And then One Day: A Memoir, by Naseeruddin
Shah, Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Books, Gurgaon, Year2014, 316pp,
Indian Rupeese699, Hard.
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nly few celebrities dare to laugh on them in their memoirs
to contemplate mystified aftereffects. Theater cum film artist Naseeruddin Shah
speaks his heart rebelliously about life in And then One Day: A Memoir to
confronts the usual allegories. His exceptionally frank and bounteously humourous book is
equally engaging.
Perceptions on Shah change by learning unknown stimulating
facts about him. Prototypical revelations since birth in a middle-class Muslim
family to receiving ceaseless support from mother to derisive relation with father
until latter’s death remains melodramatic. Perturbed connection with father and
his struggles for a career in acting are all robust ideas explained.
Assessing personal life, formative years to Shah’s disconcerted
relationships are vivid in the book. He considered his father a primary hurdle
in his aspiration to become actor. Without reconciling his career ambitions his
father insisted him to choose ‘proper job’ like rest parents dreamt in post-independent
India. His ambition for acting was considered absurd idea and he finally rebelled
to fulfill that earnest dream. He asserts that his father though always provided
him financial support but kept summoning him to become mannered. It was while sitting
beside father’s grave that he found first opportunity to speak to him uninterruptedly
without being rebuked, Shah narrates in melancholy.
Complexities in family relations, struggles as an actor
to bad academics in school and college kept haunting Shah. His acting abilities
were though nourished while he was graduating from Aligarh Muslim University
(AMU) where he had good exposure in drama and stage art.
Nineteen year Shah married to 34-year old Purveen during
stay in AMU. Birth of their daughter Heeba made him an irresponsible father while
he was not ready for parenthood. Upon separation, Purveen migrated to Iran. Decades
later his daughter communicated him in Persian. She met him to join his rest children
from current wife Ratna Pathak whom he married in due course of time. Such are melting
pots of life’s confessions by a versatile actor.
It could be thoughtless to explain the absurdities of
life in a memoir but such volatilities of Shah’s life honed his instincts. Suppressive
behaviours by many at home, in school, colleges and in society he lived rather empowered
him to overcome all complexes.
This memoir mentions Shah’s struggles from witnessing
the worse phases in Film and Television Institute of India, Pune to known and
unknown persons as pulsating characters in his life. They are cursorily described
except his mother about whom he writes with great affection. Undaunted praise of
Om Puri who stood before him on each and every occasion as a friend and fellow actor
to aggressively narrating about growing decades of Indian theater & drama and
the making of Bollywood’s finest films are worthwhile recounts.
While explaining good and bad cinema Shah also talks
of his contextual appearances in theater and accepting admirations and
brickbats. Appreciations for fellow actors, mentors to people close to his life
are adulating facts. Highlighting Geoffrey Kendal’s incessant efforts to nourish
Shakespearana in India to inculcate theater culture in the subcontinent are worthy
narrations. He admired Kendal since school days as idol and their meeting during
the shooting of acclaimed movie Junoon by celebrated director Shyam Benegal proved nostalgic.
He had his organized debut in Bollywood in 1975 with the movie Nishant by Benegal.
Difficult days of Shah in Bombay (now Mumbai) in
first attempt to try luck in acting and on later years are interesting details.
Getting tracked by legendary actor Dilip Kumar’s eldest sister, Sakina during his
first runaway bid to her giving him refuge and sending back to home on the
insistence of his father are dramatic explanations. Seeing priceless books on
films and filmmaking to Filmfare trophies lined on the shelf at Kumar’s house developed
zeal in him. He would usually pick a few to imitate acceptance message in
fascination there.
Shah had struggling days in Bombay until making a respectable
place for himself as film and theater actor. While this memoir concludes he talks
of his marriage to stage enthusiast Ratna Pathak—who he confesses brought
stability in his life. From preface to closing chapter his confessions are honest.
Written with ample humor its narration is rude but straightforward.
Vividly explaining the reality behind Bollywood
masala to no-so-masala movies he doesn’t hide his indulgences of doping; smoking;
bad acting and women in life. Equally does he mention professional relationship
with actress Shabana Azmi and et al and writes what he actually thought of as poignant
and heartbreaking moments of life. Without being melodrama this book doesn’t shower
praises on his sacting abilities. Sticking to his characters to giving due
credit to those having some impact in his life seems no exaggerated. The book is
a vivacious portrayal of upper-class India of half a century ago. It describes generation
gaps and changing trends in Indian societies.
Shah mentions his struggles as an actor and reveals
them shamelessly in confessions why he had to work in many films for survival. Remarkable lines by eminent
historian Ramachandra Guha advocates it on cover page—‘A rivetingly readable memoir……Joyous, funny, searingly honest.’ Actor,
film director, writer and playwright Girish Raghunath Karnad considers this
book—‘a moving account of Naseeruddin
Shah’s struggles to overcome the handicap of being exceptionally gifted, to
realize his full potential as actor. Honest, funny, scintillating.’ As a practical recount of life to
works of Naseeruddin Shah this memoir is a fabulously appealing work of
literature on acting.
[Asif Anwar Alig (asifanwaralig@gmail.com)
is assistant professor and media relations specialist at Saudi Ministry of
Education. He was earlier an executive producer in ETV; editorial coordinator
at MDI, Gurgaon (India) and media specialist at PMU (Saudi Arabia). His website
www.asifanwaralig.com
advocates—“Books are hard-bound drug with no danger of an overdose and he is a
happy victim of books.”]
