Almost there, Dilip Sahab

Dilip Kumar discloses that the Mistry family (of Shapoorji Pallonji and Tata Sons) financed blockbuster films like Mughal-e-Azam which many consider the grandest film ever made in Bollywood as well as
Gunga Jumna

Between 1944, when his first film Jwar Bhata released and 1998, when his last film Qila hit the screens, Dilip Kumar, the original superstar, acted in 62 films. He worked with top actors, producers, directors and musicians in his long career. Yet, his recent autobiography, The Substance and the Shadow, fails to satiate those with a robust appetite for Bollywood gossip. Kumar comes close to being candid several times, but never becomes politically incorrect. In 1982, news broke out that he, though married to Saira Banu, had taken a second wife: Asma Rehman, a resident of Hyderabad. All hell broke loose and the actor had to finally annul the marriage. Kumar calls it a "grave mistake" and alleges that he became a victim of a "situation that was set to precipitate a deep crisis in my marriage", though he admits he "was not infallible".

Kumar says he met Asma, married and a mother of three, during a cricket match in Hyderabad. She was introduced to the actor by his sisters. Kumar says Asma and her husband always seemed to be aware of his travel plans and would turn up by his side frequently when he was travelling out of Mumbai. At that time, he was "completely unaware of a connivance that was being mischievously perpetuated and a situation being cleverly created by vested interests to draw a commitment from me". The statement is laced with intrigue, yet Kumar leaves it at that. Not fair!

Similarly, Kumar does not tell why he said no to David Lean for Lawrence of Arabia, the 1962 blockbuster that had a star cast of Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif and our own I S Johar. In the "Reminiscences" section of the autobiography, Chandrashekhar, a yesteryears' actor, has this to say: "In contrast to today's actors who lust for Hollywood, Dilip Sahab turned down Lean's offer to cast him in Lawrence of Arabia. He was proud to be an Indian actor." Not quite convincing.

One nugget of information that business history buffs may find interesting in the book is that the Mistry family (of Shapoorji Pallonji and also Tata Sons) financed films as well. In fact, the family had funded Mughal-e-Azam (1961) which many consider the grandest film ever made in Bollywood. Kumar says he knew the family well. He met them informally at their home, where the ladies set out Persian delicacies on the table, which took him back to his childhood in Peshawar. "I enjoyed my long chats with Shapoorji [Mistry] who loved me perhaps no less than his sons." Shapoorji, according to Kumar, was a "towering giant in the construction business and he commanded instant respect from the authorities because of his untainted reputation. He was a man of small build, his intrinsic goodness reflected in the radiance of his gentle face."

Kumar approached Shapoorji when he wanted to make Gunga Jumna, a good-versus-evil film set in the Hindi heartland. Shapoorji liked the story, and though Kumar doesn't say it in as many words, agreed to finance the film. During those days, Kumar was also shooting the desert sequences for Mughal-e-Azam in Rajasthan. From there, he would shuttle to a village in Maharashtra where Gunga Jumna was being shot. Shapoorji, says Kumar, "used to arrange for me to travel in as much comfort as possible". His concerned expression reminded Kumar of the pain that would flit across his mother's face when he came back home under the afternoon sun.

In the late 1960s, the Censor Board refused to give a certificate to Gunga Jumna. The reason is not clear but it seems the Board found the violence excessive and the glorification of banditry offensive. Kumar appealed to B V Keskar, then information & broadcasting minister, but with no result because "he had his own ideas about morality, decency and violence". Left with no option, Kumar met Jawaharlal Nehru, then prime minister, who ordered a review of Gunga Jumna. This time the Board cleared it, along with some other films it had earlier refused to certify.