THE TINSEL TOUCH
During the 1970s and 1980s, I made a number of periodical visits to the erstwhile Madras city later Chennai. Among the notable tinsel reminiscences, I wrote a separate blog on the lyric writer Veturi. About the other significant interactions with cinema personalities I give a brief recollection here.
Superstar Rajesh Khanna was shooting for the film “Bandish” along with co-stars Bindiya Goswamy and comedian Asrani in Madras. This was sometime during late 1979. The shooting location was the Guindy Engineering College. At that time my cousin was a senior student of the college and was staying in the college hostel. Knowing that I was in Madras he came to visit me. We had lunch together. He casually mentioned that a film shooting was going on in their college premises and suggested if I am interested we both could go there and then to some afternoon film show. My uncle’s native village was far away from Madras and whenever they visited the metropolis on some work they would not miss to visit a cinema theatre. Cinema was the only affordable source of entertainment in those days.
When we entered the college premises we found a lot of people making arrangements for a song shoot around the campus swimming pool. We saw Rajesh Khanna and Asrani listening to the cricket commentary during a break on a transistor, with Asrani cheering the far away players now and then. Bindiya Goswamy was just whiling away her time nearby. I was amused at the craze for film stars and cricket stars. We ordinary folks can only stand and stare at the celebrities that too from a distance. Whatever they do on or off screen creates interest to the starstruck. Speaking of Rajesh Khanna he was undoubtedly the original superstar of Bollywood.
The sequence shot was for the Song: Arre Bhago Arre Daudo Arre Dekho, Movie: Bandish (1980).
My sister-in-law one day during a desultory conversation asked me whether I was interested to meet Kanchana the film actress of yesteryears. “How can I meet her?”, I asked her in surprise.
“It is not a big deal, we can casually visit them this evening and see if the actress is available in Madras presently. If not, we can meet her parents anyway”, she said. “Come with me, I will introduce you to them” she concluded.
At that time I was on a visit to the erstwhile Madras. The film actress lived in Giri Road named after the former President of India V.V. Giri which was not very far away from my cousin’s house where I normally stay during my periodical sojourns.
Talking of the celluloid star, the first movie I saw of her was ‘Nenante Nene’, a Telugu movie released somewhere in 1968. When I saw her in that movie, a fancy for the South Indian actress caught my young mind. Otherwise I was not a star-struck cinema goer. For the sake of decorum I did not confess my past crush on the actress to my sister-in-law.
The fancies of a young man are fleeting, sometimes turning to thoughts of love. That is a normal phenomena during the period of adolescence when the mind is impressionable. Cinema is such a powerful medium that can incite so many feelings and expressions where the viewer can identify himself instantly. Though it is also a make believe world we willingly believe all the depiction as true.
Kanchana was at home when we visited. My sister-in-law talked to her mother for some time as they were known to each other and also distantly related. The actress wished us and went inside. I was introduced by my sister-in-law to them.
When we stood up to depart the tinsel artist was on a telephone conversation with someone and seeing us leaving she signalled me to wait and went into another room. She returned with a laddoo sweet and put it into my hand.
I was overwhelmed by her sweet gesture.
ESKAYEN
