'Kamal Got Me Hooked On To Fitness'

'It was my job to read out their lines to the actors and make sure they spoke them with the right diction, accent and pronunciation.'
'If you look at my photographs from the Sadma set, you will always find me with a file in hand, even when I am in my costume.'

Among Kamal Haasan's many friends and colleagues is Gulshan Grover.

The 'Bad Man' was at Kamal Haasan's birthday party last year, as both of them had been shooting for Indian 2 at the time and shared with the other guest at the party, Mani Ratnam how delighted he was to reunite with his Nayakan hero after three decades for Thug Life.

As Kamal Haasan turns 70 on November 7, Gulshan tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya about the 43-year-friendship that began on the set of Sadma and the lessons he learnt from him, particularly during the fight scenes.

"Kamal not only gave me tips on how to overpower an actor bigger and stronger than you, but also gave me the knee and elbow pads he had brought for himself from abroad. These imported pads made wrestling on the rough terrain smooth. Kamal, who had sacrificed his protective gear, ended up with the bruises, but made a permanent place in my heart."

Kamal has changed...

I was shooting with Kamal Haasan after many years and was understandably nervous on the first day of Indian 2's shoot.

I recalled from the Sadma days that Kamal, who is a fantastic actor and well-versed in technique, would just get up from his chair, walk through the rehearsals and be ready for a take in a jiffy.

I, on the other hand, like to prep well.

Since I'm playing his adversary in this film, I knew I had to have my game on point and be ready to take him on without too many rehearsals.

But to my surprise, I discovered that Kamal had changed.

The most wonderful actor India had ever seen, who surprises you in every film, leaving you wonder-stuck with not just his versatility but also his ability to carry off action, emotion, dance, drama and comedy, industriously rehearsed every scene with me several times.

Brushing off all the praise heaped on him, the flood of compliments he is deluged with, Kamal Haasan works as hard and industriously as any newcomer even today, to get into character and understand what is required of him.

When I was stuck while we were doing a scene together, he acted out my portions for me and put me back on track.

When I pointed out that he should emphasise a particular aspect in a scene, giving the audience another perspective, he accepted my suggestion with grace and incorporated it.

There was a lot of give and take between us which made the God of acting not just more human.

This has also taken his films one step up.

Last year, at the age of 69, Kamal Haasan gave Tamil cinema its biggest hit, Vikram, which underlines not just his star power, but also his hunger to excel.

 

Birthday memories

As far as our personal equation goes, I was gratified to find that the warmth and respect we have always had for each other, had not diminished. If anything, it has grown.

From the first day to the 14-15 days that we shot together at a stretch, we were always together.

While on camera we were adversaries, off it, we were the best of buddies.

He kept the chair next to him for me and between shots, we were always chatting and laughing.

This surprised his younger colleagues down South who, not being as well acquainted with the work I've done, had had no idea the Bad Man is also a big name in my part of the world.

When they saw how caring and affectionate the legend was towards me, insisting I eat whatever was brought out for him and ensuring I had wants for nothing during the duration of the shoot, it elevated my own standing on the Indian 2 set.

Kamal invited me, along with a small circle of close friends, to his birthday party last year.

There I met old friends like Khushboo and Radhika, as well as his younger daughter Akshara.

Mani Ratnam and his wife Suhasini were there too and I told the director how delighted I was that Kamal and he were reuniting, three decades after their cult classic Nayakan.

Their Thug Life is a film I am really looking forward to.

I also noticed that when a childhood friend kept butting into his conversations, Kamal showed not the slightest hint of irritation.

It is these qualities of humility, humanity and magnanimity, along with him being the fantastic actor that he is, that I gave an impromptu speech on the occasion.

Jogging to fitness and wisdom

On the second day of the Indian 2 shoot, Kamal admitted that on his way back, he had remembered our fun times from Sadma.

Kamal, who by then was already a legend, and Romu N Sippy, whose father, N C Sippy had produced wonderful films like Padosan, Guddi, Anand, Bawarchi, Chupke Chupke, Mili, Gol Maal and Khubsoorat, had befriended me, then a struggling actor.

Sadma, directed by Balu Mahendru, released on July 8, 1983.

Balu's first Hindi film was a remake of his 1982 Tamil film, Moondram Pirai.

