‘Hrishida Wasn’t Partial To Any Actor’

‘Today, even the greatest artistes are guided by monetary impulses. For Hrishida, relationships mattered the most.’

IMAGE: Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore in Chupke Chupke.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was one of Hindi cinema’s most loved and respected filmmakers.

Sharmila Tagore, who worked with him in Anupama, Satyakam and Chupke Chupke, remembers Hrishida with great affection on his 104th birth anniversary on September 30.

“Hrishida was a very friendly person. He never talked down to anyone, never pompous, always joking, always playing chess with his cronies,” she tells Subhash K Jha.

How do you recall Hrishikesh Mukherjee?

With much affection and respect. Hrishida was a very friendly person. He never talked down to anyone, never pompous, always joking, always playing chess with his cronies. It was a continuous picnic on his sets.

Your films with him are immortal.

His films had wonderful music. His cinema was always grounded to reality… Anupama, Satyakam and Chupke Chupke were my films with him.

Even when we did serious work, off-camera, we were always joking. He was such a great technician. He never wasted time or raw stock.

In fact, when working with Hrishida, one always packed up ahead of schedule. He was surrounded by a very capable team.

 

‘He was a very simple man, not given to power games or accumulating wealth’

IMAGE: Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore during the shoot of Satyakam. Photograph: Kind courtesy Film History Pics/X

Dharmendra said Hrishida preferred Rajesh Khanna.

He wasn’t partial to any one actor. I remember when we were shooting for Satyakam, there was problem with the public on location.

Hrishida was protective not just of the main actors but the entire unit. He was a very simple man, not given to power games or accumulating wealth.

Today, even the greatest artistes are guided by monetary impulses. For Hrishida, relationships mattered the most.

He was constantly playing chess between shots?

His interests went much beyond films. There was so much to learn from him! His jokes were not always proper. Some of his jokes were quite unbecoming.

I’d say, ‘Hrishida, not the first thing in the morning. I’m going to throw up.’ I remember he used to tell his heroines, ‘Please don’t mind your make-up, but make up your mind.’

I told him to stop saying it to me during film after film because it had ceased to be funny.

‘He would joke with Dharmendra during Satyakam‘

IMAGE: Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore in Anupama.

Was Nutan the first choice for Anupama?

I wouldn’t know that. I remember I arrived on the sets of Anupama in full makeup and a bouffant.

He sat me down and said, ‘Rinku, you have a very nice face. We’ll give you a lovely back-light. But you’re supposed to be a motherless child, for God’s sake.’

Rinku being Rinku, she let the bouffant remain. Even now when I see it, I cringe (laughs).

What do you remember about the shooting of Anupama?

I remember we had to shoot the song Kuch Dil Ne Kaha at 5 am in Khandala.

He was worried Dharam and I wouldn’t be able to wake up on time. We did.

I remember Tiger (Pataudi, Sharmila’s husband) came on location. Dilipsaab and Sairaji were also there, and they all played chess.

We had such a lovely time. As you might know, Hrishida wasn’t much for outdoors.

His health declined. I remember he was bedridden during his last years.

He never kept good health. He had this gout problem. He didn’t look after himself.

Eventually, he surrendered to his illness and withdrew from the limelight.

I remember while shooting for Gautam Ghose’s film, Samit Bhanja (who starred opposite Jaya Bachchan in Guddi ) told me Hrishida had become stationary and gave orders through a loudspeaker.

Hrishida loved cats?

Yes. You couldn’t walk into his house without tripping over them. He was a man of many facets. He was greatly influenced by Bengali culture.

At the same time, his cinema wasn’t culture-specific. He always presented the stars like Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna or Amitabh Bachchan, as normal human beings.

He would joke with Dharmendra during Satyakam: ‘I know you make a lot of money in real life but here, you play a very honest character.’

I remember him as an intelligent, humorous person, like Dada Moni (Ashok Kumar) or Balraj Sahni or Soumitra Chatterjee, who could talk about cricket, politics, theatre, history, and poetry.

You could talk to him and learn so much. Gulzar and Naseeruddin Shah are also like that. But you can now count such people on your fingers.

‘Most of my films are very serious, very weepie. That’s one of the reasons I enjoyed Chupke Chupke so much’

IMAGE: Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore in Chupke Chupke.

Your most popular collaboration was Chupke Chupke?

Everybody remembers Chupke Chupke. Dharamji said it’s the most entertaining film he had ever done. We had a lot of fun shooting that.

I had done a lot of work with Hrishida before Chupke Chupke, but of a very serious nature… you know, like Anupama and Satyakam, both with Dharamji.

These are not easy-viewing cinema. In Anupama, I hardly spoke. So when Hrishida offered to a do fun film, we all jumped at it.

On paper, Chupke Chupke sounded really bonkers. With comedy, one never knows how it lands. We may be laughing our heads off while shooting, but the audiences may not find it funny at all. There is always that risk.

But Hrishida had no such misgivings. He was sure Chupke Chupke would be loved. And he was right! To this day, it is a favourite go-to film whenever anyone feels blue.

I believe a lot of Chupke Chupke was improvised?

Hrishida knew exactly what he wanted us actors to do.

I think all of us, Dharamji, Amitji, Jaya, Om Prakashji, Asraniji, Usha Kironji and I were in it for the fun.

Most of my films are very serious, very weepie. That’s one of the reasons I enjoyed Chupke Chupke so much.

He made such unforgettable films. Hrishida is a very important part of Indian cinema.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff