Silent Worker

Today,Gala works as an associate director with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and freelances as a trainer to actors preparing to play hearing or speech-impaired characters. Her latest such project is Barfi!,where she helped Ranbir Kapoor get acquainted with the mannerisms of a speech-impaired.

Dressed in a brown T-shirt with denims,she casually takes in the sights of the coffee shop. She refuses to divulge her age,but reveals that her son,Pratik,is 22. Her appearance does not give away her age,which she attributes to her athletic career. Having stood fifth in long jump at the deaf Olympics in 1985,she continues to follow a fitness regimen.

Born into a Mumbai-based Gujarati family,Galas disability was discovered when she was two years old. Her father thought she was slow,but her mother,Shantaben Maganlal Barot,was adamant that a doctor be consulted. She was from a village but ensured that I got the best education despite the familys dismal financial condition, recounts Gala,who graduated in psychology from Jai Hind College,Mumbai.

Galas childhood dream,however,didnt come true until much later. After college,she pursued a career in athletics,followed by social work. It was at one such session in 1996 that Bhansalis assistant invited her to be a part of Khamoshis training team. At a meeting in Nana Patekars house,the actor asked if we mind him smoking. I asked him if my opinion really mattered,and he laughed. The others were shocked at my frankness,but it endeared me to Nana,who chose me to train him, says Gala,whose son played the role of Patekar and Seema Biswas son,Sam,in Khamoshi.

After the film was over,she moved on and Bhansali went on to make Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. When he started working on Devdas,their paths crossed again and the filmmaker asked Gala to join him as assistant director. It was not easy,for she would often be rebuffed by colleagues for her disability,who viewed Bhansalis new hire as a case of charity.

But Sanjay knew that I wasnt a Yes Man and worked hard. I learnt the ropes slowly and have worked on all his films ever since, explains Gala,who brought trainers from Helen Keller Institute for Deaf and Blind,Mumbai,on board for Black,acting as convenor.

Black is also when she first met Kapoor,who was assisting Bhansali on the film before making a debut as the lead actor in his next,Saawariya. He learnt some sign language when we worked together and remembered it when we met for Barfi!, she says proudly. However,Kapoors character in the film mostly uses gestures for universal appeal.

Confident of Kapoors performance,Gala now awaits the films release. At the same time,she hopes for diverse projects to come her way like Mani Ratnams Raavan where she trained the actors who played the deaf village chieftains and their sons,in both the Tamil and Hindi versions and the silent National Anthem that plays in cinema halls.Life is good,but Gala has one regret. I couldnt meet Rajesh Khanna,the one man I so adored, she signs off.

Training ground

People often ask us how many students are deaf and how many are blind. They cant fathom that there are many who suffer from both the disabilities, points out Yogesh Desai,CEO,Helen Keller Institute for Deaf and Blind Mumbai. Most parents,who cant understand their childrens condition,believe they are mentally unstable and begin treatment in that direction,causing a delay in their development, he adds. That is why when the institute got a chance to be part of a film based on Helen Kellers life,they agreed. Two former students of the school,Zamir and Pradeep,were assigned the task of training Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan for Black,even as Sangeeta Gala acted as convenor and interpreter.

We need the script at least a month in advance so that the sign language or gestures can be devised, explains Desai. The unpleasantness,which resulted at the end of the movie,with Zamir claiming he didnt get his due,is attributed to misunderstanding since there was no pre-decided fee for the job. The institute also trained Soha Ali Khan for her part as a hearing-impaired woman in the 2011-movie Soundtrack. The institute now charges at least Rs 2.5 lakh for a film.