‘Neena Gupta And I Would Fight A Lot’

‘I
need
to
work
to
find
some
joy
in
this
life.’

Kanwaljit
Singh
loved
the
fact
that
everyone
“hated”
him
in

Mrs.

The
73-year-old
actor
looks
back
at
his
long
innings
in
the
film
industry
and
tells

Patcy
N/Rediff.com,
“I
tell
everybody
that
I
am
there
if
you
need
me
for
a
role…
If
I
want,
I
can
retire
in
Lonavala
but
I
am
a
workaholic.”

Tell
us
how
you
met
your
wife,
Anooradha
Patel.

I
was
doing
a
series
called

Chhapte
Chhapte
with
Sippy
Films.
Sarika
was
opposite
me.

We
shot
the
pilot
but
halfway
through
that,
she
left
for
Madras
to
meet
you-know-who,

na?

Kamal
Haasan?

Yes.
Then
we
started
looking
for
a
leading
lady.
I
came
up
with
the
idea
of
taking
Mini
(Anooradha
Patel)
because
I
had
worked
with
her.

They
brought
her
in
and
that’s
where
the
whole
thing
started.

We
fell
in
love
and
got
married
after
eight
years.

Why
did
you
wait
for
so
long
to
get
married?
Was
there
any
opposition?

No.
She
is
10
years
younger
than
me,
so
I
had
to
wait.

I
bought
my
first
house
—
a
very
small
and
cute
one
—
and
then
I
thought
I
can
settle
down
now.

How
did
you
get
the
biggest
television
series

Buniyaad?

The
Sippys
were
trying
to
make
a
big
family
drama,
based
on
Partition.
They
called
Manohar
Shyam
Joshi,
a
brilliant
writer,
who
had
written

Hum
Log.

Amita
Khanna,
who
had
done
the
casting
for

Chhapte
Chhapte,
was
also
handling

Buniyaad.

Initially,
it
was
decided
to
take
big
actors
like
Dilip
Kumar
and
Amitabh
Bachchan.

But
that
did
not
materialise,
so
they
decided
to
take
actors,
who
were
already
available
with
them
from

Chhapte
Chhapte
like
Alok
Nath,
Asha
Sachdev
and
me.

After
the
narration,
Ramesh
Sippyji
asked
me
to
play
Roshan
Lal.

I
was
heartbroken.

I
told
him
I
was
inspired
by
Satyavir’s
character.

He
said,
‘No,
you
will
not
look
younger
than
Dalip
Tahil
and
Mazhar
Khan.’

I
was
a
big
size
in
those
days.

I
asked
for
15-20
days
and
went
on
a
strict
diet.

I
lost
a
great
deal
of
weight.

Then
when
I
knocked
at
Ramesh
Sippy’s
door,
he
said
‘Aaye
Satyavirji.’

That’s
how
I
got
the
role.

(Roshan
Lal
was
eventually
played
by
Mazhar
Khan.)

Buniyaad
made
you
a
household
name.
How
did
that
change
your
life?

That
was
the
first
big
series
to
happen
in
Bombay.

Hum
Log
happened
in
Delhi,
most
of
the
actors
were
from
there.

We
shot

Buniyaad
for
two-three
years,
from
7
am
to
11
pm.

Rameshji
is
a
workaholic.
If
he
had
his
way,
he
would
have
asked
everyone
to
sleep
in
the
studio!

I
met
him
a
couple
of
weeks
ago
and
he
said

Buniyaad
2
is
on
the
line.

We
had
become
famous
but
we
had
no
idea
because
we
were
in
the
studios,
the
whole
day,
for
three
years!

I
didn’t
even
have
a
television
in
my
house
those
days;
we
couldn’t
afford
it.

After

Ramayana
became
a
huge
hit,
we
got
to
know
that
its
cast
was
making
more
money.
Someone
told
me
that
the

Ramayana
actors
were
travelling
by
car
from
Delhi
to
a
small
town
for
a
show.

The
driver
was
very
enamoured
by
them,
and
invited
them
to
his
village.

The

Ramayana
actors
asked
for
money
and
visited
the
driver’s
village.

We
were
not
that
smart.
If
we
were,
we
could
have
also
made
some
money
doing
shows.

Which
was
your
favourite
show?

