Curating 27 Down Files

It was end of 1971. I was still at the Film Institute doing my final year of sound recording course. One fine evening some of my friends said a producer/director is visiting our Institute to search for some direction assistants. I was very excited with the prospect of seeing a real film producer. I wondered what producers looked like, how they spoke or behaved. They must be very rich certainly.

That day after dinner some 7-8 of us collected on the terrace of the hostel. We had spread few mattresses for all to sit. There he was! The producer, Awtar Kaul. Everyone was talking to him continuously to be noticed. So as soon as I found a gap in the conversation I slipped in my line, “Awtar ji can I work as a sound assistant in your film?” I realized I had almost pleaded to him. He replied, “I can’t say anything about it right now, you will have to speak to Narinder Singh. He is doing my ‘sound’.” I was further intimidated by Narinder Singh’s name, as he is one of our seniors and a very busy man. I didn’t say anything further to him.

After my course was over, in May 1972 I came to Bombay. In a few weeks I started getting messages for doing so-called clash-work. Clashes are recording jobs where one recordist replaces another one who may be absent or busy on that particular day.

Soon I had started doing a lot of films as an assistant to Mr. Narinder Singh, one them being ‘Doosri Seeta’. During this film he got very impressed with my way of working. In a few months he told me about a friend of his, Awtar Kaul, who was about to start a film called 27 Down, starring M K Raina and Rakhee. I thought it was amazing luck, how 27 Down came my way. I remembered the day I had begged Awtar for it.

Muhurat shot of 27 Down was taken on 19^th August 1972, at Madh Island, Malad. M K Raina and Rakhee faced the camera for the first shot. A K Bir was cinematographer, another well-known and popular name in art cinema along with his assistant S D Deodhar, popularly called as Debu. We studied together for 2 years in the institute. Although era of shooting films in B&W was long over; this film was shot in B&W on purpose.

Other than Madh we shot this film on many locations in Bombay like, VT station, Kalyan (Om Shivpuri’s house with M K Raina), a chawl where Raina stays on rent, a house after Raina gets married, Rakhee’s house was shot at Shivaji Park, Dadar, Arab Bungalow… Most of the Bombay shoot Narinder ji would attend. So, Awtar would communicate directly with Narinder Singh. They had worked together on a film titled Bombay Talkie in 1970.

After we wrapped up all of Bombay work, we were left with a very long and tough schedule in running trains. We shot especially in real 27 Down, train from Dadar to Banaras. It had to be done in one go. This is where Awtar started interacting more with me and other assistants. Entire train journey consisted of various sequences, like trains entering or leaving stations; shot from the platforms. Bir would hide the hand-held camera in some blanket type thing and shoot only the lens out; so, people don’t look at it. That is why crowd shots in this film are so natural. In fact, one of ‘script notes’ of Awtar, I came across a sentence ‘close ups’ should be completely natural. We shot scenes at Bombay’s VT station tea shop in a very bold camera set up; but no one looked at the camera. Bir took a very dramatic and iconic shot of a local train entering and stopping on a VT platform, hundreds of passengers spilling onto the platform and finally turning into a large crowd. Bir had placed the camera high up behind the huge clock at one end of platform.

Awtar also was short tempered. In the beginning of shooting at Bhusawal, we had to shoot on the pedestrian bridge. Some of the unit members were already there; while combing my hair I climbed up the bridge slowly. There was enough time for the first shot as Raina wasn’t ready yet. Later Debu told me Awtar abused me and said, “*** has got a comb in his hand in place of the recorder.” In Bhusawal we shot lots of steam engines shunting, joining, dragging coaches and close ups of wheels running on rails. The wheels would be made to slip at one place so we could get fixed shots of them speeding. There would be tremendous spark and fire with due to friction. Entire atmosphere would get spoilt with carbon dust. We also shot the song,”Chhuk chhuk chalti rail” here in Bhusawal.

Once we were taking local train shots. We were in the middle of busy rail tracks in Matunga, taking close up of wheels and other stuff. After a while, an amused railway policeman came and stood there watching us. Awtar told him, “What you want? Do your duty while we are doing ours.” That was a very bad idea. Cop went away and returned with a big group of cops. But to our good luck, entire unit had come out of the railway area, into the civilian. All those cops surrounded us, some even pointed guns at us, saying, “nobody will move from here.” Awtar got extremely angry and said,” you brought guns you can bring cannons, but I will not stop for my work!” On the gun point Awtar walked away. Cops shouted don’t let anyone leave because if someone leaves, he can call up some top guy, and it will all fizzle out. And it did. Soon another jeep full of cops appeared on the location and took some of us to a nearby police station, where we were threatened, shouted at and then allowed to go. It seems Awtar had called some top shot in Times.

There was a small station called ‘Harsud’. Awtar had done his recce well. 27 Down has a shot of a train passing on a bridge on a river during dusk. We had reached Harsud in day and at right time started walking towards the bridge around 4pm. It was an hour long walk carrying all equipment. Before it started getting dark Bir found a suitable patch of land to place the camera stand. He had to shoot the passenger train in dark but adequately exposed the interior of the compartments. After the shot we returned back to Harsud platform. Awtar’s brother, Pradyumn, (who was the production manager for the film) had organized some food and a bottle of local drink from the nearby village. There were no glasses, so we drank from the lids of the bottle! There were some leaf plates to eat. I slept on the platform with an empty film can as a pillow.

