18 minute read
Shatrughan Sinha
You have been constantly making digs at Rekha. There has not been an interview from you in the past few months in which you have not made nasty cracks about her. Why are you badgering her? What have you against her when according to her she’s got nothing to do with you? No wonder when asked about you in a recent interview she said, ‘Who Shatrughan Sinha?’ Her resentment is justified and so is her refusal to work with you – weren’t you forced to leave Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Bhrashtachar’ because Rekha refused to co-star with you?
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She refused! You mean Rekha has at last learnt to refuse? I thought her problem was only that she could never say ‘no’ to anyone. Well I am glad for her. This will do her a world of good both physically and emotionally. And hygienically also. And now to put the record straight. I had agreed to do ‘Bhrashtachar’ inspite of Rekha only because of Ramesh Sippy. I think he is a great director. But unfortunately, we couldn’t agree on other matters like dates and price. That’s how Mithun stepped in – and I am happy for him. And by the way if Rekha said, ‘Who Shatrughan Sinha?’ It’s hardly surprising. She also said, ‘Who Raj Babbar?’ Only I wish she would not behave so childishly at thirty-nine. It doesn’t suit her personality and image – that is if she has any. And if she says she’s got nothing to do with me she’s right. I do happen to fall under that lucky but poor minority of those who have nothing to do with her. At one time it was a status symbol if you had something to do with Rekha but today it is the other way around – it is a symbol of status if you have nothing to do with her.
It’s rather petty of you to bear a grudge against Kimi Katkar for naming her dogs Luv and Kush only because they also happen to be the names of your sons. Worse was you getting a bitch to your house and naming her Kimi in retaliation.
I hold nothing against Kimi. In fact, it is because I am so fond of her that I was scared that some Hindu organization or some fanatics might take offense and attack Kimi for keeping religious names for her dogs. It was my children (who were also very fond of her) who were very hurt when they got to know of it. And it was their suggestion in retaliation that we get a female-dog (see how courteous I’m being, I’m 75 still not calling it a bitch) and name her Kimi. If you ask me I have already forgiven Kimi, for when I asked her about it she got very panicky and very nervously she explained how since her dogs were twins (I was enlightened. For the first time I was hearing about dogs being twins) she thought of naming them Luv and Kush. How can I hold a grudge against someone with such a low IQ level? In fact I forgave her then and there. I have also changed the name of my bitch from Kimi to Shiny. Though it’s another story that she still reacts to only Kimi.
It’s common knowledge that you spend most of your nights away from home, at some flat in Bandra. Looks like your marriage is on the rocks finally.
Changing location doesn’t necessarily mean changing the situation. You make my flat sound like it’s some kind of a Ramsay horror joint. It’s an old apartment of mine where I’ve spent some very beautiful moments with or without… I feel very comfortable there. If not in any other way then just talking (if not anything else) to people of my choice. Talking to them over the phone or calling them over etc, etc. But if you are also thinking what I am then I must say you have a dirty mind. As for my marriage being on the rocks, that’s all crap. At best you can say that the sailing is not all that smooth. But as I’ve said earlier once my wife apologises for the mistakes I have committed in the recent months – which should be very soon as per her regular practice – things will be normal and rosy again. That is till I bring a new twist to the story once again. In a way I’m grateful to you for promoting the idea of my marriage being on the rocks. It makes me more eligible to women – an eligible married bachelor.
You certainly made a fool of yourself by accepting a subordinate role to Sridevi’s in ‘Sherni’. No wonder the industrywallas are calling you the heroine of the film and Sridevi the hero. How could you allow an actress to steal the show away from you.?