It is a beautiful love story with Sridevi as Nehalata, who after suffering head injury in a car crash regresses to a six year old as a result of retrograde amnesia, and Kamal's Somu, a lonely school teacher who rescues her from a brothel, brings her home and loses his heart to her.

I had lucked out when my eyes caught Balu's eyes and he called Romu, insisting that he wanted me to play the baddie, Balua.

Romu, who was producing the film with his brother Raj N Sippy, was surprised because another actor, a bigger name, had already been signed for the role of the local woodcutter.

But Balu was adamant he wanted only me.

When I met him at his office at Roop Tara Studio in Mumbai, Romu was very gracious and we signed the contract that very day.

During the shoot in Ooty, I stayed with Romu, who was there throughout, in his two-bedroom suite.

Every evening, after pack-up, I would go for a jog with Kamal and him.

Kamal was the one who got me hooked on fitness and I took the opportunity to ask him a lot of questions on acting and the craft of cinema.

Given his years of experience and fund of knowledge, it was wisdom time for me.

All his tips and guidance have come in handy down the decades.

Padding up a fight

I was really nervous about our fight scene.

After learning about Balua's attempt to molest Nehalata, whom he has christened Reshmi, Somu goes at him hammer and tongs.

Kamal insisted I make it as real as possible and assured me that I would not get hurt, saying reassuringly, 'If there is a boulder and we are rolling towards it, I will make sure I hit it first and cushion the impact for you.'

He not only gave me tips on how to overpower an actor bigger and stronger than you but also gave me the knee and elbow pads he had brought for himself from abroad.

These imported pads made wrestling on the rough terrain smooth.

Kamal, who had sacrificed his protective gear, ended up with the bruises, but made a permanent place in my heart.

My admiration and learning which began on sets of Sadma and continues to this day.

Lessons in Tamil and Hindi

On the set, Kamal, Sridevi and Balu would discuss scenes in fluent Tamil.

Suddenly, noticing the blank look on my face, Kamal would stop and translate all that had been said in English for me.

Balu would urge me to learn Tamil, and Kamal succeeded in teaching me a smattering of the language.

A couple of days into the Sadma shoot, some of my suggestions impressed Balu and he gave me the additional responsibility of coaching Kamal, Sridevi and Silk Smitha in their Hindi dialogues.

Our director was dictated by the location and the weather.

If a particular place or the lighting at a certain point during the day caught his fancy, he would rush out his actors and technicians and shoot without any prep.

He barely gave his actors time to get into their costume and at times told Sridevi not to bother with make-up.

During such times, it was my job to read out their lines to the actors and make sure they spoke them with the right diction, accent and pronunciation.

If you look at my photographs from the set, you will always find me with a file in hand, even when I am in my costume.

While Kamal and Sridevi were diligent about their Hindi dialogue, Silk Smitha, while always respectful, was not too interested in her lines or my instructions.

She was one of the busiest stars at the time and on the day that she was to arrive, I would be left behind at the hotel to narrate the scenes to her and go over the lines before she was driven to the set.

I don't think she realised I was one of the actors till Sadma's release.

The disguise I saw through

Kamal and I did another film, T Rama Rao's Yeh Desh, the following year.

It is the Hindi remake of Krishna's 200th Telugu film, Eenadu.

I was living in a building called Krishna at the time and one morning, when I went to the nearby baniya shop to make a call, I noticed a guy in dark glasses grooving to music playing on his Walkman.

I looked at him closely, he stared back and I recognised him from his eyes.

'Kamal,' I muttered, he ignored me.

'Kamal,' I repeated, and this time he shushed me, asking, 'How did you recognise me?'

I pointed out that I was an actor too and understood body language.

Coincidentally, I had just bumped into our Sadma co-star, Sridevi, outside Mumbai's Seth Studio where she was shooting for Rakesh Roshan's Jaag Utha Insaan.

When I mentioned this, Kamal immediately asked me to take him to her hotel.

'Let's rag her,' he said, and I thought to myself that he being the legendary Kamal Haasan and having done several films with her could do so, but it wouldn't be right for me to be a part of the prank too.

But I could not say no to Kamal and reluctantly escorted him there.

Kamal was still in his Afro disguise having planned to play the same prank on her.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I learnt that Sridevi was not in her room.

On Kamal's birthday, all these memories come flooding back.

I wish for him to always be happy, healthy and move from strength to strength, as an actor and film-maker.