‘Determination Not To Bend Before Aurangzeb’

‘…despite
all
his
horses,
elephants,
tanks
and
swords.’
‘A
determination
to
hold
fast
to
Sambhaji
Maharaj’s
father,
Chhatrapati
Shivaji
Maharaj’s
thoughts,
ideals,
and
principles.’

He
started
his
career
in
2002
with
the
Sanjay
Dutt
starrer

Pitaah,
written
and
directed
by
Mahesh
Manjrekar,
playing
Bhola,
the
youngest
son
of
Om
Puri’s
vengeful
zamindar,
Thakur
Avadh
Narayan
Singh,
who
commits
an
unforgivable
crime
and
is
rightfully
punished
for
it.

In
the
23
years
since,
no
one
has
doubted
that

Vineet
Kumar
Singh
is
an
actor
par
excellence.
Despite
brilliant
performances
in
films
like

Ugly,
the

Bombay
Talkies
anthology
and
the
sports
drama,

Mukkabaaz,
it
is
only
now
that
with
Laxman
Utekar’s

Chhaava,
he
is
finally
enjoying
overwhelming,
unprecedented
success.

But
amidst
the
joy
and
celebrations
is
a
sense
of
loss
and
grief
for
two
men
who
were
part
of
his
journey,
had
shown
great
confidence
in
him
in
his
struggling
days,
but
are
not
around
today
to
enjoy
the
fruits
of
success
with
him.
One
of
them
is
his
personal
make-up
man
on

Chhaava,
Sujit
Janardan
Thakur.

Opening
his
heart
to

Rediff
Senior
Contributor

Roshmila
Bhattacharya
in
the
first
of
a
two-part
interview,
Vineet
says,
“Sujit
left
his
home
the
previous
evening
in
an
autorickshaw
for
his
friend’s
place
so
he
wouldn’t
be
late
arriving
for
the
shoot
the
next
day.
But
he
didn’t
arrive.”

Did
you
expect
Kavi
Kalash,
your
character
in

Chhaava
to
bring
you
the
kind
of
popularity
you
had
been
dreaming
of
for
over
two
decades?

I
had
told
Vicky
(Kaushal,
who
played
the
lead,
Chhatrapati
Sambhaji
Maharaj),
who
is
like
a
younger
brother
I’ve
known
since

Gangs
of
Wasseypur
when
he
was
Anurag’s
(Kashyap)
assistant
and
I
was
playing
Danish
Khan,
that
this
film
would
be
big.

But
honestly,
I
didn’t
expect
it
to
be
this
big!

However,
there
was
one
person
who
would
tell
me
at
least
three-four
times
every
day,
‘Sir,
yeh
film

bahut
bada
hit

hoga
and
after
its
release,
you
will
never
look
back.’

He
was
Sujit
Janardan
Thakur,
my
personal
make-up
man
on

Chhaava,

aur
aaj
woh
din
aa
gaya
hai
(and
today
that
day
is
here.)

But
he
passed
away
during
the
shoot.

I
would
like
to
dedicate
this
success
to
him.

What
happened
to
him?

It
was
a
mysterious
death.

We
were
to
film
the
scene
where
Rayaji
and
Annaji
are
surprised
to
see
Kavi
Kalash
eating
alone
and
when
questioned,
he
reasons
that
since
he
has
lived
in
the

ilaka
of
the
Mughals,
it
is
understandable
that
no
Maratha
would
want
to
sit
with
him.

The
poet
was
from
Prayagraj
and
consequently,
his
friendship
with
Chhatrapati
Sambhaji
Maharaj
was
looked
upon
with
suspicion
by
the
Marathas.

This
scene
was
to
be
picturised
at
night,
at
a
location
shoot
in
Mumbai.

Since
it
would
take
me
a
while
to
get
ready,
Sujit
left
his
home
in
Kurla
(north
east
Mumbai)
the
previous
evening
in
an
autorickshaw
for
his
friend’s
place
in
Goregaon
(north
west
Mumbai)
so
that
he
wouldn’t
be
late
for
the
shoot
the
next
day.

But
he
didn’t
arrive
there
to
stay
the
night
as
planned.