Why the industrywallas, when the film was still in progress, I used to call Sridevi the ‘Sherni’ and myself the ‘bakri’ of the film. I knew what I was getting into right in the beginning but I agreed to be the sacrificial bakri only because of my secretary Pawan Kumar who is also the producer of ‘Sherni’. After the disaster of ‘Mati Maange Khoon’ Pawanji was going through a bad phase. So when he approached me with ‘Sherni’ I couldn’t refuse. Pawanji and I have shared a very long association. He insisted that my signing the film would make the project more appealing to the distributors and I couldn’t have refused him. You could say it was a voluntary sacrifice. Otherwise it is not so easy to steal even a scene (forget the film) away from under the nose of Shatrughan Sinha. People have tried and failed miserably. You must have noticed that it is the other actors who are scared to be pitted against me; I don’t refuse to work with anybody.
You have been talking politics for years. But looks like you can only talk. You do not seem to have the guts to plunge into it. What is it – the fear that you too might end up like Amitabh Bachchan?
Whether I’m scared or not that is beside the point but don’t make politics sound so sacred. It’s not
a shrine or a girl’s virginity that a man would be frightened to enter. What’s so great about politics? From a flyer to a hijacker, a murderer to a rapist, anybody and everybody can get into politics today. I think this is the only occupation which doesn’t require any qualifications. In fact it is disqualifications that are considered qualifications in politics. Yesterday, people went to jail and then became leaders. Today they become leaders and then go to jail. Bachchan entered into politics not so serve his country or his people but to help a friend. His intentions were different. But I do not believe in doing things in josh, I do things in hosh. My case will be different. If I enter politics it will be to serve the people, the masses, the nation. It will be to lead the causes. And things are in my favour. My age is in my favour. I assure you that I’ll strike at the right time with the right kind of people with the right approach to create the right atmosphere.
Considering your ties with the late Pakistani President Zia-Ul-Haq, his sudden and tragic death must have caused more pain to you than our late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s had. It’s really surprising that you still haven’t gone to Pakistan to pay your condolences to the bereaved family?
Yes, you must understand the difference. Indira Gandhi’s death was a national loss. I was fortunate to have met Mrs. Gandhi a few times in a very cordial atmosphere. I was very hypnotised by her personality. I wish she was still there for I really feel the difference between her time and now. In those days India was public limited, today it’s private limited. Still I can’t say I was close to her. Barring those few meetings I hardly knew her personally. But with Gen. Zia I shared a very personal relationship. Our love and admiration was mutual. My feelings for Zia had nothing to do with his country’s internal affairs, policies or politics. By the time this issue is out I will be in Islamabad to pay my condolences in person on the fortieth day. My family will be with me. And it’s not that our families have not been a in touch after the tragedy befell. My wife spoke to Zia’s family, their son called us up. It’s only that I thought it would be better to go when I could spend some time with the family. Had I gone immediately after the mishap I would have had to come back the same day. In a nutshell I would say Madame Gandhi’s loss was a national loss. Zia’s death is a personal loss.
You have been instigating Sunil Dutt to leave the ruling party and join yours. Is that why you also cast him in your ‘Dharam Yudh’?
Firstly, I don’t have a party of my own, so the question of inviting him to join my party doesn’t arise. But all said and done I do think it’s time a self-respecting and well-meaning a man like Dutt Saab broke away and joined another well-meaning, progressive party / people. If and when I have a party of my own or I join a party I’ll definitely request and insist that Dutt saab join me. Because he’s gem of a man and he’ll always be an asset to any party.
What if Rajesh Khanna were to join you?
I’m sure Mr. Khanna will also prove to be great asset if we ever decide to divide, defeat, break or split our party a la Bahuguna.
You proudly claim to be the Bihar Ratna. But may I ask you what have you done for your Bihar after the disastrous earthquake? In fact your brothers in Bihar have lost faith in you since you have not bothered to visit your native land after the calamity?
By the time you are reading this I would have come back from Patna after meeting the Chief Minister and handing over to him the few couple of lakhs that I have collected from the industry – which includes Dharmendra, Raj Kumar Kohli and hold your breath Amitabh Bachchan. I have been doing the best to my capacity. But I feel miserable at times that inspite of Bihar being the richest state in terms of minerals it still remains one of the most poor states. The leaders in Bihar have very efficiently mismanaged the state. They don’t see beyond themselves. But I am the true son of the Bihar soil. I have always and will always do my duty sincerely. If Maharashtra is my karam-bhoomi, Bihar is my janma-bhoomi. These two will always be my prime priority.
