When Dilip Kumar Refused the Role in Sohrab Modi's Remake of Pukar - 2

WHEN DILIP KUMAR REFUSED THE ROLE IN SOHRAB MODI’S REMAKE OF PUKAR –2


We do know that the late Sohrab Modi (1897-1984) was adept at creating an aura of the bygone eras in his films. Besides producing, directing and also acting in many films, he had produced and directed the historical classic, “PUKAR” (1939) based on a script written by Kamal Amrohi and others. Many key scenes were actually shot in magnificent courts and palaces of the Mughal Emperors, which gave grace and authenticity to PUKAR.

The story focussed on Adl-e-Jahangiri or the fairness of the justice system of Mughal Emperor Jahangir. It revolves around the story of Mangal Singh who is involved in a family feud and has slain the father and brother of his romantic interest, Kanwar. Sohrab Modi plays the role of a loyal Chieftan, Sardar Sangram Singh who eventually captures his own son, Mangal Singh, and turns him over to the justice of the Emperor who sentences him to death, claiming that no one is above the law. As fate would have it, Jahangir's sense of justice is put to a great test when Noor Jehan accidentally shoots a washerman dead with an arrow during her hunting expedition, and his wife, the washer-woman seeks retribution. The Emperor, sensing that justice is at stake, is forced to pass the sentence against Noor Jehan and orders the washer-woman to shoot an arrow at the Emperor himself in the same manner in which Noor Jehan had shot the washer-man. Such was the high drama portrayed in PUKAR which is one of the landmark films in the history of Bollywood.

Stellar performances were given by Chandra Mohan as Emperor Jahangir and Naseem Banu as Empress Noor Jehan. Chandra Mohan was known for his powerful voice and his mesmeric grey-green eyes. Naseem Banu, who was introduced by Sohrab Modi in HAMLET, was known as “Pari Chehra” i.e. having such beauty as only the fairies have. She gave a heart-warming performance with the tenderness of a Mughal Queen. The role of washer-woman was memorably played by Sardar Akhtar – the original Mother India who had starred in AURAT (1940) and who later married Producer-Director Mehboob Khan. Sadiq Ali played the role of Mangal Singh, while the character of Kanwar was enacted by Sheela. PUKAR was released in January 1939 under the banner of Minerva Movietone.

Just nine years later, Chandra Mohan would be donning the role of a Public Prosecutor and father of Ram (very young Dilip Kumar) in the super-hit movie SHAHEED (1948). Ten years later, (1958) Dilip Kumar would be acting opposite Sohrab Modi in YAHUDI under Bimal Roy's direction. And, eight years later (1966), Dilip Kumar would be marrying Naseem Banu’s beautiful daughter, Saira Banu.

In one of his interviews, Chandra Barot, the maker of the original DON (1978) did reveal to Indu Marani (DNA 25.3.2006) while discussing "Remakes", that once Sohrab Modi suggested to Yusuf Saab (Dilip Kumar) and Saira Banu the remaking of PUKAR but Yusuf Saab said, “No,” because they would be compared to Chandra Mohan and Naseem Banu.

A friend of mine,  who was a witness to this interview,  informed me that Sohrab Modi had a meeting with Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu on the subject of remaking of PUKAR one fine morning at about 11 or 11.30 A.M. I'm not sure about the year but it may be 1979-1980. The scene was the drawing room of Dilip Kumar’s Pali Hill Bungalow. Now, here’s what actually seems to have transpired in the meeting:


Dilip Kumar: Modi Sahaab...

Sohrab Modi: Ji...

Dilip Kumar: Aap ki film PUKAR mein Chandra Mohan Sahaab ka ‘role’ Jahangir ka thaah. Chandra Mohan Sahaab Jahangir ke ‘role’ ke liye Theek bhee theh... Unki aankhen aur awaaz Shahenshah Jahangir se bilkul mutaashabihaath rakhthi thee.n.


Sohrab Modi: Ha.n, Ha.n... Aage Kahiye.


Dilip Kumar: Doosri taraf Noor Jahan ka ‘role’ meri saas, Naseem Banu, ne kiya thaah. Uss Waqt meri saas waqiye mein itni khoobsoorat thee.n jitni ke Malika Noor Jahan thee.n.