In morning, as our next train arrived, we all loaded up trunks of equipment, makeup, dresses etc. I remember Raina did the coolie job as well as anyone else. We all had to do everything. We shot a long night sequence inside the train. Awtar wanted to shoot natural activities in each part of sleeper coach ambiance. So, Bir had fixed lights in each section of the coach to take shots. I was also used as a sleeping passenger along with a lady. That was Madhavi Manjula who acts in the film. There was a scene in Banaras between her and Raina.

Shooting at Banaras was not very long. In the start maybe due to exhaustion Awtar felt a bit unwell. So, he rested for a day in the hotel. We also took some general shots at Sarnath and various Ghats along with Raina trying to find his peace.

After total shoot was over, he became busy with editing. I too was very busy as I was doing many films then. I just came to know that the film had been ‘mixed’ and its married print was out.

I am told that when Awtar had arrived in Bombay with his wife, he had rented a bungalow in Chembur. But as she did not enjoy the lifestyle here and fell sick often due to hygiene related issues, she went back to the US. So, Awtar moved to a high-profile PG accommodation near Kemps Corner. Later, he moved to another cheaper place etc. He would show his frustration dealing with FFC, on various issues. Due to shortage of funds, he finally decided to share a room with assistant sound recordist of the film - that is me. Rent here was hardly Rs 150 for a bed. I would imagine that was huge slide-down of lifestyle.

He had brought a ton to books with him, that was so extremely beneficial for me.

He became very friendly with everyone in the family of the landlord, Jayant Patel. In fact, Jayant bhai has also played small part in film, as a teacher in the art school. The shot of ‘Statue of Venus’ smashed down by a walking crutch was taken in the passage of the house.

Once around 11 pm I returned from my shooting I found Awtar and Jayant Bhai chatting on the road. As I got off from the cab, Awtar asked me, “did you have your dinner?” I hesitated a bit. He straight away said I will give you dinner. He took the same cab and asked me to sit, telling the driver, “Taj.” I wondered why Taj. But I knew it was fine. Maybe he had also not eaten. In Taj We entered ‘Shamiana’, the coffee shop. He asked me if I would have a burger. He ordered 2 beers and a burger for me. He was not going to eat. He was in some kind of different mood, bit light and bold.

On yet another usual evening, Jayant Bhai and I started preparing for our regular drinking sessions. Since Awtar was still not back, we started organizing glasses, put extra bottles of water in fridge and took out plates for snacks. At 7pm Jayant Bhai proudly switched on his Toshiba B&W TV, a star attraction for many. A regular gathering of about 15 guests would feel very special, watching Chhaya Geet and other weekly shows. Those days it was a huge privilege to be in front of a TV. At 7.30pm Hindi news was scheduled. Jayant Bhai and I would be anxious to watch it, mainly because of the female newsreader. She was a very pretty, young, dusky belle, Smita Patil…

Among many political headlines Smita Patil announced that national film awards for that year have been announced. I got very interested in this section. Later giving details of various awards, she said Awtar Krishna Kaul’s film ‘27Down’ had won national award for the best Hindi film category! Suddenly a spell of utter disbelief gripped everyone. Jaws dropped. How could something so special happen to someone living right here inside their own home? The two paying guests? It was so unbelievable. But when a clipping of the film was shown, the emotions tuned into a high-pitched excitement! I especially was so ecstatic. After all I was an assistant recordist in that film! Patel family boasted to all the TV watching neighbors that the news of the award was about their own paying guests. I became an instant hero among them. Jayant Bhai boasted, ‘Awtar has gone out right now… he and Arun live in that room there…’

As the national award news sunk in everyone’s mind, something different had to be done about it. We decided to celebrate the news with Awtar, when he returns. Jayant Bhai and I went out, got a bottle of good whiskey and a rum from a wine shop near Dreamland cinema. On our way back we picked up lot of assorted snacks, like bhajia, gathia, batata wada etc go with the drinks…

Awtar had to be back soon. I decided that they all go and watch English news bulletin too. Normally, Jayant Bhai and I would pour a drink around 8pm. But now it was 9pm! Quite late! We decided to clink the glasses at 9.30 and then continued waiting for Awtar. With noisy cheers in the name of Awtar, me, 27DN and National award, this small group of friends took the most exciting first sip…

At 10.30, Ba (grandmother) peeped in, asking if Awtar has come. I said, ‘no.’ She laughed and said, “he also must be drinking somewhere like you all.” Do you think he doesn’t know about the news?” That put a different perspective in everyone’s head. ‘Yes’ and all decided that they should stop making noise and go out for dinner, as the family had to sleep…

Before Tukaram went to sleep I told him, Awtar will come later. So, open shutter softly in case Awtar arrived too late and was too drunk…

At 3am, I heard a tap on my door. I thought Awtar is here finally. But it was Jayant Bhai, who was outside. He said there was a phone call for you. Call? At this time? Many quick ‘dark’ flashes crossed my mind. My own father, mother, accidents god knows! I was just about 23 years old and was shit scared of getting bad news from my family or anyone. In my drunken sleep I mumbled who has called? Jayant Bhai said “call is from a police station, and they are talking all crap. I don’t understand what they are saying.” In the darkness I got up in my underwear and walked to the phone kept in outer verandah. Hello, I said. Caller identified himself as a police inspector and asked who I was. I said, I am Arun Sharma and just sat down on the floor while the cop still was speaking. The receiver slipped from my hand and I passed out…

Jayant Bhai was shaking me up to open my eyes. I had gone to sleep sitting on the floor with the phone receiver dangling near my face. I again held the phone to my ear, listened and kept it down. Slowly I realized what had happened.

