Filmmaker to take forward Ballu’s story with a younger villain joining in, has also scripted a new version of his directorial debut
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 27, 2020)

The Coronavirus outbreak may have brought the entertainment industry to a standstill, but Subhash Ghai is working eight-10 hours a day. “I talk for an hour each with the students and faculty of my acting school, watch films and shows, then, for three hours a day, work on scripts. For the last six-seven months we have only been creating content and now, I’m ready with two bound scripts—a sequel to Khalnayak and a remake of my first directorial, Kalicharan,” the filmmaker informs.

The 1993 action thriller revolved around a gangster, Balaram Prasad aka Ballu, who escapes from jail and falls in love with an undercover cop, while continuing to elude the force, kills his mentor, then, has a sudden change of heart and appears in the court to absolve his Ganga, the cop. The film ends with him behind the bars again. “Part 2, which took us two years to script, starts with Ballu coming out of prison. It will also feature a younger villain,” reveals Ghai, pointing out that Sanjay Dutt, who played Ballu, was the one who urged him to write a sequel.

He promises a blockbuster cast, like the original, which also featured Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit, Raakhee, Ramya Krishnan, Anupam Kher, Pramod Moutho and Neena Gupta in a special appearance in the chartbuster “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai”. Interestingly, the controversial song did not feature in the original script. “Khal Nayak was planned as a Hollywood film, with Omar Sharif and Ashok Amritraj as the producer. But I opted out because I didn’t want to make a film in a language I wasn’t too familiar with,” says Ghai, who then decided to make it as a small art house movie with Jackie Shroff and Nana Patekar as cop and criminal. “It eventually rolled out as a mainstream masala movie, with a heroine, love story, a mother track and half-a-dozen songs woven in, as dictated by the formula, and Sanju as the khalnayak,” shares Ghai.

He promises to upgrade his craft so the new Khal Nayak finds a connect with the new generation. Point out that the pandemic has created a fear psychosis and it may be a while before the audience goes back to the theatres, and he retorts, “In that case, we can turn it into a six-hour digital series by developing the characters. A thriller can engage people across mediums.”

He’s equally charged up about the remake of the 1973 action drama, Kalicharan, which was a breakthrough film for Shatrughan Sinha, who had a double role, of a fearless cop and a fearful criminal. Ghai discloses that the actor, who was a busy villain then, had thumbed it down when he’d first narrated the script to him, dismissing it as another cop film. “When N N Sippy decided to produce it, names like Sanjeev Kumar and Rajesh Khanna cropped up. But I pointed out that I’d written the subject with my friend in mind. This time Shatru loved the subject,” he reminisces, admitting that back then, he was just a storyteller and relied on his technical crew to take him to the finish. The film was a huge hit and remade in Tamil (Sangili), Telugu (Kaidi Kalidasu), Kannada (Kaalinga) and Malayalam (Pathamudayam). “Two-three young stars had showed interest in a remake over the last couple of years, given the contrasting characters. It’s a gripping screenplay, the plot will be the same, but the treatment will be very newage,” Ghai concludes, all geared up to get back into action.

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 26, 2019)

“Sara sheher mujhe Loin ke naam se jaanta hai…” The distinctive baritone, with a slight nasal twang, which pronounced these words with a glint of menace in the eyes and much conviction, may have been silenced, but the memory of a suave, soft-spoken gentleman-baddie who, in reel life, never did the dirty work himself, is still vivid.

I met Ajit saab who played 'Loin' of the 1976 action-drama Kalicharan, masquerading as an honest do-gooder Din Dayal, decades later. By then, the cult villain had retired from showbiz. We spent a happy afternoon at his Bandra apartment, going through three dusty, bulky albums, with him explaining the genesis of each photograph. Our conversation revolved around Madhubala, the Venus of Hindi cinema and his muhboli bahen, since I was writing a piece on her. However, with his silver mane and Pathan build, he still looked every inch the ‘Loin’, though a benign one.

“Kalicharan was the first film I directed and the role of Din Dayal aka Lion had been written with Ajit saab in mind,” reminisces Subhash Ghai, 43 years later. “So, when I was narrating the script to my producer, N N Sippy, I unconsciously imitated Ajit saab’s voice and mannerisms while speaking his lines. I was delighted when I got the go ahead to take the role to him.”

The plot with all its ingenious twists and turns appealed to the veteran actor. But after letting him speak without interruption for around 40 minutes, he informed the enthusiastic young director that he wanted to say something. “Ajit saab then went on to tell me that since he was from the stage, his performances tended to get a little theatrical. ‘I will do your film, but you have to make sure I don’t go overboard. Mujhe sambhal lena,’ he said, his modesty touching my heart,” the filmmaker flashbacks.

He assured the senior actor that the character had been penned with him in mind, so it was okay for Ajit saab to get a little dramatic at times. He had full confidence in his acting prowess and knew he would pull off the role with panache. “But all through the shoot, he was like an obedient student, following my instructions, on intonation, voice modulation and histrionics to the T,” Subhash ji marvels.

It was only on one count that he let Ajit saab have his way. “He would pronounce ‘Lion’ as ‘Loin’ and I consciously did not correct him, knowing that his diction would make the word distinctive. And I was right. Four decades later, people still remember him by that dialogue,” he exults, remembering him as a thorough gentleman who was the perfect match for Shatrughan Sinha, fiery in the double role of Inspector Prabhakar and hardened criminal Kalicharan who is sprung out of jail to end the Loin’s reign of terror.

