How It Happened
After my graduation from Sydenham College with a degree in Commerce, I was spotted by late Sunil Dutt, my idol, to act in films. From my teens, I was an admirer of Sunil Dutt for his versatile performances in ‘Mother India', ‘Sujata' and ‘Humraaz'. He cast me as a villain in ‘Man Ka Meet' along with his brother Som Dutt who was the hero.
I was thrilled the day when I had to face the movie camera. I really had goose pimples as I delivered my first dialogues, memories of which have paled now. I remember this much that my performance was that of a villain and there were the routine scenes and actions. Nothing very memorable to keep in the mind permanently.
How It Felt
Working in ‘Man Ka Meet', I noticed the dedication and sincerity of Sunil Dutt at his work. He encouraged every new comer and made me as well as others feel very comfortable on the sets. Even if I made mistakes in my acting, he rectified me without discouraging me ever. I understood after my first performance that I needed to work hard on my acting skills and improve them. I was not confident in many frames of ‘Man Ka Meet'.
In ‘Purab Aur Paschim', Manoj Kumar offered me a meaningful cameo. He directed me efficiently and I was able to improve on my histrionics and appeared more confident in front of the movie camera. Films like ‘Sachcha Jhuta' and ‘Aan Milo Sajna' followed in which I had both positive and negative characters. They were big hits which helped me to establish myself as an actor.
How Life Changed
Raj Khosla's ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh' was my truly memorable performance as a villain during my initial years. After that I did receive the required foothold in the film industry. It was the X-ray eyes of the imaginative Gulzar which spotted my talent and utilised them to the hilt in ‘Achanak' and ‘Mere Apne', my best films as a lead actor. I still consider ‘Koi Hota Jis Ko Apna' from ‘Mere Apne' the best song I ever lipped.
Sunil Dutt utilised my talents, specially my eyes very effectively in his classic ‘Reshma Aur Shera' (the version in colour) which of course bit the dust. Till date I really don't understand how could such a brilliant film flop.
