‘Film villains turned out to be really nice!’

On the genesis of his obsession with Hindi films, and the different varieties of cinema villains in his new book

1

Pure Evil: The Bad Men of Bollywood is your fourth book about Hindi films. How did your love for Hindi films begin?

I remember Ye Kya Hua, Dum Maro Dum, and Pyaar Deewana Hota Hai as some of the earliest sound waves emanating from the radio or the neighbouring Durga Puja pandal and shaping the soft clay of my sensibilities. My parents would take me to watch movies, both English and Hindi, quite regularly. The earliest Hindi movies I watched were Aradhana (1969), Anand (1971), Bobby (1973), and Jugnu (1973). Hindi films and music continued to be my primary recreation – apart from reading story books – and topic of discussion in school during breaks all through the 1970s and 1980s. At Jadavpur University, I plunged deep into the film-and-music quiz community. By the time I turned 20, the clay had hardened and I had rock-solid Bollywood DNA.

2 As a child, which Bollywood villain(s) seemed most exciting or scary to you?

Gabbar was very scary to six-year-old me, as were the apparitions in Jadu Tona (1977) and Jaani Dushman (1979). But the one character that spooked me for many nights was Topiwala (Kader Khan) in Meri Aawaz Suno (1981). The film’s torture scene was too much for a 12-year-old to take. On the other hand, I found the villains in

The Great Gambler (1979) — Ramesh (Prem Chopra), Marconi (Sujit Kumar), Sethi (Roopesh Kumar) and Saxena (Utpal Dutt) — particularly funny and cute.

3 You’ve interviewed many actors who played villains. What are some of the moments that made an impression?

These men turned out to be exceptionally nice and hospitable! They warmly welcomed me into their homes, treated me to tea and lunch, and they were pleased to hear that I was an author. They were also happy to know that a book on the roles played by them was being authored, so they shared insights about their roles and anecdotes that were not documented anywhere.

My interview with Yashpal Sharma happened mid-shoot, in his make-up room. After the interview, the unit was ready for an outdoor shot in which the camera pans across a group of pedestrians. He asked me to stand at a nearby tea stall and pretend to chat with a few bystanders as the camera panned across. Who knows, I may have made my acting debut that day.

I interviewed Kay Kay Menon poolside at the Raheja complex at Lokhandwala. After the interview, we sat down for coffee. It was almost 10 pm. I asked if he was headed home. He said, “No, I am waiting for the van to pick me up for a night shoot. Seventy per cent of my shoots happen at night.”

With Kader Khan, it was an hourlong interview, after which I packed up, offered my sincere thanks to him and looked around, half-expecting Shakti Kapoor to be seated somewhere nearby.

They were a strong pair in the 1980s.