00:00Hume toh is line mein bahut se insults hene pade, humiliations huye.
00:05Baith se hai yaar camera photo rakh jao tum dekhte hai hum ko ala hai.
00:09They never used to go.
00:10That's right.
00:11I would say Bachchan is a very quiet sort of a man.
00:14Introvert.
00:15He enjoys this.
00:16But brilliant.
00:17Brilliant.
00:18Very hardworking.
00:19Very hardworking.
00:20Very punctual.
00:21And well prepared before he comes to the set.
00:23You see, I was determined to be there in front of camera.
00:27And I wanted to be there.
00:28I was very devoted and very disciplined to be in this profession.
00:45You have a career that spans 60 years, which is phenomenal.
00:51Would you be able to tell me one or two of the high points of your career?
00:58Even incidents.
00:59High point of my career is, I was graduated from Shimla.
01:03I came down to Bombay and I had no means to stay here.
01:08So my father had told me he was in IAS category or something like this.
01:13So he said, listen, you do here, either you become a doctor after the school or you become, or you try for IAS.
01:23I got interested in theater that day.
01:25There were a lot of theatrical companies in Shimla.
01:27Right.
01:28So there was competition.
01:29Okay.
01:30So I got interested in theater.
01:31Amrishwari was also from there.
01:33Okay.
01:34We had also collected a play.
01:35Okay.
01:36He was a senior.
01:37Okay.
01:38I first year he was in, last year.
01:39So when I got interested in theater, there were some intercollegiate dramatic competitions
01:45and I also got some awards.
01:48So I started working on my mind that I should try there.
01:52Maybe I get it.
01:53I don't want to come in your career.
01:58I mean, this is your choice.
02:01You want to go and try it there.
02:02But one thing I want to make it very clear.
02:04I have a large family.
02:06Five brothers and one sister.
02:08Right.
02:09And I am a government servant.
02:10I won't be able to send you money like that.
02:13So Bombay you are going.
02:14That is an opportunity, place of opportunity.
02:18You can, you try for a job first.
02:20If it doesn't happen, at least a job will be going on.
02:24So I was very fortunate doing some odd jobs for Shimla's employment office, Yama,
02:29and I eventually got into Times of India.
02:31Times of India.
02:32Yes.
02:33So that is how I maintained myself.
02:35Right.
02:36Here and struggling.
02:37Right.
02:39So that's how the things went on.
02:42But it was not easy in those days.
02:44It is easy nowadays.
02:45Right.
02:46Because at that time the only media of entertainment was cinema.
02:50That's right.
02:51And now, and people are used to, they have become more emancipated now
02:58because of the television.
03:01That's right.
03:02OTT platforms.
03:03Advertisements.
03:04Yes.
03:05Television series.
03:06That's right.
03:07If you want to, really honestly if you want to work.
03:09Yes.
03:10And you deserve, if you deserve it.
03:12Showreel udhar hi ban jata hai.
03:14Wow.
03:15Isn't it?
03:16Yes.
03:17You needed to meet people and show your talent.
03:19Yes.
03:20While these people can, they have so many platforms to show their talent.
03:23We had to struggle.
03:25That's right.
03:26Everybody has to struggle.
03:27Amitabh Bachchan had to struggle.
03:28Yes.
03:29Dharmendra was, he was saying that he is sleeping on the railway sometimes.
03:33That's right.
03:34Yes.
03:35And I had to struggle but I was, unfortunately I was having a job so I was not.
03:40That's right.
03:41Desperate.
03:42Starved or something like this.
03:43That's right.
03:44You didn't have to sleep on railway platform.
03:45That story of me starving.
03:47Yes, that was my bed.
03:49Yes, you had your bed.
03:51But in the guest houses.
03:52Okay.
03:53The guest houses had four people in the same room.
03:57Okay.
03:58You see, and there was a big guest house.
04:02But, and there was only one toilet.
04:05Oh.
