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a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
From the archives: How Raj Khosla and Guru Dutt struck up an instant friendship
In the late 1980s, I had the privilege of meeting Raj Khosla. I was introduced to him by Guru Dutt's sister, the artist Lalitha Lajmi, who took me to see him in Marina Apartments in Pali Hill in Bandra, Mumbai. His apartment was later bought by Aamir Khan's family, and it is where they still live today. At that time, I was researching material for a documentary I later made called In Search of Guru Dutt (Channel 4 TV, UK, 1989) and meeting Raj Khosla was most memorable. His love for cinema, warmth of personality and generosity of heart were so evident. Following are excerpts from two conversations, the first an audio interview recorded on November 5, 1986, and the second filmed on September 22, 1988. Raj Khosla: In those days [late 1940s, early 1950s], I wanted to be a playback singer. Dev [Anand] was trying to help me, but things weren't working out. So, one day he told me, 'There's a friend of mine, Guru Dutt, and he's going to direct my next picture. Why don't you become his assistant?' 'I don't want to do filmmaking; I want to sing.' He said, 'Come on! Get together, things will gradually fall into place.' That's how I met Guru Dutt. He asked me, 'Do you have any experience in being an assistant in films? Dev has recommended you.' 'Yes, I have, I'm studying filmmaking.' The second thing he asks, 'Do you know Hindi?' 'Of course I know Hindi.' I didn't write in Hindi. I wrote in Urdu and Persian. In the 1940s, most Punjabis knew Urdu well, and some, even Farsi. But I didn't know how to write in Devanagari. He said, 'Fine, join duty from tomorrow.' So I ran from there and the first thing I did was learn to read Hindi, ka, kha, ga. Sure enough, after six or seven days, he said, 'Just copy out these scenes.' By that time, I had picked up some Hindi. When I wrote the scenes, he asked, 'One second, when did you start learning?' I said, 'The day you asked me if I knew Hindi.' He smiled. We struck up a friendship instantly. Nasreen Munni Kabir: What was your relationship with the Anands? Raj Khosla: The Anand family and my family were from the Punjab. We had generational relations. Their father and mine were college mates and friends. So, we were the second generation of friends. When I was looking to work, Chetan Anand said, 'Why don't you work at Navketan?' Since they were producing Baazi at that time, my destiny was kind to me. I opted to work as Guru Dutt's assistant. Nasreen Munni Kabir: You told me you were very fond of Sahir Ludhianvi. Raj Khosla: I was a college student when I heard the work of Sahir sahab. I told my father that Sahir Ludhianvi was going to be a fantastic success. In my college days, I used to know a poem written by Sahir, Sanaa-khvaan-e taqdis-e mashriq kahaan hain. This poem became Jinhen naaz hai hind par woh kahaan hain. The lines were changed for Pyaasa, because who would understand the Persianised original lines? One day we were sitting in the Navketan office, and I sang the whole song to Guru Dutt. I had composed the tune myself, and he said, 'Raj, this is it! This is Pyaasa!' By chance, Sahir was already writing for him in Baazi. So, there was no problem of copyright or anything. Guru Dutt had a great gift of understanding emotion. But the relationship between Sahir and Guru Dutt was a little distant, I would say. In art, they were very close but personally they were not very close. I was personally much closer to Sahir. Nasreen Munni Kabir: You said you wanted to be a singer. Did you record any songs? RK: No, I didn't. In Jaal, we had this song, Sun Ja Dil Ki Dastaan. Guru Dutt recorded me singing it, but I failed the test. SD Burman said, 'Raj is good, but...' The song was later re-recorded in Hemant Kumar's voice. It was a tremendous hit. Raj Khosla: My first film was Milap, I made it for the same producer, TR Fatehchand, who also made Jaal. Many people thought C.I. D. was my first film, because Milap was not a hit. It was C.I.D. that got me noticed as a director. There's an amusing incident that happened when C.I.D. was released in Calcutta in 1957. We had very heavy rains that year and all the flights were cancelled, so we went to Calcutta by train. We took a box of beer and drank in the compartment. Remember Bombay-Calcutta was 46 hours in those days. We got thoroughly bored with each other. As the train ultimately entered the train station, the distributor, who was a very fat man, I don't remember his name, had garlands ready for us and he said, 'Raj, it's a hit. Ho gaya kaam!' (The work is done!) The garlands told us things were okay. Nevertheless, we went to the theatre to see for ourselves how C.I.D. was doing. Twenty minutes into the film, Guru Dutt says, 'Raj, you've made a super-hit film, come on, let's celebrate.' The next morning, I didn't find him in the hotel suite. I searched everywhere for him. Where is he? Fully dressed, with bowtie and all, lying in the bathtub. He must have been drinking all night. He was very sweet. Nasreen Munni Kabir: Why didn't you carry on directing under Guru Dutt's banner? Raj Khosla: As a matter of fact, after C. I. D., he offered me a lakh of rupees for the next film, which was a lot of money in 1957. I said, 'No, Guru Dutt, I will not work with you anymore.' 