Around 4am a noisy police jeep stopped near the gate of Arab Bungalow and two cops shook the collapsible gate. I was awake now and was dressed in pant shirt. Entire Patel family was awake too. I stepped out saying to policeman, ‘I am Arun Sharma’. They asked me to sit at the back of the jeep. They drove to Nair municipal hospital near Bombay central station. I was asked to follow two cops to a room where a police inspector was sitting. ‘Come in’, inspector on duty said and pointed me to a chair to sit. A green curtain was drawn at his side. Inspector held a small telephone diary in his hand and was going through it. I knew the diary belonged to Awtar. In a moment inspector got up smartly and said, ‘come’, drawing the green curtain aside. We both entered. There he was. On the stretcher was Awtar in his familiar red kurta. Inspector asked, ‘is he Awtar Krishna Kaul?’ Yes, I mumbled moving closer to Awtar’s face. I noticed many bruises and cuts on his forehead and face. I went still closer to him and lifted his hair from his forehead to see if there was any other major hurt. Actually, I wanted to touch his face and hair. At that moment I also became very angry with him. ‘Why? What was the need to be so rash in life?’ On inspector’s hint, I moved out and sat the chair. Inspector asked me some more relevant questions, which I must have replied.

Inspector narrated the official version, “Awtar’s body was seen floating in the sea at Girgaon Chowpatty around midnight. Fire brigade was called and with great difficulty they fished him out. You see it is no moon night, and to make it worse high tide was at its peak. He was rushed to Bhatia hospital, closest from there. He was alive then. For some reason they refused admission. Then he was rushed here; but was declared dead on arrival.”

I had never felt an emotional tsunami of that magnitude in my life. Anyways I was just 23 then. Deeply shaken from inside, I had managed to stay steady through it.
For the police, identification of the body was complete. I was free to go. Same jeep dropped me back home.

Everyone was awake. I sat with them. Bhabhi made some tea. I narrated what I saw and reproduced inspector’s version of the incident. Nobody knew how to react to this sudden reversal in fortune.

I attended his funeral at Chandan wadi, next day. Crying bitterly, I fiddled with the ashes.

I could not sleep in my room next to Awtar’s empty bed for many months.

Awtar Kaul Last Scene -2

Apr 20, 1974

News of Awtar Kaul’s dramatic death had spread in the film and art circles like a wildfire. Especially owners and staff of Samovar and Gaylord were badly shocked, since they knew Awtar, as a bright new filmmaker and as their regular visitor. Everyone had something to talk about him. Conversations heard on ‘Apr 19’ became the backbone of the story ‘what might have happened.’ After these ‘snippets of conversations’ of his friends and people from these establishments were pieced together, there emerged a believable story line, with a timeline of, not more than 12-14 hours.

First piece from Arab Bungalow (Patel home):

Apr 19, 1974, morning. No one can have any idea exactly what time Awtar left
home. Getting out could not be seen as an unusual activity for paying guests of
the Patel family. Arun, his roommate too was a busy person by then. He may or
may not have noticed him leaving. People go out for work, for fun, for a date
or meetings… So his leaving home that day could not be seen as anything special
– except that, that late morning Awtar went out for the last time.

Second piece provided by conversations at Samovar:

It is early afternoon, may be just before lunch, when Awtar got there. As Samovar
staff knows their regular customers very well. Awtar would be talking about his
film, its production, actors, future plans, his frustrations… to his friend
Butani, a young independent journalist. She must have been scribbling all the
details on her writing pad for press. It would be understood that they spend
too much time at that restaurant or at some stage, may have gone away somewhere else. Their relationship was understood to be more than interviewer and interviewee. They met quite often and were together for long hours.

Second piece from a bar:

This is the most important piece of conversation that comes from a painter who narrated it to the cinematographer, Bir. This painter was a part of the group of at
least three people, he himself, Awtar and the lady journalist Butani, who were
carrying on from their lunch date at the Samovar. They were at the Ritz bar for
a drink… after a while as they loosened up, the lady got too emotionally aggressive towards Awtar and let out steam. Due to this loud display of frustration from the woman, the painter now becomes familiar with the tangle between the two. Not only the painter; but ‘memory water marks’ of the scene are left on the
staff of the bar too. Later these marks will turn into conversations for
completing the story line…
In the end things become a bit calm. The group finishes wine and dine. They pay up.
Awtar and the lady offer to drop their painter friend at his residence. He
accepts. They take a taxi and head towards ‘White House’ at Walkeshwar via
Marine drive.

Closing conversation:

Geography:
The painter lived right down where the sea touches the wall of the apartment building. Situated on the right, at the lowest edge of White House, from a distance it looked like a studio apartment or even a garage. But for a painter like him, it must be a beautiful place to live, having unrestricted view of queen’s
necklace, the sea and its proximity.

