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Delectable memories
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A.K. Hangal eats lights, drinks lighter. And enjoys a delicious meal at the Great Kebab Factory
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MAY I? Veteran Bollywood actor A. K. Hangal being served at The Great Kebab Factory in Noida. - PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN
He has walked this earth for close to nine decades. The pressure is showing. As he enters Noida's Great Kebab Factory, veteran actor A.K. Hangal allows a smile to pass his lips, the same benign one that has endeared him to many generations of cinemagoers, from Shagird in the 1950s to Paheli, releasing this month. The staffers line up to welcome the man who has made a career out of playing a helpless simpleton. As he assumes his seat in the aesthetically decorated place with piped music, he realises he is the only guest there. It is early evening and the restaurant fills up after sundown. "Yeh kahan bayaban mein le aaye humein," he mutters, not quite pleased.
Never mind. People start trickling in and Hangal lightens up too, coming into his own. A young girl comes to shake his hand. The man holds the hand tight, lost for a few seconds in his own thoughts, then declares, "To become a good artiste you must become a good human being."
The waiter brings him the menu. It shows a splendid range of non-vegetarian kababs. Hangal is a vegetarian. There is a good filling of that too. "My mother was a vegetarian. When I was four, she told me not to eat meat. I have kept my promise," he reveals, adding, "Once in Russia I survived on bread, butter and potatoes."
Special arrangements
Despite all the good things, there is a dampener for Hangal. The restaurant does not have alcoholic beverages. Never mind. He is a special guest and they make arrangements for his personal consumption. Quite content, Hangal says, "I don't eat much. I don't drink much. I only take whiskey. I am well organised. I get up at six. Remember that age-old mantra, `early to bed, early to rise'."
As some fruit salad is presented, he takes a small helping. As is the case with haryali kababs. Ditto with the drink. "My best friends were very intelligent. They died due to drinking. I learnt my lesson from them," he discloses, adding, "I like home food."
Meanwhile, kathal kababs await his attention. The man has his mind elsewhere. "I have done some 250 films and seen only 50 of them. In most of them I have played a good man. I guess my innocent face did not allow me to play a villain. For the blind man in Sholay, I did a lot of research. But honestly, films are my rozgar. I have a realistic and scientific approach to acting. The development of my character is natural. I put life into my role."
Now the main course is on the table. Hangal is quite pleased. That same old joy of familiar peeli dal, raita and tandoor roti beckons. "I eat early and in modest quantity," he says declining another slice of bread.
"I have never got too many rich men's roles in my career, though I enjoyed playing the man with a glad eye in Shoukeen," he says with a twinkle. It still shows.
All those heroines
"All the heroines are not sexy, but Madhuri Dixit is the most beautiful girl I have worked with. Zeenat Aman was also very sexy in Satyam Shivam Sundaram. She was very nice to me." Incidentally, as usual, he played a father to Aman as indeed he has to the likes of Dixit, Jaya Bhaduri and others.
The dessert with a scooped ice cream makes an appearance on the table. There is an offer of gulab jamun too. The veteran helps himself to a scoop, then admits, a shade sadly, "I am not thick-skinned. I am ignored by the authorities because I have no chamchas. I am a freedom fighter who went to jail in Karachi. I have no Padma Bhushan. In this country, there is no respect for freedom fighters. After so many years in the film industry I have no bank balance, no house. Once a Mumbai bigwig labelled me anti-national for going to attend the Independence Day celebration at the Pakistan Consul-General's office. I was out of work for two years. Everybody was scared of speaking to me. I had to leave Pakistan with Rs.20 in my pocket and had no property there. I have none here either."
The night has slipped down even as the actor walks down a long memory lane. There are admirers eager for his autograph. He obliges a few, then admonishes a man for sitting with him at the table. "My language is not beautiful. It is just competent," he says, struggling to keep his sentiments under wraps. There is a wave of the hand for the patient faithful waiting to say their good byes. "It is nice to be important, but more important to be nice," somebody says. Really!
ZIYA US SALAM
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