You have been recommending Shekhar Suman to each and every producer of yours. Your preference for this newcomer from Bihar reeks of a biased and a communal attitude?
Since I’ve got no star-sons and no relatives to promote and since Shekhar falls under the minority – the second specimen from Bihar besides me – so what’s the harm if I try to do something for him. And moreover, I think he’s deserving. He is better than most of our newcomers. I am also very fond of him. Should I discard him only because he happens to be from Bihar? I would never promote anybody if he was not deserving even if he was from my home, leave alone home town.
Chunky Pandey insists that you have a been taking undue credit for his success and that you have not contributed to his career in any way.
Nothing new, even Subhash Ghai says the same thing. In fact, it’s not surprising at all. What is surprising is that there are still people like Mithun Chakraborty in this industry who have not changed inspite of seeing so much success. Instead of pulling them like the others, they still touch the feet of their seniors. But regardless of whether Chunky Pandey likes me or not the question is if I like him or not. Which I do. A lot in fact since he’s my family’s cute liability.
You love to think of yourself as a great bed-hopper and flaunt your sexual exploits. Don’t you know it is not only ungentlemanly but cheap to talk about the women you have gone to bed with?
It’s very few nights that I go to bed, most nights I go home. As for me flaunting my affairs are you sure you are not referring to the playboy Pakistani cricketer who is known for flaunting his women, who is these days known more for his sexual exploits than cricket. In fact if you ask me the poor fellow only flaunts, the real report is very bad. Most of his conquest stories are concocted and fabricated to suit his so-called self-created virile image. For if the market rumours are to be believed – the less said about his performance the better. I treat my women with utmost respect, care and concern. Leave alone the fifth or the sixth party I would never discuss my personal affairs with even a third party. Whatever happens between two people must remain between those two people only. A man-woman relationship is pious, beautiful and personal. And to me the base of any relationship is not love but respect. I’ve always respected my women and in turn I’ve got respect from them. That’s the reason perhaps why the tribe is increasing day by day. And in spite of the increasing tribe the loyalties of the existing ones are still intact. God help me!
Your other producers are very upset with you, because you have been cancelling their dates to make adjustments for Rajan Sippy’s ‘Shehzaade’. And they insist that you have been showering favours on Rajan only because he does your chamchagiri while they don’t?
I hope after reading this Rajan doesn’t take offence and desert me, he’s the last of the loyalists left. And if he does I fear I might have to do chamchagiri to win him back. He’s the only friend accepted and trusted by both the parties – my wife and my girlfriends. Not only a friend he’s also proved to be my saviour many times. Losing a person like him will not only mean inconvenience but great disadvantage. So I reciprocate his faith and trust by giving him extra love, affection and warmth. I have been concentrating on his film ‘Shehzaade’ firstly because it’s a good film and then it has my
favourite co-star Dharmendra and my favourite actress Dimple and now the producer Rajan Sippy is also my favourite. And if I have to go a little out of my way in helping the project of a friend, producer and saviour it is justified, is it not?
First of all you shouldn’t have accepted a film like ‘Mahaveera’ but since you did agree to do it voluntarily it was your duty to co-operate with producer Ratan Mohan. It is believed that you gave a lot of trouble to him during the making of the film only because you lost interest in the project when you saw that your co-star Raaj Kumar was getting more prominence in the film.
