Vinod Khanna RIP.
My association with Vinod goes back to college days when he was courting his 1st wife Gitli (Gitanjali) in the mid sixties. His brother Pramod was a friend..and still is.
I remember going to visit him in hospital when he had been stabbed at a New Year's eve party by a drunken waiter. A friend of his died in the melee. Sad.
We then kept meeting each other at parties..gatherings etc.
Cut to..
The shooting of Purab aur Paschim in Simla. Winter..snow all around.
My father took my sister Pinky and myself for the shoot.
Pinky stayed with Dad..and I ended up sharing a room with Vinod.
Was easy..we knew each other.
Soon..our room became the destination for some of the hippies that were working as extras in the film. Chillums flowed freely. The room smelled like an adda :-)
Knock on the door..Pransaab. Panic.
Realising what was on..he didn't enter..just said what he had to at the door..and left. Relief.
Never brought it up. Never.
One evening..Vinod..Prem Chopra..Rajendranath and I went for a walk on the mall. Soon some guys started recognising the trio.
Arre dekh dekh..ye toh Popatlal hai. Arre..ye toh Prem Chopra hai Prem Chopra. Aur ye Man-ka-meet wala Vinod Khanna hai..kya acting kiya tha..dekh dekh.
Aur yeh saala chautha chamcha kaun hai? Me!!
How I wished the earth would part and swallow me up! LOL
Later that year I went off to Madras for a while.
In 1975 I joined Manmohan Desai as an assistant. Manji was doing 4 films at that time..Amar Akbar Anthony..Parvarish..Chacha Bhatija and DharamVeer. The 1st two had Vinod..and we met often during shoots. Still comfortable with each other..though he was a star and I, an AD.
No airs about him. Down to earth as he always had been.
My 1st schedule had been the Parda hai parda song from AAA. Though Rishi was fantastic..Amitabh almost stole the song away.
Think the others got a little worried about their roles.
One evening I was at the launch party of Zaalim..a Vinod starrer.
During the evening..Vinod asked me if the script of AAA did justice to all? Having just joined..I didn't know the complete script. But I re-assured him that I'm sure Manji would do justice to all having gathered a super starcast. Would be foolish to let down each one's followers and fans.
Think I was right. The rest is history.
The last I spoke to Vinod was from a friend's office a couple of years ago. A casual how-are-yous.
Still the soft spoken Gentleman.
Om Shanti Vinod.
My association with Vinod goes back to college days when he was courting his 1st wife Gitli (Gitanjali) in the mid sixties. His brother Pramod was a friend..and still is.
I remember going to visit him in hospital when he had been stabbed at a New Year's eve party by a drunken waiter. A friend of his died in the melee. Sad.
We then kept meeting each other at parties..gatherings etc.
Cut to..
The shooting of Purab aur Paschim in Simla. Winter..snow all around.
My father took my sister Pinky and myself for the shoot.
Pinky stayed with Dad..and I ended up sharing a room with Vinod.
Was easy..we knew each other.
Soon..our room became the destination for some of the hippies that were working as extras in the film. Chillums flowed freely. The room smelled like an adda :-)
Knock on the door..Pransaab. Panic.
Realising what was on..he didn't enter..just said what he had to at the door..and left. Relief.
Never brought it up. Never.
One evening..Vinod..Prem Chopra..Rajendranath and I went for a walk on the mall. Soon some guys started recognising the trio.
Arre dekh dekh..ye toh Popatlal hai. Arre..ye toh Prem Chopra hai Prem Chopra. Aur ye Man-ka-meet wala Vinod Khanna hai..kya acting kiya tha..dekh dekh.
Aur yeh saala chautha chamcha kaun hai? Me!!
How I wished the earth would part and swallow me up! LOL
Later that year I went off to Madras for a while.
In 1975 I joined Manmohan Desai as an assistant. Manji was doing 4 films at that time..Amar Akbar Anthony..Parvarish..Chacha Bhatija and DharamVeer. The 1st two had Vinod..and we met often during shoots. Still comfortable with each other..though he was a star and I, an AD.
No airs about him. Down to earth as he always had been.
My 1st schedule had been the Parda hai parda song from AAA. Though Rishi was fantastic..Amitabh almost stole the song away.
Think the others got a little worried about their roles.
One evening I was at the launch party of Zaalim..a Vinod starrer.
During the evening..Vinod asked me if the script of AAA did justice to all? Having just joined..I didn't know the complete script. But I re-assured him that I'm sure Manji would do justice to all having gathered a super starcast. Would be foolish to let down each one's followers and fans.
Think I was right. The rest is history.
The last I spoke to Vinod was from a friend's office a couple of years ago. A casual how-are-yous.
Still the soft spoken Gentleman.
Om Shanti Vinod.
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