04:06So, you have to circulate yourself to be there.
04:08That's right.
04:09So, these are the struggling days when you have to go through.
04:11Otherwise, you see, what happens is, ki agar aapne chhod diya ki yaar yeh bada mishkil kama
04:18apna hi karte hain, wo karte hain, that means you are failure and you are finished.
04:23Yes.
04:25Humme toh iss line mein bahut se insults haine pade, humiliations huye.
04:31Baid se hain, yaar camera photo rakh jao, tum dekhte hain, hum ko aala hai.
04:35They never used to go.
04:36That's right.
04:37Toh how, it is a commercial business.
04:40Yes.
04:41Right from beginning to the end.
04:42Right.
04:43So, that is how I was spotted by somebody in the train.
04:47I was coming after struggle and coming back to, going to my office.
04:51On the way, he said, you want to work in films? I said, yes, I want to work.
04:56Can you come with me right now? He said, why not, why not.
05:00Toh raasta mein bataya saath ki yeh hero ki picture hai. You are the hero.
05:05I mean, you are supposed to be hero if the director says yes.
05:09And, but it's a Punjabi film.
05:12Acha.
05:13Main nahi kahi, yaar yeh bhai bhi toh Punjabi mein hi aaya hai.
05:16Main kahi chalo kuch toh tejorba hi ho jayega.
05:19Toh then the film was made, Chaudhary Karnal Singh.
05:22Acha.
05:23That was the biggest hit of that era.
05:25Okay.
05:26So, it is about the partition and all that.
05:29And, we got the national award, that picture got the national award.
05:33We went there.
05:34Right.
05:35Achieved the national award.
05:36And you were the hero of that film.
05:38I was the hero. Jabeen Jaleel was my hero.
05:40Jabeen, okay.
05:41Jabeen.
05:42So, this is wonderful. So, that's how you took off.
05:45That's how you took off.
05:46Okay.
05:47But supposing when you are facing all those problems, you have, either you leave.
05:54So many people come and they came with lot of passion to do, to be in the film industry.
06:00But they lost the confidence. They lost everything.
06:04And then they had to divert themselves to the other things.
06:08Right.
06:09But there were some people like us who were determined to be there.
06:12You see, I was determined to be there in front of camera.
06:15Right.
06:16And I wanted to be there. I was very devoted and very disciplined to be in this profession.
06:26You have also done a lot of films with Amitabh Bachchan.
06:30Yes.
06:31So, can you tell me something about Amitabh?
06:33Amitabh Bachchan is a very quiet sort of a man. Introvert, he is.
06:38But brilliant. Brilliant and very hardworking. Very hardworking, very punctual.
06:44And well prepared before he comes on the set.
06:47He explodes on the screen, doesn't he?
06:49Explodes on the screen, before the camera.
06:51Good and bad, man-man decides, Naseeb, O, Mard wagara, sab picture hai.
06:55Ramesh Singh.
06:56Uske baad bahut se picture hai, do anjane. And lots of films I did with him.
07:02I was very impressed by him because he was very dedicated to his profession.
07:07He was very honest and hardworking. And he was a director's dream actor.
07:13Then he had that immense talent in him. He could be there.
07:17He also had to struggle a lot.
07:20Yes.
07:21He struggled a lot.
07:22That is Zanjeer also did the miracle for him that he…
07:25Yeah, Zanjeer. That's right.
07:27He got married in TRG also, I believe.
07:30Yes.
07:31That's how the things happened. He was a great… I am surprised at his stamina at this age.
07:37That's right.
07:38He is doing every ad. He is doing that Kaun Banega Crorepati.
07:43Correct.
07:44He is doing very prominent roles in most of the big films.
07:48Yes.
07:49How does he take the time out and how he works so hard.
07:52That's right.
07:53This is amazing.
07:54It's amazing.
07:55It's amazing.
07:56He is a phenomenon.
07:57It's incredible.
