Mr. Bharat’s brushes with two superstars

Mumbai: Years ago, the veteran south Indian and Bollywood director A. Bhimsingh was working on the gloomy love-triangle, ‘Aadmi’ (1968) starring the then reigning emperor of acting, Dilip Kumar, along with Waheeda Rehman and others.

During the early filming, Bhimsingh and the other hero of the film, the late Feroze Khan, had some huge differences and couldn’t see eye-to-eye on many things.

The enraged Bhimsingh narrated everything to Dilip Kumar and it was finally decided to drop Khan, recalled veteran Bollywood producer K. Ramji of Tina Films International (TFI).

“Dilip Kumar also called up his close friend and film-maker, my father, A. Krishnamurthi, and requested him to see if Rajendra Kumar or Manoj Kumar could be convinced to play the crucial role, replacing Khan,” Ramji told The Perfect Voice.

Though Rajendra Kumar politely declined, Manoj Kumar jumped with joy at the honour of working with his cherished idol Dilip Kumar that simply landed in his lap, chuckled Ramji.

At one point when Bhimsingh fell ill, Manoj Kumar even volunteered to direct a portion of the film, to ensure completing it on schedule and it turned out to be a blockbuster.

A couple of years later, Dilip Kumar returned the favour by convincing his wife, the dazzling Saira Banu to work in a glam role for Manoj Kumar’s patriotic superhit ‘Purab Aur Paschim’ (1970).

Manoj Kumarhad crafted his own style, mannerisms, and even a hairstyle that was displayed in almost all barber shops of that era for youngsters to emulate.

Decades later, legendary choreographer-cum-director Farah Khan came up with her smash-hit film, ‘Om Shanti Om’ (2007), considered a heart-felt eulogy to the whims and vagaries of Bollywood.

In one scene, the film took an uncharitable swipe at Manoj Kumar, rattling him enough to file a Rs. 100-crore defamation suit (which he later gracefully withdrew).

The scene in ‘Om Shanti Om’ poked fun at Manoj Kumar’s famed mannerism – covering his face with his palm to express shyness, disappointment, happiness or sadness.

The struggler Om Prakash (played by Shah Rukh Khan) unabashedly lampooned the senior actor by flaunting his identity-card to a cop, with his photo showing the face covered by his hand - a la Manoj Kumar - leading to howls of laughter in cinema halls.

As film critics then noted, Manoj Kumar’s iconic ‘style’ cultivated over decades, was ripped to a farce in just one momentary scene in the film and he expressed his deep distress by saying, “This is how they treat me”.

However, later, like many Bollywood films the ugly brawl had a happy ending with a round of apologies from Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, while Manoj Kumar earned widespread applause in film circles for graciously burying the hatchet.