Dekha Ek Khwab

Okay now, as my dear friend Amit Pradhan would’ve said, enough of my Puran on Desh Prem. Long ago when I was a child I first saw them in Yash Chopra’s Silsila. Amitabh and Rekha romancing to the tune of Dekha ek Khwab toh yeh silsile hue, Phool bhi ho darmiyan toh fasale hue…It is because of this song that I associate them with Love. Vast farms of these beautiful multicoloured flowers were the backdrop for this wonderfully written Javed Akhtar song. Never paid too much attention to the riot of colours. Perhaps I was far to busy swooning over “passion personified” Amitabh. Later in life I learnt that these flowers are called Tulips… Here in Germany, they are all over the place. I saw them and touched them and the song rang in my ears….Kal agar na roshni ke kafile hue, Pyar ke hazar deep hai jale hue….. Dekha ek Khwab…….

I will not say I am a big fan of Amitji. I am beyond that. I am in love with so many characters that he has skilfully portrayed. I have grown up watching Don, Deewar, Shaan, Do Aur Do Paanch, Coolie, Toofan, Shokay, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Namakhalal, Zanjeer……..I have watched these movies again and again with daddy. So much in awe I was with this angry young man’s persona, so much I was influenced by the ‘actor Amitabh’ that I fantasised being a Don someday, bashing up the bad guys, having an island to myself and sharks and crocs as pets …..I often would imitate his dance and dialogues. Just couldn’t have enough of him … I remember watching Shakti at Bhanu Sagar in Kalyan with Aai, Daddy, Papan mama, Sanju mama-mami, Aaji-Baba, … my entire family. I must have been three or four years old. I saw Dileep kumar bring a beautiful flower basket for Rakhee who is unwell. Had never seen anything like that before. Here in Germany, on dark nights, when the moon hides behind the clouds, I, by default say Amitji’s line : Aei raat kya tujhko yeh khabar hai, tere chaand ko lagi kisiki nazar hai….

I also remember how Daddy got tickets for Sholay at Mehul in Mulund. He just said that he was from CID, and we skipped the serpentine crowds. I miss him. I think it his love for movies that he rubbed on to me. He even bought a VCR so that we could have our weekly dose of cinema. I miss him. We watched a lot of Classics together. Guide, Jewel Thief, Kala Bazar, Waqt, Mera Naam Joker, Naya Daur, Leader, Amrapali, Mera Saaya, Anadi, Teesri Manzil…….Recently I watched Jewel Thief at Eros. It was a special show organised by Radio Mirchi attended by Dev Anand. Thanks to Baba’s sketch of Dev Anand, we won tickets in a contest. I thought of daddy throughout the film….Prince they used to call him too….

It all began with the Tulips!!! This filmi nostalgia!