Producer Ashok Pandit was the first person to call Manoj Kumar and inform him about being chosen for prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2015. As the world mourns the loss of legendary actor on Friday, Ashok remembers the call he made.
Ashok, who has been a close friend of Manoj all these years said, “I have been a regular visitor at his house. Me, Madhur Bhandarkar and Anupam Kher used to go there and chat with him. He couldn’t stand and sit because his back was hurt. He used to call me ‘Pandit’.”
With fondness and nostalgia in his voice, Ashok says, “I got to know early morning through my people in Delhi that he is going to get Dadasaheb Phalke award and immediately called him.”
Manoj, who has given memorable films to Indian cinema with Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Kranti (1981), Shor (1972), Upkar (1967) amongst others, couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I got to know he is winning Dadasaheb Phalke award and I called him and told hi that ‘you have got Dadasaheb phalke award’. He said, ‘Kyu mazak kar raha hai’. He was excited like a child! He said ‘abhi aaja main mithayi khilata hun.’ I took flowers for him. It was really a fantastic moment,” says Ashok.
Now, in a world without the legendary Manoj Kumar, Ashok feels grateful for the opportunity of being close to iconic star.
“I feel so fortunate that as someone who used to stand outside his house in my college days, I got the chance to tell him about his award. It’s a great loss to me. You can’t produce such actors. I am very fortunate that I was regularly in touch with him otherwise I would have really regretted it, ” he says.
Manoj Kumar , who breathed his last at 87, was an actor, director and editor too and had a knack for cinema. So much so that he analyzed every film he watched.
“He was so alert. He knew every film that released and analyze it and tell us why it worked and why it didn’t work. He used to discuss with us. We were actually his fans, and would ask how he made a certain scenes in his films,” shares Ashok.
Sharing a beautiful memory, he says, “He had a fantastic sense of humour. He narrated how once Dharmendra played a prank with Dimple Kapadiya and she complained to Rajesh Khanna. Dharmendra went to Manoj’s house and hid. Manoj ji called Rajesh Khanna to his house and ensured inki dosti ho jaaye! That was the kind of a man that he was!”