Sohrab Modi: Aakhir aap kehna kya chaahte hain?

Dilip Kumar: Modi Sahaab, dekhiye, naa toh meri aawaaz aur aankhen Chandra Mohan jaisi hain; aur na hee Saira Banu meri saas Naseem Banu jaisi khoobsoorat hain.
Lihaaza, mera aur Saira ka ‘role’ kamm kar dijiye, aur Mangal Singh aur Dhoban ka badhaa dijiye.

(Now, Dharmendra was to do the role of Mangal Singh and Zeenat Amaan that of the washer-woman. Hearing this, Sohrab Modi said)

Sohrab Modi: Kahaani mein raddo-badal mutlaq naheen hoga.

(Dilip Kumar answered thus)

Dilip Kumar: Phir main ma’zarat chaahtaa hoo.n.

(Sohrab stood up saying)

Sohrab Modi: Aap ki Marzee.

Thus the curtains were drawn for ever on the remaking of the 1939 classic PUKAR.

CONCLUDED;

NASIR.

When Dilip Kumar Refused the Role in Sohrab Modi's Remake of Pukar - 1.

                                                               Dilip Kumar turns 86.


WHEN DILIP KUMAR REFUSED THE ROLE IN SOHRAB MODI’S REMAKE OF PUKAR – Part 1.

A news item in “Mumbai Mirror” of April 1, 2009 took me down the memory lane. The article mentioned that Muzaffar Ali, who had made the Rekha starrer, “Umrao Jaan”, in 1981 was now casting for another historical, “Noor Jahan Jahangir”. G.P. Sippy, too, had made a forgettable movie sometimes in mid-Fifties, entitled ADL-E-JAHANGIR, starring Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumar in the lead roles.

Now, how many know that the role of Jahangir was refused by Dilip Kumar when veteran Sohrab Modi came to discuss the roles for the remake of his 1939 classic PUKAR? Not many, I’m sure. There’s no discussion about it in print either in the press or the internet as far as I know. But before elaborating our main story, let’s first discuss briefly, what is generally known about the roles refused by Dilip Kumar or about his movies that never saw the light of the day!

Yes, it is common knowledge that the Original On-Screen Legend of the Indian Film Industry, Dilip Kumar, had refused the main role in the blockbuster movies such as PYAASA (1957), MOTHER INDIA (1957), and SANGAM (1964). It is also known that much earlier in the Fifties, his films JANWAR with Suraiya , and SHIKWA with Nutan, did not take off. In fact, Sajjad Hussein had even composed some songs with Talat Mehmood for SHIKWA. Some scenes of this 1954 movie can be seen in FILM HI FILM which was a very interesting commentary on the Hindi movies and the movie buffs. In JANWAR, it was Suraiya who opted out on the ground that “Yusuf continued to act even after the Director said, ‘Cut’!” NAYA DIN NAYI RAAT was initially offered to him but he just settled for a commentary in that movie, with Sanjeev Kumar playing the nine roles in the film. It also appears that Dilip Kumar was the first choice for the award-winning role of Anari (1958) but at his instance, Hrishikesh Mukherjee passed on the script to Raj Kapoor who, as the former felt, would be the right person to do such a role. As for the role of Vijay in PYAASA, Dilip Kumar refused it on the ground that it was just an extension of his own award-winning role in DEVDAS (1955). For Raj Kapoor’s SANGAM, again Dilip Kumar was the first choice and Raj Kapoor gave him complete freedom to choose either his or Rajendra Kumar’s roles. However, no amount of blandishment by Raj Kapoor could convince Dilip Kumar to accept either of the roles. The role of Gopal was eventually played by Rajendra Kumar – zooming his career to all-time high.