Painter:
“After not so comfortable evening at the Ritz, Awtar and Butani came to drop
me. They walked me right down till the last point. Nice of them. As I started a
short walk to my house, they waited looking at me. They were being really very kind to me. It was a dark, no-moon night. Sea too was extremely noisy and rough due to peak of high tide. Tall waves were banging on the boundary wall of the
building. I went inside my house but decided to keep the door open until they
went away. I could see both of them talking to each other. Their actions were a
bit heated now. I knew they had been having very bad emotional tiffs. I was
changing and doing my usual chores. I thought they may be wanting to spend some more time with each other to thrash things out. I went in the toilet. When I came out, they were still there, but now the girl was standing on the parapet,
screaming and gesturing towards Awtar and sea. She was throwing her arms all
over! She seemed very very agitated. I was alarmed. Thinking of the neighbors
getting disturbed, I decided to go out and cool them down. As I picked up my keys and came out, I saw Awtar standing on the parapet, in place of the woman! He was screaming his lungs out looking towards the sea with outstretched arms. I
knew worst had happened! She had jumped in the swollen sea. As I got closer, I could see her being tossed up and down by the waves. Fearing for him, I moved towards Awtar to pull him down to safety. Due to the din, quite a few neighbors had woken up and were standing in their balconies.
One of them threw down a nylon rope. I advanced towards Awtar to grab his shirt
to bring him down. Just then the waves tossed the woman closer to the wall… he too jumped down! He caught hold of her. In desperation we threw the rope for
them. The girl had stopped trying to save herself. She had lost strength and
was floating helplessly. Awtar was holding the rope; but he too was no match for
the power of the sea. The waves banged him on the wall many times. They had separated now. Rope was of no use. Someone called up the fire brigade. Waves were now carrying them away from the wall and perhaps towards Chowpati beach. They seemed to have lost consciousness…

It may be a little before midnight, when I lost sight of them due to darkness and
growing distance.”

Awtar Kaul Last Scene -1

April 19, 1974, 5pm, ground floor of Arab Bungalow, Khetwadi main road, Girgaon, Bombay. 400004

The day did not seem to be any different from earlier ones. Landlords of
the large place, Patel family was going through its usual lazy chores.
Jayant Bhai, Bhabhi and Ba (grandmother) were sitting on the floor, as
usual. Kids were back from school. Their servant Tukaram brought tea
from the kitchen for all of them.  Arun, one of their paying guests, also hand over a cup. Between four people there were three different kinds of cups. Nobody in family think about it.
Arun also did not seem to care. He was happy to be relaxing for a day
from his grueling shooting schedules. Arun’s room partner Awtar Krishna
Kaul, producer-director of an under-production film titled, 27DN, had
left before lunch to meet friends. His regular time-pass adda
used to be Samovar at Kala Ghoda. It was the meeting place and savior
for so many people of this city, who were either jobless, between jobs,
strugglers, starry-eyed, writers, painters… People would order a cup of
tea or a beer and stretch its contents to hours, unless suddenly a
waiter slides the bill in front. With experience most of them knew when
to renew the order well before a waiter got restless…

At 7pm Jayant Bhai proudly switched on his Hitachi B&W TV, a star
attraction for many. It made a regular gathering of about 15 guests
feel very special, watching Chhaya Geet and other weekly movies. Those
days it was a huge privilege to be in front of a TV. At 7.30pm Hindi
news was scheduled. Jayant Bhai and Arun would be anxious to watch it,
because of the newsreader. She was a very pretty, young, dusky belle
Smita Patil…

Among other political headlines Smita announced that national awards for
films have been announced. Arun being a film person got interested.
Later giving details of various awards, she said Awtar Krishna Kaul’s
film ‘27DN’ had won national award in the best Hindi film category!
Suddenly a spell of utter disbelief fell over everyone. Jaws dropped
down. How could something so special happen to someone living right
here inside their home? Their own paying guest? Might be a mistake. But
when a clipping of the film was shown, the emotions tuned into a
high-pitched excitement! Arun especially was so ecstatic. After all he
was an assistant recordist in that film! Patel family boasted to all
the TV watching neighbors that the news of the award was about their
paying guests. Arun became an instant hero among them. Jayant Bhai
boasted, ‘Awtar has gone out right now… he and Arun live in that room
there…’

As the national award news sunk in, something had to be done to celebrate
it. They decided to organize a grand party to announce the news to
Awtar and then celebrate with him. Arun and Jayant Bhai went out and got
a bottle of whiskey and a rum from a wine shop near Dreamland cinema.
On their way back they picked up lot of snacks, like assorted bhajia, gathia, batata wada etc go with the drinks…

Awtar was still not back. Therefore, everyone used the time to organize
glasses, put extra bottles of water in fridge and took out nice plates
for snacks. It was past 8pm. He had to be back soon. Arun decided that
they all go and watch TV again to watch the English news bulletin too
(mainly to reconfirm). Normally, Arun and Jayant Bhai would pour a drink
around 8pm. So, 9pm was quite late. Unanimously they decided to clink
the glasses at 9.30 and keep waiting for Awtar. With noisy cheers in
the name of Awtar, Arun, 27DN and National award, this small group of
friends took their most exciting first sip…

At 10.30, Ba (grandmother) peeped in asking has he not come yet. Arun
said, ‘no.’ She said, ‘he also must be drinking somewhere like you all.
Do you think he doesn’t know about the news?’ That put a different
perspective in everyone’s head. ‘Yes’ all felt, he could be knowing and
may be celebrating with people of his own status. Everyone felt that
whey should stop making noise and go out for dinner, as the family had
to sleep…

Arun took the main door key from Tukaram before going to sleep. In case
Awtar arrived too late and too drunk, he would open the gate quietly…