Initially,
his
friend
thought
he
had
gone
somewhere
else
and
tried
calling
him
but
his
phone
was
switched
off.

The
next
day,
when
he
didn’t
turn
up
on
the
set
all
day,
we
began
to
get
concerned.

Fearing
the
worst,
we
doubled
our
efforts
to
trace
his
whereabouts,
but
came
up
nought.

We
then
contacted
the
cops.

Since
work
had
to
go
on,
we
shot
through
the
night.

The
next
morning,
after
pack-up,
we
got
a
call
from
the
cops
asking
if
someone
from
Sujit’s
family
could
come
over.

We
had
already
contacted
his
wife
and
children
sensing
something
was
amiss.

We
thought
it
was
to
file
an
FIR.

They
found
him?

At
the
Crime
Branch,
we
were
shown
a
picture
of
a
body
which
had
been
found
on
the
Bandra
Kurla
Complex
bridge.
It
was
Sujit’s.

We
rushed
to
Sion
Hospital
and
then
to
the
BKC
police
station.

There
were
a
lot
of
formalities
to
be
completed
before
the
body
could
be
handed
over
to
the
family.

We
then
spent
a
couple
of
days
making
arrangements
for
it
to
be
sent
to
his
village
because
his
family
wanted
the
last
rites
to
be
performed
there.

Sujit
was
from
Darbhanga
in
Bihar
and
we
sent
him
back
there
to
rest
in
peace.

But
what
really
happened
that
night
which
led
to
his
tragic
and
untimely
demise?

No
one
knows,
it
remains
a
mystery.

But
today,
when
six-year-old
kids
are
hugging
me
in
the
theatres
I
have
been
visiting
quietly,
delighted
that
Kavi
Kalash
is
still
alive
and
amongst
them,
when
their
parents
are
crying
unabashedly
moved
by
his
words,
I
really
miss
Sujit.

Usko
mere
saath
hona
chahiye
tha
(should
have
been
with
me),
it
would
have
given
him
so
much
joy
to
see
what
he
had
predicted
come
true.

Chhatrapati
Sambhaji
Maharaj
and
Kavi
Kalash’s
friendship
is
at
the
heart
of

Chhaava.

Yes,
it’s
a
beautiful
picture
of
brotherhood
with
the
two
embracing
death
together.

Kavi
Kalash’s
last
pearls
of
wisdom
that
have
moved
so
many
to
tears
are
not
just
poetic
verses,
they
are
laden
with
so
many
emotions.

There
is
pain
and
helplessness,
and
at
the
same
time,
there
is
anger
and
pride.

A
determination
not
to
bend
before
Aurangzeb
despite
all
his
horses,
elephants,
tanks
and
swords.

A
determination
to
hold
fast
to
Sambhaji
Maharaj’s
father,
Chhatrapati
Shivaji
Maharaj’s
thoughts,
ideals,
and
principles.

Did
you
have
a
friend
like
Kavi
Kalash
growing
up?

I
am
a
friend
like
Kavi
Kalash
myself,

maine
dosti
hamesha
nibhaye
hoon
(I
am
a
true
friend).

And
yes,
I
had
a
friend
like
him.

Unfortunately,
Dr
Vipul
Anand
passed
away
last
year.

We
were
roommates
at
the
Rishikul
Ayurveda
College
in
Haridwar.

He
knew
I
wanted
to
enter
the
film
industry
and
when
I
would
run
off
to
Delhi
to
seek
admission
in
NSD
(National
School
of
Drama),
he
would
give
me
proxy.

Vipul
was
a
good
actor
himself
and
we
would
rehearse
together
in
our
room.

He
wanted
to
be
an
actor
too
but
since
he
was
his
parents’
only
son,
he
couldn’t
pursue
his
dream.

He
went
to
Mauritius
and
started
his
practice
there.

But
we
stayed
in
touch
and
he
would
motivate
me
with
long
posts.

Like
Sujit,
Vipul
should
have
been
here,
enjoying
this
success
with
me,
but

yeh
din
dekhne
ke
pehle
hi
woh
chale
gaye
(he
left
before
he
could
see
this
day).

Photographs
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff.com