Memories re-visited

There are certain music directors who rise above the laity by showcasing the amazing music that can be created just by sticking to the basics. Music director Khayyam is one of the few music directors who have the ability of bringing about the extraordinary ordinariness of human emotions and raising them to unconquerable heights. “It was through divine intervention that the music for my first film,Footpath,was a runaway hit,” says the veteran music director. Khayyam sahab,as he is better known,was recently honoured with the Sachin Dev Burman International Award for Creative Music and Sound at PIFF.

Speaking about an interesting incident,he says,“When Raj Kapoor’s film Phir Subah Hogi was being made,he was hell-bent on getting Shankar-Jaikishan for composing the music. And since I had read the book Crime and Punishment on which the movie was based,I composed five tunes. When Kapoor sahab heard the tunes,he,in his characteristic manner,said,“Khayyam sahab,your morning has come”,which eventually did happen.”

Shashikala

Her portrayal as the nasal-toned,petite-figured vamp in the formative years of Hindi cinema has firmly rooted veteran actress Shashikala in the league of unforgettable character-actors,who have left an indelible charm on the face of the film industry. Though her roles have always been parallel to that of the leading lady,and mostly with grey shades,the actress feels that they were her ‘bearer cheque’ and helped her become the actress that people loved to hate on screen.

“I think it was the perception that negative female characters should be good looking and petite whilst maintaining their slyness under a beautiful smile that prompted me to groom myself accordingly. So while all the actresses were overweight,I made it a point to maintain my figure!” says the actor who was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at PIFF this year.

Coming from a very humble Kolhapur background,she maintains that struggle was synonymous with her acting days. “It is so ironic. I used to crib about not getting lead roles,and when I did get roles,I was always a vamp,” she says.

About her acting days,she says that it was the support of her co-stars like Ashok Kumar and Dilip Kumar,her directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Bimal Roy that kept her going. “Whether it was dancing alongside Rekha or sharing screen space with actresses like Meena Kumari and Mala Sinha,I was able to do it only because of the faith instilled in me by the directors. My favourite co-stars were Shammi Kapoor and Dharmendra. For actors who were so handsome to be genuinely nice was a rare quality and they were both perfect gentlemen who motivated me a lot during my acting days.”

Subhash Ghai

He is better remembered for having given Bollywood a shot in the arm in the 80s and 90s by not only introducing fresh faces who went on to become household names,but also by bringing back to the forefront the concept of multi-starrer films. However,producer-director Subhash Ghai,who was recently honoured with the special award at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF),feels that his stint with Bollywood is far from being over. “I’d like to believe that I still have a lot more movies to make. For me,the purpose of film-making has been about adapting to new changes and moving on with changing times,” he says. Having directed multi-starrers like Khalnayak,Ram-Lakhan,Karz and so on,Ghai says that such awards boost his creative side. “We all know that there is a world of difference between the commercial awards that are given out every year and the awards that are given at these film festivals. The award given at PIFF is a nice reminder that there is still room in this world for people to appreciate my creativity.”

For Ghai,his own film school ‘Whistling Woods International’ is his way of giving back to his Alma-mater – the Film and Television Institute of India. He says,“The idea for my film school was born way back in 1993,and it eventually saw daylight in 2000. The whole idea there was to not only give youngsters a chance to understand the film industry but also expose them to global cinema and give them a free hand at choosing what form of cinema they would want to pursue.”