3am, Arun thought he heard a tap on his room door that in fact was ajar. He
thought Awtar is here finally. But it was Jayant Bhai, who was shaking
him. Arun thought he wanted the door key, but he said there was call
for him. Call? At this time? Many quick ‘dark’ flashes crossed his
mind. His father, mother, accidents god knows what. Arun was just about
23 years old and he was shit scared of getting any bad news from his
family. In his drunken sleep Arun asked who has called? Jayant Bhai said
‘call is from the police station, and they are talking all crap. I don’t
understand what they are saying.’ In the darkness Arun got up in his
underwear and walked to the phone in outer verandah. ‘Hello’ he said.
Caller voice identified itself as a police inspector. Arun said, ‘yes,
I am Arun Sharma’ and in few seconds he sat down on the floor while
listening to the cop. The receiver slipped from his hand and he passed
out…

Jayant Bhai was shaking him up. Arun had gone to sleep again sitting on the floor with the receiver hanging near his face. Jayant Bhai put the phone to
his ear and kept it down. Slowly both realized what had happened.
Around 4am a police jeep noisily stopped near the gate of Arab Bungalow
and two cops shook the collapsible gate. Arun was awake now and was
dressed in pant shirt. Entire Patel family was awake too. Arun stepped
out. He said, ‘I am Arun Sharma’. He was made to sit at the back of the
jeep. They drove to Nair hospital near Bombay central station. Arun
followed two cops to a room where a police inspector was sitting. ‘Come
in’, inspector duty said and pointed him to a chair to sit. A green
curtain was drawn at his side. Inspector held a small telephone diary
in his hand and was going through it. Arun knew it belonged to Awtar.
In a moment inspector got up smartly and said, ‘come’, drawing the
green curtain aside. They both entered. There he was. On the stretcher
was Awtar in his familiar red kurta. Inspector asked, ‘is he Awtar Krishna Kaul’? ‘Yes’ Arun mumbled moving closer to him. He noticed many bruises and cuts on his forehead and face. Arun went closer to him and lifted his hair from his forehead to see if there was any other major hurt. Perhaps he wanted to touch his face and hair. He also became very angry with Awtar. ‘Why’, he thought, what was the need to be so rash in life?’ They both moved out and sat in chairs.
Arun had never felt an emotional tide of that magnitude in his life. He
was just 23 then. Deeply shaken from inside he had managed to stand
steady through it.

Inspector narrated his version. “Awtar’s body was seen floating in the sea at
Girgaon Chowpati at around midnight. Fire brigade was called and with
great difficulty they fished him out. You see it is a no moon night and
high tide was at its peak. He was rushed to Bhatia hospital, closest
from there. He was alive then. For some reason they refused admission.
Then he was rushed here; but was declared dead on arrival.”

For the police, identification of the body was complete. Arun was free to
leave. He came out and same jeep dropped him back home.

Everyone was awake. Arun sat with them. Bhabhi made some tea. Arun narrated what he saw and reproduced inspector’s version of the incident. Nobody knew how to react to this sudden reversal in fortune.

Arun could not sleep in that room, next to Awtar’s empty bed, for many months.

IshkIshkIshk Prod-Story#6

Next day we shot the part of climax near Shyangboche airport. After the 6 day shooting schedule at this hell of a location got over, we had to vacate as soon as possible.

A journalist from ‘Time’ visited us here. She stayed for 2 days interviewing and clicking a lot of pictures. In fact there had been a steady traffic of journalists from Mumbai on all our locations. Dev Saab has got a way with them. Other visitors were music director R D Burman, singer Bhupinder Singh and Gogi Anand. 

