As I see the various tributes pouring in for Yash Chopra on television channels, the heart swells with a welter of emotions. It is impossible to believe that the great man who only recently celebrated his eightieth birthday and announced his retirement is gone. Dengue has claimed an unlikely victim.
My mind goes back to a time 20 years back when Yash Chopra was a sprightly sixty and I was a cub reporter with a popular film magazine. I had gone to cover the shooting of one of the great man’s least known films –Parampara-at a location near Pune. The image that I have of Yashji is of a well-built person who spoke English with an accent but came across as warm and transparent.
When a pesky journalist queried him about the behaviour of one of the movie’s stars Saif Ali Khan, Chopra replied with politeness. He said that he behaved very well and that you had to make allowances for a boy coming from a well to do family.
Yashji also displayed superhuman patience every time Aamir Khan asked for a retake even after the director had okayed the shot. The actor who has a rage for perfection was trying to improve upon each shot of his and the great director was acceding to that request.
And Yashji joined the entire crew for lunch. This was as egalitarian as it got. Quite frankly apart from this I have very little recollection of the visit.
But the heart and the mind are full with a bunch of memories which will go with me to the grave. Memories of pure pleasure that come from watching a Yash Chopra movie. Whether it is the “Mere Paas Ma Hai” gem from Deewar or the intensity of Amitabh Bachchan in Trishul, the “Dekha Ek Khwab” number from Silsila or the title song of Kabhi Kabhi.
While each and every one of these will hold special memories for me and lovers of Hindi cinema, my defining memory will be “Main Pal do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon”. This is not your conventional Hindi film song but poetry of the highest order. It conveys more about life than anything that I have come across from the great movie maker’s works.
Especially the haunting lines
“Kal Koyi Mujko Yaad Kare
Kyon Koyi Mujko Yaad Kare
Makroor Zaman Mere Liye
Kyon Waqt Apna Barbaad Kare”
We cannot but remember you Yashji. For you have now become a part of our consciousness. Something to be transmitted from generation to generation-just like your movies and songs. Just as there is a variation of the song towards the end of the movie Kabhi Kabhi-Main Har Ek Pal Ka Shayar Hoon. RIP but you will live on Yashji.
