Manmohan

My father was quite lucky when it came to films. He did not have to struggle, the industry was very kind to him. He also came from a well to do family, who had their own business. He was born and brought up in Jamshedpur. Totally different from his other three brothers, he was very keen on becoming an actor from childhood. He came to Bombay in 1950 and got very friendly with people like Shankar-Jaikishen, Bhappie Soni and G.P. Sippy. In fact, he was very close to Jaikishen who introduced my dad to Keval Kayshap who cast him in his first film Shaheed. He was also in all of Bhappie Soni’s films. Through Bhappie Soni, he met Shakti Samanta, Pramod Chakravarty and Manoj Kumar, My father, I think, also financed Shaheed. Then he got N.N. Sippy’s film Gurnnaam.

Basically, he was a very friendly person. He was not the type of man who would stick to one particular camp. He was very close to Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Sujit Kumar. There was a time when he was the most sought after villain. There was this particular year, when he almost had 14 releases in one month. In the ’70s, he was at his peak. It was like this, if Manoj Kumar started a film, father’s role already written in. They never had to ask him if he was available or not. He never even asked them what his role was like in the film. The same thing would happen even with Shakti Samanta and Pramod Chakravarty. One could say that he was a producer’s delight. He never refused their films.

He was always busy and did not have to worry if his films were hits or not. His hands were always full.

Always a family man, whenever dad came home at night, he wouldn’t wake up anybody but me. Practically every night, there was someone from the industry who accompanied him home for a drink. I think almost all the stars of his time have been to our house at some point of time. They knew that Man’s house would always welcome anybody at any given time of the day. The bar was also open 24 hours a day and we had some great parties. I remember one birthday party of dad’s, where almost 90 per cent of the stars come home. It was at this party, that Rajesh Khanna decided to marry Dimple. In fact, I think they got married the same night! At the same party there was also trouble, when the cops raided the party and one of the guests hit the cops. A lot happened that night. Many a time I’ve driven his friends home late at night because they were in no condition to even stand after drinking!

In most of the films he did, he played a villain. I think he did character roles in one or two Manoj Kumar’s film and in Anhonee. He was famous for his rape scenes. People used to tease us about this at school and at times, we did feel bad. Normally, as a child, you would like to be associated with a hero rather than a villain. Actually, we were not that exposed to films or the industry. We didn’t even know which films dad was doing till they came on screen. Other than the parties we had at home, we never went to film parties.

Dad was a fun loving and homely guy. He never ate outside food and even if it was two in the morning, he would come home and eat. He was also very large-hearted. Whenever he went abroad and returned, all his star friends would drop at home. Because, before opening the bags for his family, he would open them for his friends. Like when he brought a brand new two-in-one recorder from abroad one of his friends liked it and asked for it and dad gave it to him immediately. He was the sort of person who, if he was wearing a good shirt and someone asked for it, he would give it to the person and come home without one.

He contributed much more than anyone could think of, to this industry. He also introduced many people, one of them being Vinod Khanna. Dad would introduce him to producers during Vinod’s struggling days. In fact, Vinod Khanna also got his first film because of dad. He was supposed to do Man Ka Meet but he was very busy. So he convinced Dutt saab to take Vinod Khanna. Even today, Vinod acknowledges that fact.

One thing was, that dad didn’t try to come up in the industry, he would have been a top villain of his times. He was not the kind of person to ask for work and took his work very sincerely. There is an incident I remember, that almost killed my dad. He was shooting with Manoj Kumar in some forest, in Titwala where they were put up at a guest house. The place was so remote that they had no electricity and had to use petromaxes at night. One of the servants, while my dad was asleep, pumped the lamp and it exploded. My father who was lying down close by, was in his silk kurta and lungi which instantly caught fire. He suffered 80 per cent burns. There was difficulty getting conveyance out of that area because vehicles could not reach the place they were put up at. Somehow, after six hours, they managed to get dad to the Thana General Hospital. The doctors there asked for him to be shifted to town because he was sinking. They managed to get him to Nanavati Hospital. We came to know about this only the next afternoon. His burns were very bad. His whole back and left ear was burnt. He remained in hospital for almost six months and could not work for almost a year till he recovered. Even when he was recovering in hospital he needed his drink and there too, the stars got their share when they went to meet him. We thought at that time, that we had lost him.