It was nearly mid-December and the weather was getting worse. Soon flights would be prohibited here for a long period. Shyangboche airport was very unique too. A 250 meter air strip was like a steep incline, to help airplanes gain speed while flying away and to arrest their motion while landing. Higher end of the air strip touched the mountain side. But the other end was sharply and scarily clipped off at the edge of mountain and opened straight into void of the familiar deep valley. The airplane was a 6 seater Pilatus Porter. Our transportation from here took about 5 round trips between Shyangboche and Kathmandu. Hersh asked me to travel in the last flight with him. So, I waited. Slowly each and everyone boarded the small airplane that kept coming back after a gap of nearly 2 hours. Watching the airplane take off and land gave me necessary confidence of going through the experience of this flight. Frankly I did not mind waiting, because it gave me a longer chance to enjoy that place.
On our turn the pilot announced that this was going to be on the last flight of the season. That was a little scary, because any slip could have left us stranded here for months without any rescue. I with Hersh and some Nepali helpers took our seats, buckled the belts and the plane zoomed down to the edge of the short strip. This was the first time I was flying from here. As it left the edge of the mountain, it fell down about 50 ft like a rock. It felt as if there was not enough momentum for it to take off. But in about 5 seconds, it stabilized and turned right. It took its route in the middle of the valley. The engine kept groaning hard to keep above the white fog that had covered the entire panorama from down below. The pilot could not see anything, so to be safe he had to stay above those clouds. It seemed that airplane did not have enough power. The joy-stick was pressed to the last point. There was a horrifying tension. Sometimes the plane would be tossed from side to side and sometime lost height suddenly. When it fell like a rock, our heads would hit the ceiling. A Nepali boy got so scared that he left his seat and sat in my lap holding my legs in terror. The horror lasted for more than 30 min. Only after we had cleared the mountains, the plane steadied and we could see the ground below. The pilot too relaxed, looked back and tossed some oranges towards us. His smiling face was totally sweaty. Many years later in 1981, Shekhar Kapoor would tell me that the Italian pilot who flew us died in a crash in the same area.
Like many others Hersh too had become very friendly with me during this near 3 month shoot. This relationship would later culminate into me working for his own production company ‘Indu Pictures’ and ‘Aap Ki Khatir’ would be his first film with Vinod Khanna and Rekha. He also introduced me to his wife’s younger sister, who eventually became my wife and still is…
We returned to Mumbai totally exhausted and badly sun-burnt. But in a few days only Dev Saab started shooting on the sets in Mehboob studios. As a part of climax, a set of rocks was constructed, to do close work. Then we had two days schedule on real mountain-rocks of Mumbra, near Mumbai. We had real rock climbers duplicating for Zeenat, Dev Saab and others.
We also went to Narkanda near Simla, to shoot sequences of heavy snow and blizzard. It was so awfully cold. We were standing on snow, snow was all around and storm fan was throwing snow and thermocol balls at the actors. We shot in this, colder than Nepal location, for 6 days and returned to Mumbai.
Another part of the story which moved with Dev Saab’s childhood was shot in Dr Graham’s Homes School, Kalimpong. We were here for nearly ten days.
Soon after the film was edited we started dubbing in music recording facility of Mehboob studios. Robin Chatterji the recordist had not yet started recording songs here. The theatre had just been completed. So, Mehboob management gave it to Dev Saab willingly for dubbing. Mehboob Khan had tremendous respect for Dev Saab. He used to say ‘Yeh Studio Dev Ka Hai Aur Dev Ke Paise Se Bana Hai.’ The largest stage (#3) of Mehboob studios was believed to be financed by Dev Saab.
Song recording and processing of the film had been done at ‘Film Center’, at Tardeo. Being a musical, ‘Ishq Ishq Ishq’ had many songs, written by Anand Bakshi and composed by R D Burman. I met Navketan editor Babu Sheikh at their Khira Nagar office at S V Road, Santacruz. Babu has retired since long and the office too has shifted to Pali Hill, Bandra at the Anand recording studios. The mixing (Re-recording) of the film was done by unbeatable Mangesh Desai at V Shataram’s Raj Kamal studios at Parel. Mangesh Desai gave some suggestions as he watched the film over and over during mixing. So, a little patch work was done on the terrace of Raj Kamal. We also did some patch work on the hills of Lonavala.
The film finally completed and got the censor certificate in Nov, 1974. Its premier at the Metro cinema was a very glitzy affair. It was followed by a huge party at the top floor restaurant of the Oberoi hotel at the Marine Drive. My eyes were popping with the glare of publicity that actors were receiving. I felt good in knowing that I too had been a part of all this, may be on the outer periphery.
In the end, nothing succeeds like success. Being such an expensive film, ‘Ishq Ishq Ishq’ didn’t even run for two weeks in Metro. Nor did it get any good reviews. It was my first painful experience of seeing so much hard work and money going down the drain, so effortlessly.

IshkIshkIshk Prod-Story#5

Next morning we flew by helicopter to Thyangboche, which has the world’s highest Buddhist Monastery at 14000ft. It was a 10 min journey, but very dangerous one. We had to be moved from one peak to another with a valley in the middle. But the pilot was having lot of problems in landing safely due to awkward wind currents. Dev Saab spent money very lavishly on this leg of the shoot. Other than actor and technicians, things like reflectors and wooden stools too had to be carted by helicopter at an exorbitant cost. We reached here after the sunlight had faded. So the shooting was to start next morning. In the night all of us had some basic dinner with a little rum. There were no beds, only sleeping bags for us on the floor of an enclosure made of wooden planks. The room resembled more like a large box of wood. On my right was Premnath and left was chief assistant director Vishwa. All of us were protected against biting cold and whistling winds by our usual woolens, sleeping bags and the strong Nepali Khukri rum. I can never forget Premji’s thunderous snoring. He had hit the sleeping bag earlier than me so he had no chance to experience my snoring. When everyone snores in a room, it is better to be the first to hit the pillow and doze off; late sleepers have to face the terrible music. The glass of water next to Premji was vibrating due to his snoring and strong winds.

