar Anthony, then, excuse me please, you are not a Bollywood buff.

Forty-three years later, when I asked Shabana Azmi, who’d played one-time crook Lakshmi who wins the heart of cop Amar, about the film, she revealed that she had almost completed Parvarish and they had a blast. One day, Manmohan Desai came to Ranjit Studio, where she was shooting. He told her in his usual candid manner, “Shabbo, I’m producing a film, usmein there is no khaas role for you, magar woh Vinod Khanna meri jaan kha jayega ki ‘why is there no heroine opposite me when both Amitabh and Rishi have’. Toh you please do the film for me!” The National Award-winning actress almost fell down laughing and said “yes” immediately.

Shabana goes on to inform that Neetu Singh, Vinod, Amitabh Bachchan and she were simultaneously shooting Parvarish and Amar Akbar Anthony on two different floors of the R K Studio. “MD and AB would flit from one floor to the other! In fact, I watched AB give 14 perfect takes of that famous drunken scene where he puts bandage on his reflection in the mirror. He got it right each time, but it was difficult for the camera because it was complicated. AB didn’t express his frustration even once. Then, both of them hopped over to the next floor to the Parvarish set, where the climax was being filmed. If you narrate this to a Hollywood star, he would faint!” she points out.

Kiran Kumar, whose father Jeevan played the role of the crime don Robert/Albert, saw the film, “a total masala entertainer with fantastic performances”, recently during the lockdown and loved it again. “Manmohan Desai’s power of conviction could make anhoni ko honi and honi ko anhoni. Daddy loved to shoot with him because Pran uncle and he were his friends. Whenever they shot in Mumbai, khana hamare ghar se jaata tha,” he reveals. His mother excelled in Kashmiri cuisine, and a huge tiffin carrier with a meal for not just Jeevan saab and Manji, but all the actors who relished her koftas and paaya, was dispatched to the studio at lunchtime.

Kiran ji’s sister, Nikki, the youngest of the kids and a self-confessed brat, remembers going to Pune for the film’s climax shoot. She was around eight and when she learnt that her daddy would be gone for 20-22 days, afraid ki ab bahut maar padegi for her pranks without him around, she went sobbing to him, asking to be taken along since Man ji was the only person from the film industry, the girls were allowed to interact with.

Nikki ji was studying at St Joseph’s Convent and initially, her principal was aghast when Jeevan saab asked for permission, but when he pointed out that he hadn’t produced a fake medical certificate, the nun, who was fond of him, granted her leave. And she landed up at Hotel Blue Diamond, where Man ji’s son, Ketan, was also around. He instructed everyone that the bachchi should get everything she wanted and Nikki ji had a blast ordering room service. Also, once the chivalrous Mr Bachchan learnt that they shared the same birth date, October 11, she got chocolates and wafers from him.

Vinod Khanna was associated with Osho Rajneesh back then, and looking at the glow on his face, Nikki ji would wonder whether to approach him and he would flash her a lovely smile. She remembers Rishi Kapoor as a livewire and the leading ladies as “so beautiful”. She got friendly with Parveen Babi “who wouldn’t eat as she had to get into a tight yellow maxi and run through the sugarcane fields”. The shoot was a picnic, and on her return, Nikki ji was a star in school when she boasted to the kids, their parents and the teachers, that she’d met ‘the’ Amitabh Bachchan. The only irritant was that after the film’s release, due to scenes like the one where Jeevan saab spills whisky on his shoes and asks Pran saab to wipe it with his sleeve, the kids would wonder if her daddy was as bad even in real life. “When I went crying to him, he told me, ‘Bachcha, ask your friends, if anybody knows their daddies like they know me.’ That was all the answer I needed,” chortles Nikki ji, who went on to become a teacher while Kiran ji followed in their father’s footsteps.