07:58He is a phenomenon.
07:59His body of work has been the biggest as compared to any actors of the past and the present.
08:06And I think the future also.
08:07And I think the future also. Correct.
08:09He is so dedicated to his film.
08:11That's right. And the longevity because I mean he also started in the late 60s.
08:16Still out of touch but going strong.
08:18Yeah, he is there.
08:19He is there and he is all there.
08:20He is there.
08:21It's not like…
08:22He is still in the category of superstar.
08:24Absolutely. Absolutely.
08:26He is a superstar who come and go and then fade away.
08:29Correct.
08:30But he still stays there.
08:31And that stride of his, it's still as brisk as it used to be.
08:35Yeah.
08:36Fantastic.
08:37He was very, basically a very intelligent man.
08:40I think one of the best speakers Prem because whenever I have heard a speech of his.
08:44And another person who is very good at English and Hindi.
08:47Yeah.
08:48He is perfect.
08:49Flawless.
08:50Flawless he switches over.
08:51The pronunciation in Hindi and English.
08:53The way he switches over.
08:54Dekha na kaun banega crore baat hindi bolta.
08:56Yes.
08:57Pure Hindi.
08:58Correct.
08:59Pure English.
09:00Pure English.
09:01Yeah.
09:02This is something very rare.
09:03Very rare.
09:04He is a rare person I would think.
09:05You will say that.
09:06As I told you his body of work is much larger than anybody else.
09:11That's right.
09:12Ever in this industry.
09:13So when you were first working with him earlier, in your earlier films, did you ever think that this man has it to be this?
09:19No, we did some films like Raaste Hai Pyaar Ke, Ek Doodh Pichle Doondi Ki, Humne Ravindra Nagarish Ki,
09:26Aur Dono Flow Off Ho Gayi.
09:28So he was, he was rejected in the beginning in couple of films and replaced.
09:33Right.
09:34But then, but he was determined also that he has to be there.
09:40That's right.
09:41I remember one conversation when we were in Madras shooting for Sridhar's picture.
09:46And Sridhar had a bad luck with the first two films that he made.
09:50And he was discussing his arguments.
09:53And he said, yeah, if this picture doesn't work, I'll be finished.
09:58He said, why do you say you're finished?
10:01You have to keep on trying.
10:03Look at me.
10:04I was a flop.
10:05People have thrown him out of the film.
10:08But I was determined to be there and I'm there now.
10:11Okay.
10:12So that sort of a talk he gave.
10:15Yeah.
10:16That talk he gave.
10:17Yeah.
10:18So that sort of a thing, you know, he was very well prepared always.
10:22Okay.
10:23The speeches that he gave, he's prepared.
10:25Yes.
10:26Sometimes it's extempore.
10:27That's right.
10:28No, but he knows what to say on which occasion.
10:31On which occasion.
10:32He's very, very correct.
10:33Yes, very correct.
10:34That's right.
10:35Prem, what about Manoj Kumar?
10:38You've had a great association with him.
10:40Yes, I have a great appreciation for him.
10:42I think he's one of the finest directors we have in this country.
10:47Because he is an institution.
10:49Institution by himself.
10:51His way of taking the shots is copied by many other big producers, directors also.
11:01And the best thing, he was a complete cinema man.
11:05The best thing about him was he used to write his own scripts.
11:09Used to operate the camera also sometimes himself.
11:13The lyrics also.
11:15I mean, of course he had a collage of writers also along with him.
11:20And they contributed to his success.
11:23But he has been, I mean, to me he has been very, very, well let's say, career making sort of a thing.
11:35I could not dare to lose my job if I was not working in UPCAR.
11:40Because you know, this film industry is so uncertain.
11:44You start getting work in one picture, two pictures, but they do not stay.
11:49There are so many examples out there, you must be knowing.
11:51Yes, yes.
11:52So like that, we're still in touch with each other.
11:56Okay, fantastic.
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