Apart from being Hindi cinema’s unforgettable ‘Loin King’, Ajit saab also spawned a cottage industry of jokes on the eponymous Bass (Boss) to his molls, Mona Darling and Silly Lily, and his henchmen, Mikal (Michael), Raabert (Robert), Tony and Peter. And even though these jokes never got a laugh out of him, I can’t but repeat one of them here.

Raabert has twins and wants the Bass to christen them. He is quick to oblige, “Eka ka naam rakho Peter…”

Raabert beams and urges, “Boss, aur doosre ka?” Pat comes the reply, “Repeater.”

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 16, 2014)

On October 18, 1962, around 2 am, Manoj Kumar's eldest son Vishal Goswami, was born. The beaming first-time dad returned home to find a letter waiting for him. It was from N N Sippy. The congratulatory message hinted that the producer wanted to meet the actor again.

"Nari Sippy (as N N Sippy was fondly called) had previously approached me with a couple of film offers. But despite two superhits, Hariyali Aur Rasta and Grahasti, my career hadn't taken off and this had made me cautious. So, I had decided to sign a film only if I was confident about the story, director and the set-up," recalls Manoj Kumar. He admits he wasn't too pleased to find Sippy and screenplay writer Dhruva Chatterjee waiting for him at the Holy Family Hospital when he went to check on his wife Shashi and their newborn son.

This time it was difficult to shake off a persistent Sippy who requested the actor not to focus too much on project details. "Beta paida hua hai, put your faith in his kismet and give your nod to my film," he urged, and Manoj Kumar, moved by his emotional words, obliged.

Soon after, Raj Khosla came on board to direct the psychological thriller that revolved around a doctor who is the heir to an inheritance, a mysterious woman who waylays him on a rainy night, turns up dead in an eerie mansion, then returns as his wife. Manoj Kumar had suggested the title, Woh Kaun Thi?, and after hours of brainstorming had come up with Sadhana's name to play his leading lady. The actress had seen his films and was keen to work with him. But, she pointed out that since she was also going through a low phase in her career, commercially they wouldn't be a viable jodi.

"Shooting was to start on January 22, 1963, in Shimla. Leaving behind my two-month-old son, I took off for Delhi where I waited till January 18, wondering about my leading lady. I was so relieved when I saw Sadhana at the station," he recalls.

Once they reached the location, he started reading the scenes and wasn't impressed. Since it was an important film for him and he had the time, Manoj Kumar started rewriting the script. By evening, he had reworked 10-12 scenes, and hesitantly gave them to the director.

"Sadhana, her parents, the rest of the cast were sitting around that evening when Raj Khosla entered with the original script in one hand and the one I had rewritten in the other. He threw what had been written earlier into the fire and pointing towards me announced that I would be writing the film," reminisces the actor.

Thereafter, between shots, he'd be writing frantically on the sets. "After a while Raj Khosla would walk over and ask, 'Panditji Maharaj, kahan tak pahunche?' If I'd finished half a scene, he'd shoot that much, then let me return to my writing," says the actor, adding that in his later interviews Khosla would often refer to him as his 'half guru and half chela'.

He didn't get credit for his ghost writing or for having ghost directed a scene. It happened when they were shooting in Kufri near Shimla. Looking for snow, Manoj Kumar wandered down to the valley below and returned excitedly to tell Khosla that they should shift base. Khosla confessed that he turned dizzy when looking down and requested the actor to can the shots for him. He was happy to oblige.

According to Nari Sippy's brother, Gul, Manoj Kumar was involved in all departments— from screenplay and dialogue writing to acting and editing. "He would sit with the editor through the night and even accompany me to Tardeo to look at the hoarding. He also suggested the poster design," Gul informs.

It was Manoj Kumar's idea to focus on Sadhana's face in the poster while only his back is seen. "It helped build up the suspense that got people hooked," he reasons.

Madan Mohan's music was another crowd-puller with evergreen hits like Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim and Lag jaa gale. The latter is one of Lata Mangeshkar's personal favourites. Yet, it almost didn't get featured in the film. The director had rejected the song much to the distress of the music director who then made an SOS call to Manoj Kumar.

He hesitatingly fixed up another sitting with Madan Mohan for Sippy and Khosla. He went half-an-hour before the meeting and listened to the song. "It was mesmerising and when Raj arrived, I told him to listen to it a couple of times. He did, silently, then picking up his shoe started hitting himself on the head wondering how he, a singer with a keen ear for music, could have turned down this song," says the actor.

The black-and-white film released in 1964 was a superhit. Manoj Kumar went on to act in two more suspense thrillers, Gumnaam (1966) and Anita (1967). Ask him whether he was surprised by Woh Kaun Thi?'s success and he insists that he wasn't. He recalls how after the film's premiere, Dara Singh, who he'd seen triumph in the akhadas of Delhi, congratulated him saying, "You are a wrestler."

Equally impressed was master filmmaker Mehboob Khan. He referred to Khosla as the Alfred Hitchcock of India. "He called me India's Rock Hudson and asked both of us to see him in his studio soon," smiles Manoj Kumar, relishing the moment even after half-a-century.