EXTRA, AND NOTHING

BISWADEEP GHOSH

A friend’s friend asked me the other day, “Wow! So you have written a book on SRK? How big are you?” I stared at the window in front of me, looked at my reflection, and replied, “I am not big. SRK is.” While I had stated a fact, what is also true is that I had enjoyed some adulation for a while when I had written the Hall of Fame book on Shah Rukh. People who knew me told me, often excitedly, that the mere act of keying in my name could lead to more than 1,000 references on any search engine. Acutely aware that I had nothing to deserve so many links, I used to keep shut. I still do, most uneasily.

SRK’s stardom – or, for that matter, that of Salman and Hrithik and Aishwarya, my other subjects – gave me the opportunity to write four biographies. But the most revealing episode, one that summarised the story of actual Bollywood, took place when I had gone to meet Manoj Bajpai. After speaking to Manoj, who was fresh from his exploits in Satya and Shool, I stepped out of the trailer van.

Suddenly, a tall and well-built man stopped me and said, “Hello, why don’t you publish my interview as well?"

Although I was familiar with all the famous and not-so-famous faces of Bollywood, here was a guy I couldn’t recognise. Inwardly cursing my own self for not knowing who he was, I asked, “Can you tell me about your latest film?”

“What? You haven’t seen me ever, is it?” he asked in a tone of dismay.

“No,” I stammered. By that time, I had realised that the fellow was wearing a wig and had several false teeth. From a distance, he had looked like a 35-year-old guy. But actually, he couldn’t have been less than 50.

“I have acted in more than 200 films. You will also see me in Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar in which Manojji is acting,” he said, adding, “I am there in one scene.”

“One scene?”

“Yes,” he said, adding in an accusatory manner, “That is since journalists don’t write about me. When you see the scene, you will realise that I am a fine actor.”

Unable to react, I sat down. He stood next to me and spoke to me for an hour, telling me all kinds of stories about the opportunities he had missed, the odd film which never got released. Several such stories, one after the other. “But, I am sure I will get a fine role some day. Don’t you think so?” he said.

I got up, murmured a diffident ‘yes’, patted his shoulder and walked off. I had taken down notes that I did not use. Being a professional journalist, I knew that few will be interested in reading his story in an entertainment magazine. So, here I am, talking about a guy who has acted in 200 films. I must have seen him in a few films ever since I had conducted a false interview with him. But, how could I have identified him, lost as he would have been in a big, big crowd of extras?