Then there was the time dad came home looking awful. When we asked him why, he said that he had to do a scene with Jaya Bachchan, where she had to spit on his face. The scene had several retakes and told us that Jaya spat at him almost eight to 10 times. That’s why he was feeling terrible! We all had a hearty laugh when we heard this. Many people have fond memories of him. Rishi Kapoor told us this a few days ago. Rishi and my dad were shooting in the US for a film and The Godfather was at that time, being released in some theatres. My dad dragged Rishi to see the film. But they did not actually get to see the film. They were both so fired, that they fell asleep in the theatre!

H e did many films in Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati. He did not have a sense of business however and never bothered about money. He was the last person to discuss money with the producers and never looked into the future. He was so ignorant in certain things, that his C.A. once cheated him, landing him in trouble with the Income Tax people. He would give his C.A. the money to pay his taxes, but the man never paid them. So when the Income Tax people raided the house, he knew he was in trouble. With great difficulty, he got out of it. The officials were also very helpful. Only after his death, we managed to clear his debts. My dad was hot-tempered, so none of his secretaries lasted long. It was I who took over his financial affairs.

I think he had a premonition about himself and just two years before he passed away, he stopped signing films. His last film was Manoj Kumar’s Kranti. His health was failing, so he decided to take a break. He wanted to go back to Jamshedpur to secure financially, because there was no security if anything happened to him. He got both my sister and me, married. And he went back to his home town. Nitin, at that time, was very young and was working with my uncle. Dad had given up drinking and seemed as if he was recovering, when he suddenly passed away, in August, 1979. No one expected it. Luckily, all his films were complete.

Nitin is like dad. He has inherited all his qualities. He is very hard, working. When dad passed away, we had to start from scratch. Today, we have reached a state which dad would never in his wildest dreams have thought of, considering he never wanted us to be part of the film industry. We were lucky to have a father like him. We get enough respect even today because of dad’s good deeds and nature. (As told to Dinesh Nair in 1994).

Iftekhar

He was born in Jalandhar. They were a big family. He has three brothers and two sisters. They were very well off, because his father held a very high position there. Ifti has always been a very talented person, but he never dreamt that he would one day be an actor. He was a very good singer, at which he wanted to be famous and he has won innumerable medals for it. He is an excellent painter too.

Only a matriculate, his main aim in life was to become a great singer like Saigal. He sang in the same style and was very popular — he was a hero, and got a lot of adulation. (He was also a big flirt!) So when he wanted to go to Calcutta to make it as a singer, there was no objection from his family. His father even encouraged him to do so since being a singer in films was con­sidered to be respectable.

So Ifti went to Calcutta, to the H.M.V. music company, was spotted by a producer, and signed for M.P. Productions. You see, the H.M.V. people asked him to sing which Ifti had no in­hibitions about. They were impressed and so was producer Kamal Das Gupta who heard his voice and went up to investigate. Kamal wanted to sign him on for a film. Ifti was so ignorant then that he did not know anything about filmmaking. He thought he would have to sit for sometime and there would be a film ready! He did the screen test and walked out, but his passion for singing had not diminished. He was deter­mined to make an album, a disc, and he did just that. He recorded his own album, and went back to Kanpur. The disc had only two songs, as in those days you could record only one song on one side of a disc. Though it did not do too well, fortunately, the screen test did. So Kamal Das Gupta sent Ifti telegram after telegram asking him to come to Calcutta and join films. Ifti was not at all interested, but his father saw one of the telegrams and was impress­ed. Kamal was a very big name in those days and obviously, his father urged him to go Calcutta. Though his relatives did not feel the same. They spoke de­preciatingly saying, ‘Hah! Actor bana hai’! So Iffi started acting with famous actresses like Kanan Devi and Jamuna Devi.

