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While Rajesh Khanna is often regarded as the first ‘superstar’ of Hindi cinema, he was preceded by the legendary Dilip Kumar. Around the same time, another actor was making a name for himself in Bollywood. Originally from Meerut, Bharat Bhushan rose to stardom in the 1950s, thanks to leading roles in films such as Baiju Bawra and Mirza Ghalib. But his stardom was short-lived. After a few bad investments as a producer, Bharat Bhushan lost his fortune and fame. He was reportedly forced to sell off his bungalow, his cars, and even his books. He moved into an apartment in Malad, and died tragically in 1992.
Two decades later, Amitabh Bachchan would occupy the spot that Bharat Bhushan once claimed as his own. Their paths crossed one morning, as Bachchan was going to work. He noticed the yesteryear star waiting at a bus stop, completely unnoticed and alone. He was reminded of this incident in the year 2008, not too long after he’d bounced back from his own career downfall. He wrote a blog post about it, expressing the existential spiral that the encounter had sent him on. Bachchan wrote that he simply didn’t have the courage to stop his car and offer the old star a lift, for fear that he would be embarrassed. But it certainly made him realise how slippery fame and success can be.
He wrote, “As I drove by Santa Cruz one morning for work I saw Bharat Bhushan, the great romantic heartthrob of the 50s, hero of some of the most successful musicals of the times, standing in a queue at a bus stop! An ordinary citizen. Part of the crowd. Alone, unnoticed. No one recognizing him. No one knowing who he was.” He continued, “I wanted to stop and ask him into the car to drop him to his destination, but I could not muster enough courage. I feared I would embarrass him. And I drove on. But that visual has remained with me and will remain with me forever. It could happen to anyone. To any one of us.”
Bachchan was reminded of Guru Dutt’s Kaagaz Ke Phool, as he continued, “And as I write to end this sharing, the symphony swells within and the strains of that eternal song spill out – Waqt ne kiya, kya haseen sitam, Tum rahe na tum, hum rahe na hum…” His followers were moved by the post. One person wrote, “It amazes me that despite never being in a situation till now where the public has not lapped up your super stardom, you empathise so well with those members of your fraternity who were less fortunate and had to lead the
later part of their lives in complete anonymity.” Another person commented, “One can understand the feelings you had for Bharat Bhushan. Many such film personalities have suffered in anonymity towards the end of their innings. I have myself seen some familiar filmy faces on Bombay streets – some of them begging and felt the same way as you did.”
Journalist Ali Peter John wrote about Bharat Bhushan’s rise and fall in an article. He wrote that Dilip Kumar and Nargis were the first choice for Baiju Bawra, but they refused to work together because of their personal ups and downs. Bharat Bhushan was cast instead, alongside Meena Kumari. The movie became one of the biggest hits of all time. But after several of his productions lost money, he became bankrupt. “He kept falling till he had to live in a one room apartment and work in bit roles to make a living. He had to finally shift to a smaller flat in Malad where he died a miserable death and there were hardly eight people at his funeral,” Peter John wrote.
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