The real face made-up ones

But Dada knew he had to move on, for the sake of his aspiring self, “thoughit was at Rajkamal, a kala ka bhandaar (storehouse of the arts) literally,that I had the opportunity to work with the famous British make-up artistJimmy Wining during the making of Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje.” His star rosewhen Nargis saw him brushing up blemishes on the sets of Jhansi Ki Rani andtested him for her Indo-Soviet project Pardesi. A light base, lipstick andminimally highlighted eyes, and the magic he worked on the celebratedactress’ face took him to Russia for two months, where he picked up adiploma while working.

The earnings shot up from Rs 100 to Rs 500 first with Naya Sansaar in thegolden era of black-and-white cinema and in later years went up to a coupleof lakhs for a television serial. Yet all Pandhari Dada is left with now arehis books. Ten volumes of photography encyclopedia; ten of ChildCraft;twenty KnowHow. And one Be Beautiful. The bookshelf shows no signs ofbelonging to a make-up artist.

Instead, the huge painting of royal women being groomed by a maid on thewall of his living room speaks volumes. Part of one of the sets of Darrwhich the crew was pulling down after the shooting, Dada liked it so muchthat he brought it home as a memento. And then there are his trophies the“earnings that will always stay with me. And, of course, good work withgood directors.”

“When I came back from Russia, I had to stay at home for a year.Film-makers were wary of my experience, till B R Chopra signed me forGumraah.” He had several trials with actress Mala Sinha to make her lookthe same throughout the film. “We made montages, say, for a period ofsix-seven months of romance, and showed gradual transformation in thecharacters.

Today they change 20-25 dresses in one song,” he says. After seventeenyears with the director, Dada moved on for an attenuated association withYash Chopra. From Daag to Dilwale Dulhaniya.. and partly Dil To Pagan Hai,Pandhari Dada has been with Chopra for 40 years. But why not Mohabattein?“I don’t want anyone to tell me that I will do only three stars.”

“First cinema was the star, today stars are cinema,” he says, pained onseeing the brat pack run havoc in the industry. “I even doubt iftechnicians know the storyline,” points out Dada, comparing today’sindustry with that of yesteryear when everyone got a bound copy of thescript and co-ordination ruled. “Otherwise, one couldn’t have made classicslike Reshma Aur Shera where everyone had the look of a parched desert ontheir faces, or for that matter Neelkamal and mythologicals like ChanakyaChandragupta (Dilip Kumar) and Taj Mahal.”

That doesn’t mean films like Saudagar, Karma and Ram Lakhan are not worthmentioning, but “unfortunately, stars (and their friends and relatives) areholding everybody to ransom. After all, who can match Nutan, AmitabhBachchan and Fali Mistry,” says Dada, remembering an actress whose face wasalmost perfect, a dedicated actor and an excellent cinematographer.

“Amitabh, a newcomer then, retained his beard in Saat Hindustani till Icame back to the sets after a couple of days,” remarks Dada who himself wason a shoot when his father, mother and wife passed away.

“All’s gone now,” says Dada. Like many others, he has also taken to TV andis working on Bandhan, Amanat, Hum Paanch, Kanyadaan and Kashish. “It keepsme busy and means good money. But it can’t give me memories, like those Ihave of the Waheeda Rahman and Sanjeev Kumar starrer Subah or Shaam, whichwe shot in Iran. I have even retained the tickets of that film.”

“Haven’t we come a long way?” he says, reminiscing that he has beentutored by Baba Vardham and Dada Paranjpye from Prabhat Film Company, Pune,who laid the foundation of many a make-up artist’s career, including that ofDada. “No one can match their work in Sant Tukaram,” he says. Now it’sDada’s turn. Seventy per cent of make-up artists have been trained by him.“If anyone mentions face-moulding skills in front of Rekha, she stillsuggests my name,” he says, looking for his shoes. Dada has a class to take.