The Bengali language was no prob­lem since he had lots of Bengali friends and spoke it fluently. He also knew a lot of Bengali songs. Though M.P. Productions signed him on they did not start the film. They were waiting for other producers to follow and once he started shooting outside, things started rolling fast. The first time he came to Calcutta, we met briefly at a friend’s gathering. So when he came the second time, he started chasing me in earnest! We were staying in the same building and he tried to woo me but I did not give in. It was only later that I agreed. But there was a lot of opposi­tion from my family since we were Jews and he was a Muslim. My parents were very orthodox and they were dead against the match. But we still got mar­ried. The funny thing now is, they like him even more than me. He’s their favorite!

Coming back to his career, the first film he did was Takrar. He was a sought after hero in Bengali films. After this, many films followed like Tum Aur Main, Ghar, Aisa Kyon, etc… These are the names I can recall though there were many more. His first film was in the year ’43. His career was going well when partition came about and there was total confusion. The M.P. company told him he was no longer in their ser­vice and things got very hard for us. We had to sell a lot of our things. That’s when we decided to come to Bombay.

We did not know anybody in Bom­bay. I even remember the small hotel we stayed at in Khar, called Evergreen. Though we were very hard up, Ifti knew music director Anil Biswas and it was he who helped us. Ifti would hang around at Bombay Talkies in the hope of getting a role. I remember he played a very old man, the heroine’s father, in a film. Imagine, a young man was reduced to this just because it was difficult to make ends meet.

At that time, Mr. Ashok Kumar was the big boss producer of Bombay Tal­kies. (Ifti has told this to me many times — his momentous meeting with Ashok Kumar.) At that time, Ashok Kumar was making the film Mahal. Ifti would hang around, trying to speak to him and probably ask for a role. But the opportunity never arose. Ashok Kumar had a suite of rooms upstairs, so he would come down in the morning and go directly to his room. Anup Kumar and Kishore Kumar would advise Ifti not to talk to him because his mood was not right. He had an office downstairs, but he rarely sat in the cabin and the adjacent cabin was that of the General Manager. Once, in Calcutta, Ifti had been introduced to Ashok Kumar. But then it could have slipped his mind. Anyway, one day, instead of going to his suite, Ashok Kumar sat speaking to the General Manager. That’s when Anup Kumar urged Ifti to send in a note. Ashok Kumar treated him with utmost respect and took Ifti to his cabin. He told Ifti that he had already cast for his film Mukaddar. He had taken on newcom­er Sajjan, but he gave Ifti the second lead. Then he went to K. Asif who had been a childhood friend. And even he gave him the second lead.

In the mean time, I had two daughters, Saida and Salma. Soon after that, Ashok Kumar took a liking to Ifti. In the evening, he would tell Ifti very sternly, ‘Where are you going’? and when Ifti mentioned Khar, he would instruct him to get into the car. He would drop him since it was on his way home, and pick him up in the morning on his way to the studios.

Do you know how he came to be called Dada Moni? Ifti would al­ways address him as Mr. Ganguly or Mr. Ashok Kumar, so Anup Kumar said, ‘You are so close to him, why don’t you too call him Dada Moni like we do’. Dada Moni in Bengali means ‘Bhai Jaan’ in our language. We were and still are, very close friends. Dada Moni learnt to paint and sketch from Ifti. Once, Dada Moni fell sick and he was very irritable since he was confined to bed for a long time. Dada Moni, being the busybody he is, felt very restricted. Ifti suggested that he pursue a hobby, and taught him how to paint. That’s how Dada Moni is such a good painter.

The doctors had also advised Dada Moni to have a little whisky in the evenings, before his dinner. He would feel very lonely sitting on the ter­race all by himself. At that time lfti didn’t drink, but due to constant urging from Dada Moni, he started to join him in that one peg. Dada Moni did not have a good head for drinks. He could only handle two pegs the same as Ifti. He was the one who advised Ifti, ‘Never drink more than you can hold’. He taught Ifti control. He always told him, ‘Flirt all you want, but only uptil 6.30 in the evening. After that, the rest of the evening should be reserved for your wife. Never sacrifice your marriage’ That’s why our marriage has survived and thrived for 49 years, and thank God there have been ripples.

