‘He had an eye for situations’

I met Subodhda in 1955 when he was working with Dev Anand in Munimji. I struck a very good friendship with Nasir Hussain, who was assisting Subodhda and also writing for his films. We were all a common group and I would bump into Subodhda on and off.

Junglee was my first and last film with Subodhda. Initially, the name for the film was Mr Hitler. The casting of Junglee also came about in a funny manner. I was supposed to do Nasir’s Jab Pyar Kissi Se Hota Hai and Dev was to do Mr Hitler. But I had some differences with Nasir on the script and he took Dev for the film. When that happened, Subodhda offered me Mr Hitler.

In retrospect, I feel I was destined to do Junglee. I love that character. I remember we went to Kashmir to shoot Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe. I had a fight with Subodhda. We were supposed to shoot the song in snow. But when we landed in Kashmir in 1960, there was dirty snow in Pahalgam and Chandanwadi. I threw a fit and told him that I will not shoot in this kind of snow.

He let me throw a tantrum and said: ‘‘Shammi, I promised you snow and will give you snow.’’ We went to Shimla to shoot the song in Kufri in 1961. That year, Shimla got a record snowfall and we shot it in almost 8 inches of snow.

Subodhda had a great sense of humour and would always look for situations that can be put in the film. Junglee will always be one of my best experiences. It’s a pity we didn’t work together again. The last time I met him was in 2002 when Nasir passed away. I knew he was not keeping well and am sad that I couldn’t meet him. But he knows I will always remember him.

(As told to Harneet Singh)