Four decades on, “Humko Tumse Ho Gaya Hai Pyaar Kya Karen” still resonates. The song created cinematic history, bringing together four legends, Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Mohd Rafi. Pyarelal (Sharma), who scored the music with Laxmikant, persuaded Man ji to change the name of Mr Bachchan’s character from Anthony Fernandes to Anthony Gonsalves so the film’s other chartbuster, “My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves”, could be a tribute to his guru, Anthony Prabhu Gonsalves, a music arranger, composer and teacher from Goa who taught him to play the violin.

While this is well-known, literary critic, writer, editor and historian Saquib Salim shared another little-known trivia in a tweet on May 27: The film’s opening line, “sophisticated rhetorician intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity”, spoken by Anthony when he emerges from the Easter egg, is from a speech in the British Parliament by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in 1878. And to think that there are some who describe this lost-and-found tale of three brothers, propagating communal harmony, as a nonsensical comedy.

Veteran actor Kiran Kumar, 67, discusses how he and his family beat the Coronavirus through positivity and isolation protocols at home
Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 28, 2020)

Veteran actor Kiran Kumar needed to get an OPD medical procedure done, for which he was required to undergo a battery of tests, including one for Covid-19. Since he had been strictly following social distancing and displayed no symptoms, he was certain it would be negative. He tested positive. “I have faced so many adversities that I was not shocked. I’m prepared for every eventuality life throws my way. Acceptance is necessary, especially when dealing with such crises,” he points out, admitting that while his family was worried for him, they are an optimistic bunch.

The 67-year-old actor immediately isolated himself on the upper floor of his house, while the family stayed downstairs. The BMC authorities responded promptly, dropping by, testing everyone else and informing them about the protocols to be followed. “I told my wife to buy disposable utensils for me to eat in. My food would be prepared and kept on the staircase. I’d pick it up myself, eat and dispose off the plates, ensuring zero contact. I also made my own bed and cleaned the room,” he shares, adding that while he had the luxury of having an entire floor to himself, all you need is a room to isolate yourself. “You must wear a disposable mask and gloves every time you use the washroom, if it’s a shared one,” he warns.

Son of yesteryear actor and celebrated villain Jeevan, Kiran Kumar had started out in Bollywood as a hero, before a slump in his career took him to the neighbouring state where he attained a cult following and came to be known as the ‘Bachchan of Gujarati cinema’. Rakesh Roshan’s Khudgarz got him back to Hindi films, and with Tezaab and Khuda Gawah, he re-established himself as a villain. In a career spanning over four decades, he was once the highest paid actor on Indian TV.

The isolation left him with a lot of time on hand and he started reading books he didn’t have the time to read earlier. “My reading choices are quite outlandish in that I believe in aliens and enjoy my Asimovs (Isaac Asimov, American writer of sciencefiction). I also binge-watched Star Trek, Star Wars and some Hindi films,” he shares, adding that he also did a lot of introspection, which made him realise the value of relationships and how they have shaped him into the person he is. “I may be a known name but at home, my wife (Sushma) is the tigress. She never let any of us mope and my sister (Nikki), who has been pampering me like a kid, cooked my favourite dishes. My children (Shaurya and Srishti) have been tending to my every need while my support staff, Pramod and Jay, have also stood by me like a rock, instead of running away after finding out that I had tested positive.”

He adds that director Kamal Sharma, who’s like a brother, has kept him amused with frequent calls, and his gym buddy, Harsh, with e-papers and funny texts. “Smita Jaykar sent me healing energy and her husband Mohan has been praying for me. These 14 days have made me realise how loved I am,” he exults, quick to add that the doctors at Hinduja and Lilavati have also been very supportive while his brother-in-law, Dr Deepak Ugra, who’s a pediatrician, was a phone call away.

“Now that I have recovered and tested negative, I can say that Coronavirus is here to stay. We all have to learn to modify our lifestyles and start living with it. There’s no vaccine yet, so, the only way to contain it is isolation. Getting infected isn’t criminal; hiding it is,” he asserts, saying it’s important to be content with what you have and start appreciating the little things in life.