Lekh
Tandon’s

Farmaan.
I
fell
in
love
with
my
character.

I
would
behave
like
Azar
Nawab
even
after
I
finished
the
show.

I
went
for
a
holiday
to
Nepal
and
would
introduce
myself
as
Azar
Nawab
to
the
foreigners
that
I
met.

Virendra
Ghatge
was
supposed
to
do
the
role.
But
when
they
were
leaving
to
shoot
the
series
in
Hyderabad,
he
said
he
had
an
offer
to
work
in
a
French
series.

Raja
Bundela
told
them
I
was
jobless.

Tandonsaab
and
I
hated
and
loved
each
other.
He
is
my
favourite
director
but
he
demanded
too
much
from
Navin
Nischol
and
me.

Your
television
show

Saans
with
Neena
Gupta
became
very
popular.

After
they
saw
the
pilot,
they
said
it’s
very
different
and
won’t
work.

But
when
Sony
TV’s
old
management
left
and
the
new
one
came
in,
they
loved
it.

Neena
Gupta
was
the
producer,
director,
story
writer
and
actor.

My
character
in

Saans
is
not
just
black
or
white;
there
are
grey
shades
to
him.

If
you
leave
your
house
for
some
reason,
get
divorced
or
separated,
you
will
not
forget
your
kids
and
ex-wife.

The
relationship
stays
because
you
have
shared
so
many
years
together.
Plus,
there
are
so
many
things
to
finalise
about
the
kids.
You
have
to
sit
together
and
plan
their
future.

So
I
would
tell
her
I
will
not
portray
the
character
totally
black.

We
would
fight
a
lot.
We
had
creative
differences.

I
was
also
doing
Lekh
Tandon’s

Daraar
at
the
time.
The
story
was
inspired
by
Mr
Oberoi
(Rai
Bahadur
Mohan
Singh
Oberoi),
the
owner
of
the
Oberoi
hotels.

In
between
out
of
the
blue,
I
got
an
offer
for

Family
Number
1.

I
asked
them,
‘How
can
you
think
of
me
in
a
comedy
role?
All
my
life
I
have
been
crying
or
getting
angry.’

But
they
wanted
somebody
who
people
will
least
expect
this
from.

I
enjoyed
it.

It
was
a
great
relief
from

Saans
and

Daraar.

Being
from
a
Sikh
family,
how
did

Maachis
affect
you?
You
played
a
negative
character.
I
heard
it
did
not
go
well
with
your
relatives.

I
am
born
and
brought
up
in
Uttar
Pradesh.

I
had
some
idea
about
what
was
happening
in
Punjab
but
I
didn’t
know
about
the
encounters.

When
I
did
that
film,
I
thought
it
was
very
well
written
and
directed
by
Gulzarbhai.
Who
would
not
want
to
work
with
him?

I
am
fan
of
his
poetry
and
the
person
that
he
is.

After
the
film,
I
went
to
Punjab
and
they
wouldn’t
tell
me
directly
but
I
could
feel
that
this
topic
shouldn’t
be
discussed
there.

I
saw
objectionable
pictures
hanging
from
their
walls
but
I
would
not
comment.

You
earned
a
lot
of
praise
for

Chandigarh
Kare
Ashiqui
where
you
support
your
son
on
becoming
a
girl.

These
LGBTQ
guys
would
come
to
me
and
talk
to
me
very
nicely,
as
if
I
have
done
a
personal
favour
to
them.

When
I’m
shooting,
I
did
not
realise
it.
I
just
did
my
character.

Like,
I
didn’t
know
I
was
such
an
evil
man
to
Sanya
(Malhotra
in
Mrs).

Does
it
upset
you
to
ask
for
work
in
your
70s?

I
tell
everybody
that
I
am
there
if
you
need
me
for
a
role.
I
need
work
and
I
want
to
work.

If
I
want,
I
can
retire
in
Lonavala
but
I
am
a
workaholic.

I
need
to
work
to
find
some
joy
in
this
life.

Why
did
Anooradhaji
leave
acting?

She
did
not.
But
then,
the
kids
were
born
and
she
took
a
back
seat.

Now
she
is
working
again.
She
played
Kiara
Advani’s
mother
in

Radhe
Shyam
and
Salman
Khan’s
mother
in

Ready.