If I were to name the two worst pictures of my career, they would be ‘Raaton Ka Raja’ and ‘Bheema’. But one film which would beat them hollow and surpass all previous records of my worst films is ‘Mahaveera’. This film will remain to be a milestone in my career. But there is no question of me giving trouble to the producers since Raaj Kumar was already there in the film. To be very frank, to me it seems like Ratan Mohan’s intentions were only to collect big faces (Dhram, Dimple, Raaj Kumar and Shatrughan Sinha), take a big price from the distributors, make a huge profit on the table and switch over to another profession. That’s why when you see the film you don’t see any money spent. There was no good set erected, no crowd scene, no nothing. Just a few known stars dumped together. It was as if the producer was not bothered about the film at all (considering he had made his money). We are supposed to be brothers in the film still Dharamji and I had no combined shots. He died in the hands of my duplicate. Raaj Kumar refused to be killed by me in the climax so another Raaj Kumar was created – a double role. What I killed was Raaj Kumar’s duplicate. What I am giving you is the narration of the story of the film for I’m sure you’ll have not seen the film. Everybody dies in the film. Dharmendra dies, Dimple dies and last but not the least Shatrughan Sinha dies. Saved are only those who didn’t see the film.
Haven’t you carried your differences with your old friend Subhash Ghai a bit too far? Why do you, after so many years, still refuse to work with him? Or is it the vice-versa?
I don’t know about yesterday but today working with Subhash Ghai is not going to add any feathers to my cap. It might add one to his cap though. I look up to him in a very different manner today. We don’t meet that often but I still respect him and regard him as a family friend. Specially as my gharwalli ka bhai. He is entitled to his own say. Create, promote and propagate his own stories. I’m too busy to react and answer them all. I’m above all these things. I know if two of us ever get together again (the last time was ‘Kalicharan’ and ‘Vishwanath’ which were super hits) we’ll come out with dynamic results. But I can never approach him. At the same time if he approaches me I don’t think I can say no to him. For to me old is still gold.
Reena Roy’s husband insists that the relationship you shared with her before their marriage is a figment of your imagination. He insists that you misunderstood Reena’s feelings for you for according to him she always treated you like a brother. Your comment.
Yes, today I realize it’s all my fault. I am truly to be blamed. Poor Reena, she must have really treated me like a real brother. No more controversies please. It’s amazing how even after so many years in the industry you still haven’t managed to get into the habit of reaching your sets on time. There are other stars who come late but you certainly take the cake. Reporting at two o’ clock for a nine o’ clock shift is certainly the limit.
I’ve improved a lot. Most of our heroes today are busy by the hour and I am no exception. I’m working three shifts a day. And the extra burden is certainly taking its toll. I am not able to give attention to personal, social or political life. It’s work, work, work throughout the day. That is why in the mornings I try not to rush. I must repair and prepare myself for another day. So I do yoga, meditation and certain exercises. I don’t miss these even if it means reaching a few hours late on the sets. For once I reach the sets I make up for the lost time. I work with extra vigour. And most important, because of meditation I am cool and composed. Most of the time I finish my work much ahead of schedule. That is why also all my producers like to repeat me. I must be the most repeated star in the industry. But yet, despite my improvements, with folded hands I plead guilty without any justification and I deserve any kind of punishment that any producer may want to give. But I also assure that only my producers or heroes must have complained about my habit of coming late, certainly not my heroines. Like one actress once told me, ‘Shatru you are the most sexy star around because you always come late.’ If that is the case, Rekha should be the sexiest since most times she doesn’t come at all.
--Nishi Prem
He is undoubtedly one of the wittiest actors in the industry. Of course, in the days of yore when being “politically correct” was considered boring, Shatrughan Sinha’s interviews were a revelation. And, how! He didn’t pull any punches or duck to any googlies, instead his sharp retorts were on point, smart and rib-ticklingly funny. Today, Shatrughan Sinha is one of the most respected actors in the industry. He has also stepped into the domain of politics and has done some very good work. Of course as the current trend is to play safe, Mr Sinha has mellowed down a tad bit… perhaps because he has entered the hallowed arena of politics where being “politically correct” is the rule of the game. However, his answers, debates and retorts are as colourful and witty as before. This man’s interviews – then and now – are a delight to read. So go ahead and say Khamoshhhh…!