'Why? What's the problem?' 'You don't grow under a big tree. I'm a small plant. If I work with you, it'll always be Guru Dutt made this film.' He said, 'Go your way. Whenever you want to come and make a film for me...' Nasreen Munni Kabir: Can you talk about the C.I.D. song Leke Pehla Pehla Pyaar, featuring Dev Anand and Shakila? It was filmed on the pedestrian promenade on the Worli Sea Face [now part of the Coastal Road]. Raj Khosla: Dev Anand was a very disciplined person. He still is one of the most disciplined actors we ever had. The only thing I remember about that song is that Dev Anand tells me, 'Raj, what am I doing in this song?' 'The song is doing everything, you just walk.' So we started shooting. It was quite a long walk down the promenade, you know. The song goes through its entirety for about three minutes or so and he keeps walking. So after a few shots, he said, 'You want me to walk a mile or two or something? What am I doing in this song?' I said, 'You're walking. You're not going to sing.' 'Okay, you're the boss.' Typical of Dev, you know, he always wants to be active. Then the second thing I remembered is that while walking he had this habit of always using his hands somewhere. 'You don't move your hands.' He says, 'I can't sing, I can't move my hands, I'm supposed to walk.' 'That's it, you're just supposed to walk and look handsome!'
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: Citing ‘disillusionment' among party, AAP councillor switches to Congress
Satnam Singh Sunny Master, a sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councilor from Ward 58, which falls in Ludhiana West assembly segment joined the Congress on Friday. He was inducted into the party by former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, former cabinet minister Rana Gurjit, party candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu and others. Besides, Karan Warring, a senior BJP leader and Paramvir Singh, nephew of late MLA Gurpreet Gogi also joined the Congress. Earlier, Vikramjit Singh, the social media in-charge of the AAP for Malwa region also joined the Congress in presence of the party's general secretary in charge of Punjab, Bhupesh Baghel, and the state president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. Speaking on the occasion, Sunny Master said he was completely disillusioned with the AAP after seeing it from inside. He said they were all fake revolutionaries. He said he was deeply disturbed the way the AAP leadership was handing over the posts and positions, which are the right of the Punjabis, to people from Delhi and other places. Karan Warring said it was a homecoming for him as his family has been with Congress for generations. He especially appealed to the BJP and the Akali supporters, not to waste their votes and support Ashu to defeat the outsiders' party, the AAP. Welcoming them into the party fold, Channi and Rana said it was a homecoming for them. Channi said, it was not an ordinary thing that a sitting councillor had left the ruling party and joined the opposition party. He noted this shows how disappointed and disillusioned people are with the AAP. He said, this is just the beginning as more and more people were keen to join Congress after being disillusioned with the AAP. Channi in a special message to the self respecting Punjabis, who believe in Punjabiyat, said that they must come forward and ensure the victory of Congress and defeat the outsiders. He said, no Punjabi would like to vote for a Haryanvi, suggesting that the AAP was fighting this election for sending Kejriwal, who originally hails from Haryana, to Rajya Sabha. 'This is the matter of Punjabi prestige', he remarked.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
AAP councillor joins Cong
