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Ali's Notes

Have money will burn,
Kargil, cyclone can wait
It is new year’s day, they say. People all over have forgotten one of the most disastrous calamities of the millennium -- the cyclone in Orissa which has proved the power of the fury of the elements and the angry decision of the power above (my God). The people in Orissa are dying, without getting a chance to live, the people who are living are dying of hunger and surviving on water in which float dead bodies of human beings and animals alike. The young are trying to survive, the little children and the aged and the sick and crippled have already surrendered to the wrath of the kind of cyclone that strikes once in several years. The people cry for mercy, for help, for bread, for water, for some chance to live like human beings again. The ministers, the powers that be continue to make their aerial surveys, like Gods. Why can’t someone shoot them down and fling them down on earth to face the calamity from closer quarters. Why must they always survey such disasters from the sky? What kind of reality can they survey from up there? I strongly feel it is their fear to face the damned and the doomed who may one day tear them to shreds or attack them with stones and curses which are stronger than stones. It’s almost a month now and the people of Orissa don’t have to go to hell to know what hell is. They are already living in hell.

But here we are busy celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights. The money that is being blown up in fireworks, the money that is shown around in jewellery shops and sweet shops, the gifts exchanged, one trying to outdo the other, the money flying around in all directions in gambling dens, in houses of ill-fame, in ‘dancing holes’. I find people without any conscience, without any hearts, without any feelings, especially here in this world of feelings, film world than anywhere else. The stars of an earlier generation rose like one man in times of such national crisis. The stars of today? I am struggling for words to describe their hearts of stone and dirt.

Manoj -- man of the moment
One sleepless night Manoj Bajpai, the young man who gave acting a new dimension when he played Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya sat alone, sat all by himself and wondered how he could describe his position at this point of time. Then the word he wanted came to him just before he could fall of to sleep. ‘Unbelievable’. Yes, it was unbelievable, his career was unbelievable, absolutely unimaginable...

A young boy, the son of a poor middle class farmer’s family in Bihar discovers this uncontrollable urge to make it as an actor. He travels to Delhi, becomes a favourite student of Barry John, the don and saviour of many great actors. He learns all there is to learn about acting and adds something special that comes from within. He packs his bags and makes it to Mumbai. He comes, he goes through a grim struggle, heart-breaking, mind-shattering struggle. His restlessness is recognised by Mahesh Bhatt, till then known as the messiah of the strugglers. He gets him some small but significant roles. He finds him good. His work recommends himself to others. He is noticed by Ram Gopal Varma unexpectedly. He asks him if he can avoid accepting any new offer for two months. Manoj gladly agrees. What’s a little struggle, some starving, when compared to a promise from Ramu. Ramu keeps his promise. He casts him as Bhiku Mhatre in Satya. Bhiku takes the world by storm, receives every major award in the country. Ramu then casts him in a very different role in Kaun. He refuses to disappoint. Then comes Shool and Manoj Bajpai has all but started his own school of acting. He will take care of that school. The temptation to bring down a school which is so very difficult to found is very strong but Manoj is made of sterner stuff. He will let nothing come his way to the future. That’s a vow he’s made to himself.

Samjha karo, Khan Sahab
I have passed the palace the reigning Khan is building thrice after making that mistake. I am one of those rare admirers of the Khan who came in from New Delhi armed only with his talent of which he had shown ample proof in TV serials like Fauji and Circus which thousands watched just for his performance, only for his amazing talent. He reached Mumbai and had no house, no "connections", no "influence", no "Godfathers", no "Godmothers". He only had men like Akhtar Mirza, Aziz Mirza and Viveck Vaswani who kept inspiring him, who had faith in his talent. But more than anything else he had absolute faith in himself. He rose from success to success and became Shah Rukh Khan the invincible, the formidable number one star, a fact accepted by anyone who was anyone in films or outside it. He was the first star to gain such a fan following, in such a short time. How could I omit his outstanding name in the list of Khans I made last week? I have consulted several psychiatrists to know how such glaring mistakes happen. The results are awaited. Till then, sorry Mr Khan. No ill-feeling meant, no ill-feelings for a Khan who has always been good to me under all circumstances. Samjha karo, Khan Sahab, samajhne mein hi sansar ka bhavishya hain. Hai kya nahin, Aryan ke baba?

Nana and his women
If there is one man who talks about his respect for women and practises it too, it is Nana Patekar. It all started with Nana and his near devotion towards his mother, "who brought me up to the best of her ability and prayed for me all the time, prayed for better sense to prevail on me, a wild young man, growing wilder with the passing of time. God heard her prayers, she always says but I really wonder if her prayers were heard. I still feel I am the same Nana." The woman who comes next on his list of women to respect, is the late Smita Patil, who inspired him to join Hindi films. She also played his leading lady in Purush, one of his most outstanding plays in Marathi which ran for a record five years. Nana has always had a very close, all-concern and all-care relationship with all his heroines. He has always tried to get the best out of actresses like Manisha Koirala, Ashwini Bhave, Madhuri Dixit, Dimple Kapadia and even Mamta Kulkarni, actresses who have worked with him. He has also hurt some women in his life which has made him face all kinds of trials and tribulations of his conscience. Things just happened when they had to happen, things beyond his control, but he still wishes all these women who he has hurt and all women in general all the very best. He is one of those who firmly believes that the millennium to come will belong to the women, must belong to women. The men have played havoc with the world around them for years. He now wants the women to be given a chance for the next thousand years. He will not be there and I will not be there but it is our great ambition to see women rule the world. Remember our petition, dear God, now when you are about to shape the next millennium -- the millennium which is going to prove the greatest trial for both God and man, I am sure.

Govind’s challenge -- Tabu
It's time to be grateful to Govind Nihalani again, Govind, the director who specialises in recognising female talent and bringing out the best in them.

Govind who has worked with actresses like Smita Patil and Rekha and Mita Vashisth, his discovery and Nandita Das and Jaya Bachchan is all set to show the world what Tabu, the actress is genuinely capable of. He had made a prediction about Tabu growing into a great actress after he saw the first few scenes of Gulzar’s Maachis. He soon went out of his way and put his credibility at stake when he said he was sure Tabu would win the National Award for her performance in Maachis. And that’s just what happened. Tabu lost out on all the other awards but she won the National Award. Govind’s credibility, class and his ability to know his artistes and their calibre will be on test now, especially now when he has just finished directing Tabu in his first big film, Thakshak. I’m sure he has given a new lease of life to Tabu, the actress. I’ll not forgive him if he doesn’t. I know how much Tabu depends on this one film. She’s waiting much more anxiously than a mother waiting for her first born. For Tabu every good role is like a first born. That’s why she takes all the care to make it her best, nothing but her best. In a way, Tabu has made making her "first born" fascinating a habit, a habit which I admire, soon the world will admire.

Too tough for threats
The cruel lessons have taught AB to grow too tough. It has taken an Amitabh Bachchan to face and fight the demons of defeat and take strides on his way to the next step. Anyone else in his place would have been a closed chapter after all the setbacks he has received. Not Amitabh. Don’t be surprised if the Big B comes up with some very big surprises in the new millennium, with the very beginning of the millennium. A man who has been a colossus for three decades can never give up just because of some bad weather. The weather has still to know this man if it has to harm him in any way. He’s all-weather proof, too tough to be brow-beaten, beaten in any way. If he had to he would have been beaten a long time ago. He can’t because they can’t, they can never.