In the morning my eyes opened due to spreading brightness warmth of sun. Premji picked up his glass of water to drink, but could not. The water had frozen. He peeped into the glass, held the glass upside down and then shook it. He then felt so amused and excited that he went on screaming and showed the glass to everyone. He ran to Dev Saab screaming, ‘Devi Devi look what happened to the water.’ He called Dev Saab ‘Devi’ affectionately. Even I was stunned to think how cold it must have been at night. I am sure it must have been the layer of rum that saved us all from freezing.
But due to excessive cold I had a technical set back. My recording machine Nagra did not work. It would go ‘forward’ and ‘rewind’ but not record or play. Dev Saab gave me dirty looks all through the day. He hates people sitting around jobless. Any ways all I could do was to ask the direction assistants to note down exact dialogues that actors spoke, for being of help during dubbing of these scenes. We shot here for two days. On the second day after the shoot we had to start moving back to Everest hotel at Shyangboche. And this time all of us were not going back by helicopter. Mainly junior technical staff was going to trek back and some basic equipment would be carted on Yak backs. Shekhar and I too decided to go with them. For this return journey we had to go down about 1km into the valley and come up again near the hotel.
This walk would also become a part of my unforgettable experiences. Due to our (mine and Shekhar’s) much faster speed we were gradually going too far ahead from the main unit, which incidentally had local guides along with them. We took it for granted that when the right path will come we will easily know it. On the way we met Hersh and some others trudging along on Yak backs. Waving at them, we left them far behind. Shekhar is very fit and he was a good 10 min ahead of me too. I could see him only on the straight part of a mountain, but he would vanish from sight if there were curves. So we both too became lonely in that wilderness. Supposedly there were no wild animals; but as I went around a tight curve suddenly I noticed a Yak in the middle of the narrow path. He was looking at me directly. I had not met any Yaks, so I didn’t know if they are friendly or not. Since I was all alone, I could not take any risk. I climbed up a good 100 feet above the Yak and came down ahead of him. Those were some anxious moments. It was getting dark now. We had to negotiate the distance fast to get back safely. We were not equipped to be in the open at night in such a cold place. Luckily we found a couple on traveling on the same route. Somehow we managed to convey him that we want to go to Shyangboche. To our horror he said it is been left behind. The man pointed a near vertical mountain on our side and said climb up and go back. We were on a very narrow path with a near vertical mountain on right and that 3000ft deep valley on the left. We looked at each other with shock, but managed to conceal our fears. We started immediately. There was no time. The climb was so steep that it could give you vertigo. There was no path. We had to place our feet on raw mud and rocks very gingerly. I had to very small plants or even grass to keep our balance. Everything behind us looked like a deep valley. Any slip and we would not be able to stop on the path too. With the last drop of light our fingers grabbed the edge of narrow flat path to our hotel and then stood on it safely. As if on cue we hugged each other, pumped our hands and were overwhelmed with evaporation of fear, anxiety and exhaustion. We felt as if we had scaled Lhotse.

IshkIshkIshk Prod-Story#4

After we returned to Fish Tail Lodge from Dhumpus, Dev Saab was informed that film raw stock running low. He summoned Production Controller Hersh Kohli. Hersh called Mumbai and discovered that the shortage was quite serious even in Mumbai and we may have to stop work for a few days. Due to stringent permit rules, things could not be moved easily. Dev Saab thought for a moment and said ‘get it from Hong Kong’. Hersh started preparing to leave for Hong Kong. No production can take 100 people on outdoor location and not shoot. In the mean while Amit Khanna borrowed some film negative from other producers in Mumbai and managed to send it. But soon the situation eased and all was well. Amit Khanna was the production executive operating from Mumbai. Hersh had an assistant Kumar Butani, who became very friendly with me, as we stayed on the same floor of the hotel. Hersh had to do a lot of flying between Pokhra and Mumbai. CAD to Dev Saab was Vishwa. He had been associated with him since ‘Teen Devian’, which was unofficially directed by Dev Saab. He went on to become producer and director later and made ‘

Bhalamanus’ with Randhir Kapoor and Neetu Singh and ‘Mere Baad’ with Anupam Kher and Rakhee. Other two direction assistants Ravi Berry and Vimal Chopra are not in films since long. 

We had come with two cameras (both Arri-IIC) and two Nagra (4.2 and III) on location. On Fali Saab’s camera we had an attendant called Jahangir Chowdhary. He was also Fali Saab’s nephew. Jahangir would later become a hot shot cinematographer himself, after completing his ‘photography’ course from FTII. Nasikar was a Nagra attendant. Perhaps he felt a little odd about the job he was doing here. He used to be our electronic-lab assistant at the Film Institute. He died later in Mumbai due to problems of excessive drinking. I also remember some friendly light-boys and spot-boys like, Mohan (who became lights supplier and did very well), Dilip, Natthu, Anand and Allauddin.
Next important location shift was to Shyangboche, which falls on the way to Mount Everest. Fali Saab did not come here with us. A much younger D K Prabhakar did this schedule, who was the second unit cameraman with us. Later on he would take over from Fali Mistry as Navketan’s cameraman and would do very competent job in ‘Des Pardes’.
We flew in a small Cessna airplane to ‘Lukla’ and landed on its Barbie Doll airport. From here we had to trek to

Namchi Bazar, a well known village on higher Nepal. It was 24 hour trek. We stayed the night in tents. Sherpas carried our stuff, pitched up the tents and cooked dinner. It was very sexy night. There was dinner around the bon-fire, songs and naughty jokes were contributed by Shekhar, Kabir Bedi and some girls. Shekhar sang a parody, ‘Aao Bachcho Tumhein Dikhayen Ladki Solah Saal Ki…’ Early morning we all started walking. I realized I was very good mountaineer. Shekhar, Kabir and me reached together at the home of our host at Namchi Bazar. We stayed the night again here but under a roof. In the night Shiela Jones asked Kabir if she could use his hair brush. He said ‘sure’, then hesitating he asked ‘do you have dandruff?’ She felt offended and said ‘certainly not’. Offering the brush to her he said ‘well I have’ and we all had a hearty laugh.
Next morning we trekked to reach hotel Everest View at Shyangboche (Altitude 13000ft). Hotel Everest View is owned and run by a Japanese family and is the last chance for the trekkers to be under a roof before the climb to peak Everest starts. My room was on the side of the hotel. The wall near my bed was all glass. They did it on purpose. You could see the Lohtse Himalayan range from here. And to my left was the peak that is the dream of every mountaineer to conquer – Everest, clear, beautiful and right in front. On the other side of the glass had cold howling wind and snow piled up on the ground touching the glass. I got a practical crazy idea; I pulled down my bedding from the cot onto the carpet touching the glass wall. It was such a lovely experience to be safe in a comfortable room and look at the snow two inches away from my face. I have a capacity to look at things in a different way. The dining hall of this hotel too had the most amazing picture postcard view of the Everest. I remember it was a moon lit night and the entire wall facing the peak was made of glass. Almost full moon graced the clear sky, snow on Everest looked a shade yellow due to moon-light; a few clouds were hanging on its right side. This is one of the few sights that have not faded away in spite of 33 years that have gone by. If it was today all I would do, would be to sit quietly and absorb the visual in my being. Here during a busy day, Dev Saab received a telegram from his PR agency called J S Designs, informing him that his previous film ‘Heera Panna’ had released to full houses. But on our return to Mumbai we would all realize that there was not much truth in that message. The film had amazing music, but fared average on the box-office.