TNN Ludhiana: AAP councillor from ward 58, Satnam Singh Sunny Master, joined the Congress on Friday. Ward 58 falls in the Ludhiana West assembly segment. He was inducted into the party by former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi , besides Rana Gurjit and Bharat Bhushan Ashu. Senior BJP leader Karan Warring and Paramvir Singh, nephew of late MLA Gurpreet Gogi, also joined the Congress. Earlier, Vikramjit Singh, AAP social media in-charge for Malwa region, also joined the Congress in presence of the party's Punjab in-charge, Bhupesh Baghel and PCC president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Speaking on the occasion, Sunny Master said that he was completely disillusioned with AAP after seeing it from inside. Describing AAP as a party of "fake revolutionaries," he said that he was deeply disturbed by the way the party leadership was handing over posts and positions, which rightfully belonged to Punjabis, to people from Delhi and other places. Karan Warring said that the switch to Congress was a homecoming of sorts for him as his family had been with the Congress for generations. Calling AAP a party of outsiders, he solicited votes for Ashu. Channi said that for a councillor, leaving the ruling party and joining the opposition was a big step, which showed the extent of people's disillusionment with AAP. He added that "self respecting Punjabis" should come forward and ensure the victory of Congress.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
IPL Eliminator: Mohali high in spirits as Shubman Gill returns home after becoming India's Test captain
Gujarat Titans' captain Shubman Gill (AP Photo) in Mullanpur: On Friday, when he leads the Gujarat Titans (GT) against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Eliminator at the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur, it will be the first time Shubman Gill will be playing at his home venue after becoming India's Test captain. Would he get sentimental or act cool about it? Deepinder Chabra, the assistant curator at the Mullanpur Stadium, keeps it crisp. "Punjabi load nahi lete (Punjabis don't overthink)," he tells Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Chabra, who has given almost two decades of his life to the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) and has seen India's Test captain when he used to walk out with an oversized helmet and pads, reveals the chat the two had when GT trained at the stadium on Tuesday night. Who's that IPL player? "It's a big honor for us. A cricketer from Punjab has become India's Test captain. Becoming India's Test captain is a huge deal. I told him 'now your image will be in the stadium's galleries next to the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar , MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli. It's a big responsibility, Shubman.' He nodded and replied, 'Will leave no stone unturned to keep that legacy intact,'" reveals Chabra. Gill's elevation to Test captaincy has attracted a mixed response with many former cricketers not mincing their words on the move. Shubman Gill story: From a remote village near the border to India's Test captain "He has not even secured his place in India's Test XI," Srikkanth had told after the youngster was announced India's captain. But back in Mohali, the vibe is different. Yuvraj Singh , one of Shubman's mentors, was at the Chandigarh airport on Monday to receive the prince of Indian cricket. Poll How do you feel about Shubman Gill becoming India's Test captain? Excited Skeptical Indifferent Proud Former India bowler and national selector Harvinder Singh is ignoring the "outside noises" and feels Gill was the right choice for Test captaincy. "I know there are concerns about him being captain. But these are outside noises. There was always a leadership quality in him. Even in our selection panel, we had circled Shubman as India's next captain. So, I am not surprised," says Harvinder. "It will be a litmus test for sure. Captaining India for the first time, that too in England. It has been a nightmare tour for many former Indian captains. But it is good. His batsmanship, his leadership, and most importantly, his character will be tested. He will come out a better cricketer at the end of the five-match series," adds the former cricketer who has played 3 Tests and 16 ODIs for India. 