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100 not out!
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Dalip Tahil is around, doing what comes naturally to him: acting
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VERSATILE Dalip Tahil with Mrinal Kulkarni in the Hindi serial ‘Kkhel’
From a cameo in Shyam Benegal’s debut film Ankur (1971) to a coach in Ajitpal Mangat’s forthcoming film Victory, Dalip Tahil has come a long way. If he became a household name after playing the elder
son of Haveliram (Aloke Nath) in G.P. Sippy’s mega serial Buniyaad, this “papa” of the hit song “Papa Kehte Hain” from Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak is best remembered as a villain.
Over 100 roles
A veteran of over 100 roles, including the comedy in Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Tahil now essays a down-to-earth character. In Mangat’s Victory, he plays the coach of the Indian cricket team who trains a small town cricketer Vijay Shikhawat (Harman Baweja) to play in the national team. “As a coach I am instrumental in his rise to stardom and balance him when he is on the verge of squandering his career,” says Tahil.
Tahil, a graduate in history from Mumbai University, has also made a name for himself in the U.K. with coveted roles in important plays as Nuclear Secrets and East Enders.
Love for acting
Recalls Tahil, “I enrolled for graduation at Aligarh Muslim University but left it in a year because I didn’t find a conducive atmosphere for doing theatre. I continued my graduation in Mumbai to get a degree. I chose history because it didn’t need much attendance.
I immersed myself in theatre. It was because of a play Godspell by Pearl Padamsee that Shyam Babu (Benegal) noticed me. He came to the dressing room and said, ‘If you change your hair style, then I have a role for you in my film’ (Ankur). Though my role (the protagonist’s vagabond friend) was cut short, he compensated it with a lead in Trikaal later. My association with him was enough to make the film industry trust my acting skills.”
When Tahil didn’t have films, he survived by doing jingles and giving voiceovers for Vanraj Bhatia and Benegal. “They used to give Rs.250 for a jingle. I also worked with Lintas for some time. I did quite a few run-of-the-mill roles to survive. But with Qayamat Se… my career graph saw a dramatic change.”
Tahil recently moved the U.K. courts in connection with his work permit there. “The court activities took a year. It left me financially poor. I do coveted roles there. It doesn’t go down well with a few theatre persons. So they tried to sabotage my career. But I have won the case,” he says.
Back home, his hands are full. In God Tussi Great Ho, he plays a “crazy channel owner”, in Atul Agnihotri’s comedy Hello, a “call centre owner” and in Saurabh Shukla’s Raat Gayi Baat Gayi, “a writer who has an extra marital affair”
RANA SIDDIQUI
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