The late actor’s well-wishers gather to remember the man and his works, says Team Viva
He knew Hindi, Urdu and English and I often wondered in what language he thought,” said John Alter, the late Tom Alter’s elder brother. And that perhaps set the tone for the evening where his friends, family and admirers got together to celebrate the versatile actor, who was as much a man of the world as he was quintessentially Indian. Perhaps a holistic artist who could float across genres and understanding, language being just one of the tools of his communication.
To commemorate his contribution as an artist, Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu, an organisation working for promotion and dissemination of the Urdu language, organised an evening in remembrance. The actor, who was best known for his more than decade-long performance of Maulana Azad, was only 67 when he passed away in 2017. His performances, like history, will be recorded and relived over and over again.
After graduating from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Alter was a part of films, television and theatre. While in films, he was confined to playing the villainous and rapacious “firang,” it was in theatre that he came into his own where he played characters as diverse as Mirza Ghalib, Maulana Azad and Mahatma Gandhi. He was not just an actor but also a sports journalist, with special interest in cricket, a Padma Shree awardee, and well-versed in multiple languages.
The programme, organised on the occasion of his 68th birth anniversary, began with a documentary presentation, which was about his portrayal of Mirza Ghalib, Maulana Azad and Mahatma Gandhi. He had also been a part of path-breaking plays like Babur ke Aulaad, lal Qile ka Aakhri Mushaira, Ghalib ke Khat, Trisanga, Teesveen Shatabdi, Mohan to Mahatama, Copenhagen and the theatrical reproduction of William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns.
His close relatives, directors, co-actors, journalists and aspiring theatre actors were present for the 45-minute long presentation. John also recited a few poems that he wrote for his younger brother, describing their days of youth and some incidents from their childhood while his son Jamie Alter shared memories of his father and laughed about how he had been a father to so many people.
“It is wonderful to see so many people from so many different walks of life who have come together to remember my father, the people who have worked with my father or have met him once; we are a family. Thank you very much for gathering here,” he said. Jamie’s wife shared how they connected over the shared love of cricket: “Whenever we met, we used to talk about cricket, the outstanding performers during those days and current stars. Everything except movies or theatre. It was strange but it was the way it is. Now that he is gone, we have started to realise how important he was to the world of theatre and films; we have felt it over the last one year,” she said.
M Sayeed Alam, director and playwright, who worked with Tom over the years, came forward to share his experience: “His death has not only been a loss to the film industry but to humanity in general. This generation needed him and he is gone too soon. He has played the lead actor in nine of my plays and I don’t think I can fill that place now.”
The audience also recounted their memories with Alter and the integrity with which he chose his scripts and his love for poetry. Alam promised to keep that dialogue going, the best tribute to a man committed to art and beyond.