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After a marathon schedule of 42 days & nights, we were given a welcome change. There was no night shooting on November 19. We all were blessed due to Zeenat’s birthday on this day. So, in place of Nagra, amplifiers, lights and camera, there were drinks, dinner, conversations and most importantly relaxation. I am sure for this break the unit must have genuinely wished and blessed Zeenat. I sat in the company of Fali Mistry. He was beginning to get very fond of me. Although I was in awe of him, I was enjoying listening to his stories from the nostalgic past. Fali Saab had been around for a long time. His first film was Dilip Kumar’s ‘Udan Khatola’. He had also worked on my all-time favorite ‘Guide’. After dinner Fali Saab was rotating his large goblet of brandy and talking to me about finer points of drinking. Similar relationship was developing between me and senior actor Nadira. She would affectionately insist on me that I call her ’mom or mamma’. She proved it beyond doubt when she took care of me for seven days, when I fell very ill due to some stomach ailment. She made my bed in her room and did not allow me to step outside. My assistants had to manage the show in my absence.

It is a fact that whenever there is an outdoor shooting, the unit members have returned home as friends, for life.
After a while we were moved to a village called ‘Dhampus’. But there was no village in sight. Dhampus was all mountains and valleys providing a great back-drop all around. Reaching here was very tedious.

Fali Saab was on a pony because the climb was rocky and very steep. When he reached up, he was panting very heavily and looked mortally scared. I was quizzical. He kept his hand on my shoulder for support and said leaning heavily, ‘Aaj Main Bach Gaya’. He told me that his pony had stumbled and slipped on some loose rocks. So he got off the pony and had to walk up a part of the climb. Fali Saab was nearly 6ft tall and was a very heavy man too. He had health problems associated with being overweight, like diabetes. He used to be careful about his diet. Although Dev Saab trusted and needed him totally, I would still think, it was very bold of him to come and shoot in a place like this.
Next to a heavy set frame of Fali Saab, Arri-IIC camera looked insignificant. One night during the lighting of a shot Fali Saab saw a pretty foreigner chatting with Dev Saab. With a smile he called me by his side and started looking here and there. He took out a small comb from his hip pocket and combing his hair he casually mumbled to me ‘Dev Ke Saath Woh Chhokri Kaun Hai (who is that chick with Dev)?’ I said, ‘Koi Jouranalist Hai Fali Saab (she is a journalist)’. He said, ‘Achchhi Hai (she is pretty). Dev Ko Kahan Se Milti Hain Itni?’ I was enjoying the trust that was building between me and a very celebrated senior technician.
Later every day after shooting in Mehboob studios, he would give me a lift in his Mercedes or Nadira in her Triumph. On some occasions they even waited and looked for me too, if I was late. Fali Saab had also started sharing some semi dirty jokes with me. He would laugh heartily after telling one. He also shared some of his private past with me. He once took me to a Parsi lady’s home in Bandra for a cup of tea. After we left he told me in his car that she was his ex-girlfriend. He bragged to me once about a big heroine coming to his hotel room.
Fali Saab had an assistant called S R Dabholkar (no more now). In Dhampus I had a massive fight with him. He tried to act smart with me when I was in my tent and 4 drinks high. That was a big mistake he made. I screamed and hurled abuses at him. After the fight he went away and I ended up drinking almost an entire bottle of rum – neat. That still stands as is my record binge. Next day during the shooting of the song ‘Chal Saathi Chal’, Fali Saab told me that I had gone way out of control and Dev too was listening to your screaming. I must have felt bad for it, but nothing could be done then. In Dhampus the sun would go behind mountains very early. And because of slower film speed, it was difficult to get right exposure. But the light would be enough to play ‘Gulli Danda’. Our carpenters had made Gulli Danda from a little branch of a tree. So I along with few light boys and Vijay-Oscar would play our hearts out to an audience of Dev Saab, Zeenat and Fali Saab with other staff.
All of us had to wake up very early for a ticklish reason; to make potty in outdoors. I remember one dark morning I was headed towards a bush in the dark when I noticed a figure resembling Zeenat. I of course promptly changed my direction to find another bush. One evening on this location would go down in my life as extra special. We all sat around a small fire and everyone managed to convince Dev Saab to sing something for us. Without much fuss he sang ‘Jahan Mein Aisa Kaun Hai’ by Asha Bhonsle from ‘Hum Dono’. He sang very well. It has been my favourite song since then.