Kishore Kumar and his wife Ruma, were very friendly with us. In fact, we used to practically spend the whole day together. Kishore felt easier to talk and confess to Ifti, than to Dada Moni. It is not as if he did not care for his brother. Only because he respected him, he could not be too free with him. Since Ifti was of the same age, he felt easier with him.

At the time, Dada Moni worked a lot with B.R. Chopra. One day, Chopraji told Ifti, ‘Whenever I come to see Dada Moni you are always present. It is funny that I have not given you any role’. So B.R. Chopra offered Ifti a cameo role in Kanoon. There was a court scene in the film and Ifti was one of the many lawyers.

Ifti never had a particular role or goal in mind. He did all kinds of roles. Since he was not offered hero-oriented roles, he became a side hero and after that he was a villain in many films. In those days, it was only Pran, Madan Puri and lftekhar, who were good at villains’ roles. He played a Police Inspector in lttefaq and the film was a thumping success. After that, he got stuck with that role and did innumerable ones like Johnny Mera Naam, Deewar, Don and others. He was happy being a character artiste. He had done many films with Kishore Kumar and practically directed Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, and enjoyed working in Delhi Ka Thug. He has hardly ever done comedy, a real pity, because he was so good in Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaye.

Very sweet and genuine, Ifti is a gem of a man. He has kept me and my children very happy. We had lot of fun in those days. Begum Para and Nasir Khan were our very close friends, we used to roam about a lot. We were close to Kishore. I remember once, Kishore, Madhubala and I were travell­ing by the car. Kishore never drinks, and an article about this had just appeared somewhere. I told Kishore casually that how news can be wrong and men­tioned the article. I’d seen where they had referred to his drinking. We laughed it off. But once they went home, Madhu flew into a fit of rage saying, ‘So you drink secretly! You don’t tell anybody! Or else how did that arti­cle appear’? She tore off his shirt! Kishore later called up and told us ab­out it. Madhu was a very warm and sweet person, except for her unreason­able jealousy.

Though not very fussy about his food, Ifti is very adamant that I cook it with my own hands. Even if I have 10 servants I like to cook for him or else I’m not happy. He doesn’t eat much, but what­ever I cook he eats. Dada Moni likes to eat the paya I make. And Ifti loves the dal that Begum Para used to cook for Nasir Khan. He’s always told me ‘Woh Nasirwali dal banao’. He is very mild and sweet-tempered now, but he was very short-tempered before marriage. Since he was the first son of the family, he was more or less treated like a prince. He has related incidents to me, where he had thrown away his plate because the food arrived late. Unfortu­nately, none of my children or grand­children were interested in films. At least one of my daughters could have joined. But it was not a fashion for girls in those days to join films like it is now.

My grandson is so handsome. How many producers literally begged him to join films but he refused. He is just not interested. The boys nowa­days, do they look like heroes? My grandson looks like Adonis, girls used to just swarm around him. He got married just two months ago. Both Ifti and I felt rather sad that he was so much against films.

Now 72, Ifti has acted in about 450 films and is still going strong. He did not retire from films, the film industry retired him. There were so many youn­ger people coming in, that they did not have anything for Ifti! I can’t exactly re­call which is his last film. I only know that Kaarnama was one of his last films.

His list of films includes Gujarati, Bho­jpuri and eight or nine English films. But one great regret Ifti has is that his best performance was in the film Five Past Five. The story was about the assassina­tion of Gandhiji. There were only five characters in the film and Ifti played Gandhiji. But, the film was not released because the government felt that this film would make Godse look like a hero. They did not want that. Then there was a film by 20th Century Fox, The Far Pavilions, a film produced by Filmistan called The Three-Headed Cobra, and a lot of T.V. serials.

He has now completed nearly 50 years in the film industry and has no complaints against it. (As told to Jyoti Shashtri in 1992)

Nighat Sultana in Chingari (1964)

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