Even success hurts …

During early Seventies, Bollywood released its biggest blockbuster  – “Sholay”. It ran in the same movie hall for over five years and till date whenever it runs in cinema hall – there are many who cannot avoid the temptation.

Today I went to watch Sholay as it was released in new 3-D format. What defines its class is the movie released almost four decades ago appealed to my kids also. Actually it is a simple movie on the lines of good old western movies with horses and gunfight. Another peculiar point about this movie is it portrayed the most famous villain of Indian film history – dacoit Gabbar Singh – played my actor Amjad Khan who made his debut on screen with that role.

While watching the movie, I suddenly remembered an interview given by actor Amjad Khan to a magazine. I had read this interview more than couple of decades back and a peculiar statement in that interview lingered in my mind. Amjad Khan said, “Sholay ruined life of two people – Amjad Khan and Ramesh Sippy (director of the movie). Because whatever two of us did in professional life after Sholay was never appreciated – people said that it was not up to Sholay’s standard”……

One would think that Amjad must be grateful for getting such a dream role on his debut. Had he not acted in any film after that, he still would have been a legend in his own rights. As I thought more about that peculiar statement I realized that it was a statement from a sincere and sensitive professional. He must have equally poured his heart in his later roles. Being a refined actor it must have hurt him that those roles did not get their dues…….

I guess even success hurts. Sometimes you do certain stint passionately which gets you your glory. But it also gives you a brand which is difficult to shake off ….. Whatever you do in life after that, get compared with your glorious stint and though you yourself have enjoyed other stints, they never get the due recognition….. It can’t be easy and there are no simple answers

The more I think of, I admire Amjad Khan even more. Amjad Khan is no more in this world …. Otherwise I would have loved to tell him that apart from giving Hindi cinema its most celebrated villain, he has given us a something to think about with that one statement  - RIP Amjad Khan!