'Shubman Gill used his brains a lot more than the other guys' Gill's obsession With the Mullanpur venue not available, GT were training at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday. The iconic venue where it all started for Gill. Watching GT batters practice in the nets is about watching a lot of Gill's smooth stroke play. Gill, right from his age-group cricket days, has had an insatiable obsession with spending time in the nets. Spending hours facing the cricket ball is a habit his father Lakhwinder Singh drilled into a young Shubman, and he continues to follow what has worked for him. "At that age, you generally don't see anyone batting in the nets for so long. Then there was Shubman, who had to be forced out of the nets,' says Gurkeerat Mann. "A lot of credit goes to his father who made him understand that the more he bats in the nets, the longer he will be able to bat in the match. I guess that has become a habit. He is carrying his father's wisdom with him,' adds Mann. To end the conversation on a lighter note, Chabra reveals another unknown facet about Gill. A trait that has been lesser known to the world. "As a person, he has not changed much. Even now he bats the most in the nets. Above all, 'Munda mahool bana ke rakhta hai (The boy keeps the atmosphere very light).' I have seen him doing pranks on his teammates in his U-16 days, and nothing has changed now," says Chabra. Sai Sudharsan's T20 Evolution: Where skill meets science | TOI Sports Exclusive Punjab all-rounder Ramandeep Singh, who has known Gill from a very young age, explains the reason behind Gill's stubbornness to bat in the nets. "You will see a different Shubman in every game. Right from a very young age, one thing that was very unique in him was that he was a quick learner. He keeps improving himself. And nets are his second home. He trains until he finds that perfection," says Ramandeep. Ramandeep further explains how Gill has worked on his power-hitting in recent years. "He was never a power-hitter. In T20s also, his strike rate used to hover around 120. He used to try to play along the ground. Playing aerial shots was a big no. But now see his six-hitting. It didn't come naturally to him. He has worked on it at the nets,' says Ramandeep. We will come to know in a few hours whether India's new Test skipper will have a happy homecoming but the hopes and spirits continue to be high in Mohali - the place where it all started for the classy right-hander.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Moose Wala's 3rd death anniversary dedicated to Pahalgam victims
The family of slain Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moose Wala, marked his third death anniversary on Thursday by dedicating the occasion to the victims of the recent Pahalgam attack. A large gathering of fans and supporters assembled at his native village Musa in Punjab's Mansa district to pay tribute. Moose Wala was shot dead on May 29, 2022, in Jawahar Ke village in Mansa, just a day after his security was scaled down. The murder was allegedly plotted by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, currently in jail, and his Canada-based associate Goldy Brar, who remains a fugitive. The case remains under investigation, with key masterminds yet to be brought to justice. Addressing the gathering, Moose Wala's father Balkaur Singh thanked the public for continuing to honour his son's legacy but voiced deep anguish over the lack of justice in the high-profile murder case. 'We stand with all innocent people who have lost their lives unjustly, whether in Pahalgam or elsewhere. Today's barsi is a tribute to them too,' said Balkaur. Balkaur raises safety concerns for his one-year-old son Raising serious concerns, Balkaur claimed he had been warned by certain officials about a threat to his one-year-old son, though he did not provide specific details. He also accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government of failing to deliver justice and deliberately neglecting the family's pleas. 'My wife and I tried several times to meet chief minister Bhagwant Mann. He didn't even grant us a meeting. We had hoped that the artist-MLAs elected by AAP would stand by Sidhu's family, but none of them even spoke to us,' he said. He further alleged that the family was being targeted due to their identity. 'I feel we are being punished for being Sikhs,' he added. Balkaur also slammed the BJP-led Union government, claiming that Punjabis, particularly Sikhs, are being singled out and harassed. 'I met Union home minister Amit Shah seeking justice for my son, but we received no support. Our life has been reduced to daily suffering,' he said. Moose Wala's father vows to contest 2027 elections Balkaur Singh, who is associated with the Congress, has announced his intention to contest the 2027 Punjab assembly elections to continue the fight for justice. However, he has yet to reveal which seat he plans to contest. In 2022, Sidhu Moose Wala had unsuccessfully contested the Mansa seat on a Congress ticket, losing by a significant margin. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Balkaur was considered a contender for the Bathinda seat, but the Congress fielded Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, who lost to incumbent MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
