life is a journey during which we meet countless people. Some of them we forget completely while some others remain in our lives for different time periods. And then there are people who stay with us all our lives. However, there are some people we happen to meet suddenly and realise that this was indeed an interesting and special meeting. Even if we do not meet them again, that one meeting stays in our minds for a very long time.
Recently, while I was travelling by train from New Delhi to Dehradun, a graceful couple boarded the train at Ghaziabad. They came and occupied the two seats next to mine. They smiled at me and I returned the smiles. After a little while when they had settled down, we began talking to each other about various subjects before coming to discussing old Hindi movies, their wonderful actors and enchanting music. This being my favourite subject, the conversation became extremely vibrant as I realised that it happened to be their favourite too!
One name after the other came up during this exchange of views and information. I spoke about dignified and sophisticated actors like Balraj Sahni, Murad, Pran, Ashok Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Madan Puri and many others. The gentleman added his views to mine and I could understand that we had a similar taste in cinema and music. His wife, who had a kind and pleasant face, also spoke of the old heroines like Nutan, Nargis, Madhubala and Waheeda Rehman. I talked about Gulzaar Sa’ab and his films and came to speaking about Parichay in which Pran Sa’ab had played an extremely impressive role. His interaction with Sanjeev Kumar (who plays his son in this film) on the screen had made the film very special for me. I waxed eloquent about Pran Sa’ab’s acting prowess and made my admiration for him very obvious.
All that while, I could see them smiling gently and listening to me. I felt that they were enjoying my passionate fascination with Hindi cinema of the 1960s, and 1970s. I also told them about the connection which KNSingh, the distinguished looking villain with an eternally raised eyebrow and a pipe always in hand, had with Dehradun. They nodded and then the gentleman told me that he had once visited KN Singh at his home in the Doon valley. I did not ask him how he had done that and why.
We kept having tea or coffee and the train chugged on, reaching Saharanpur where it stops for 20 minutes as the direction of the engine is changed. Our discussion went on smoothly and soon, the 20 minutes were over and the train began moving again.
As the lady was sitting next to me, she then began talking about her children. Then she told me that they were going to Dehradun to visit her sister-in-law (the gentleman’s sister). After sometime, Pran Sa’ab’s name came up again in the context of the film Zanjeer where he played the fiery Pathan with a heart of gold (Sher Khan). I could see a strange expression on the faces of my two co-travellers.
It was a mixture of happiness, pride and mystery. I could not fathom it but knew that there was something enigmatic going on here. However, I did not say anything about this. Then, the gentleman told me, in his soft but powerful voice that he was Pran Sa’ab’s nephew. “Woh hamaare father ke chhottey bhai the,” said and then, suddenly, everything fell into place! Ever since I saw this person, I had been wondering why he looked so familiar to me. Now I understood why. He bore a great resemblance to his illustrious uncle.
The lady smiled at me and said that usually, they did not reveal this to people. Seeing my great admiration for the actor, they could not stop themselves from letting me know. I told them that I was very happy they shared this with me. I felt privileged. It was such a special meeting that I had with them. And it was strange that I spoke so much about Pran that very day. Usually, I do not. It was meant to be like that, I feel. And then, Vineet Sikand told me that he had visited KN Singh’s house along with Pran Sa’ab. Thank you, Mr and Mrs Sikand for turning a usual discussion on cinema into a unique experience!