As for MOTHER INDIA, according to some sources, Dilip Kumar was keen to play the roles of both father and son (Birju) opposite Nargis in the movie. But since the pair of Nargis and Dilip Kumar had appeared in many romantic movies earlier such as MELA, ANOKHA PYAAR, ANDAZ, JOGAN, HULCHAL and DEEDAR, it was felt that the public would not accept them as mother and son. Indeed, Mehboob Khan had many an anxious moment when he learnt that Nargis immediately wanted to marry Sunil Dutt who had saved her life during the shooting of the famous fire scene. Knowing the pulse of Indian public, Mehboob Khan felt that if the marriage took place before the release of his dream project, MOTHER INDIA would never be accepted by the people since Sunil Dutt had played the role of Birju, the son of Nargis, in the movie. The marriage took place about five months after the release of MOTHER INDIA. In the meantime, the movie was released in October 1957 and was lauded both by the public and the critics. The premiere was attended by almost the entire film industry including Dilip Kumar, but Sunil Dutt did not attend the premiere show. I remember reading another story as a child, and that was probably in Baburao’s Film India, that Nargis was not keen on having Dilip Kumar in the role of Birju. She had bluntly told Mehboob Khan that in that case it would be better if he made “FATHER INDIA”. According to another story, since Dilip Kumar was later offered the role of father and not that of the wayward son, Birju, he turned down the offer. Of course, what he had lost in MOTHER INDIA, Dilip Kumar gained when he came back with vengeance in GANGA JAMUNA which was his own home production. Dilip Kumar’s role of Ganga who turns a dacoit by the quirk of fate, is the best among his best roles.

Again, the 20th Century Fox’ offer of THE RAINS CAME was also turned down by Dilip Kumar. He also turned down the second-lead role of Sherif Ali ibn el-Kharish in David Lean’s LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962). Regarding this role, it is worthwhile to mention here that the Empire Magazine had stated that the camera shot of the emergence of Ali from the desert is the Number One cinematic moment in the entire history of Cinema. If only Dilip Kumar had accepted the offer! Had he done that, he would have certainly added more flair and deeper meaning to the role, with all respects to Omar Sharif who ultimately landed with this role. But then, Dilip Kumar believes that: “In your own bazaar you enjoy a certain status. What’s the point in venturing out into the fields unknown where you’ve no say, no contact with the subject-matter...”

Mentioned below are the Dilip Kumar’s films that were shelved or  remained incomplete or were not released are:

K. Asif’s TAJ MAHAL, JANWAR and AAKHRI MUGHAL
Nasir Hussain’s ZABARDAST
R.C. Talwar’s BANK MANAGER
Rajinder Jain’s SHIKWAH

Also included in the above list are:
Allied Arts Production’s HAR SINGHAR - Director Mahesh Kol
CHANAKYA - Director: B.R. Chopra, Producer: Kishore Sharma
AAG KA DARIYA – Director Rajinder Singh, Director Premaliya
ASAR-THE IMPACT – Director: KuKu Kohli, Producer: Dinesh Patel
KALINGA – Director: Dilip Kumar

B.R. Chopra’s BAAGHBAAN was initially meant for Dilip Kumar but was delayed and the role ultimately went to Amitabh Bachchan in the next century. Then, much before SHAKTI (1982) happened, Eagle Films had signed Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan for their ambitious project which was to be directed by Yash Chopra. But there was no progress thereafter.

After his highly successful box office hits, KARMA, VIDHATA and SAUDAGAR, Subhash Ghai had Dilip Kumar in mind for his HOMELAND. Included in the lineup were the star-casts of Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan along with Preity Zinta. This project was finally shelved owing to the health problems of Shahrukh Khan and his inability to give dates even after a year when the revised dates did not suit Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta. The last we heard was that Subhash Ghai had replaced Shahrukh Khan with Akshay Khanna. Heaven knows what has happened next.

There was also some news sometime in 2007 that KALINGA would be revived but that’s about it.

Dilip Kumar, who is indubitably the greatest and most revered actor of the Bombay film Industry which is commonly known as Bollywood, has left his imprint of his style of acting not only on his generation, but also on the next three generations of actors. He has no regrets for declining those roles of the movies which have now become classics. According to him, an actor has to be convinced that he is making the right choice. Dilip Kumar has no special attachment with any of his films since he worked with “equal zest and dedication” in all his films. Indeed, so single-minded was Dilip Kumar in his devotion to acting, that he always had an edge over Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand or any other actor. As an actor, “he’s never reached the point of Nirvana”.


To be concluded.....

NASIR.