ONCE UPON A TIME IN BOMBAY (MUMBAI) AND ME: 1977. I was 20 YEARS. 3rd YEAR AT COLLEGE. job in a magazine “TV TODAY” published, edited by my boss ACHYUT VAZE. Being fascinated with films, I wanted to be in the film industry. By that time I had realized that I had to do something related to arts, entertainment etc but didn’t know how & had nobody to guide. I met a friend, who put me on to ACHYUT VAZE at his office in TATA’S at balard pier where Achyut used to work as a senior economist. Achyut,a short statured man ,restless,convincing talker,with twinkling eyes,infectious laughter & smile, a chains smoker , maverick, extremely intelligent, playwright, writer, publisher, editor & an out of box thinker,problem solvertremendous command over English,hindi & marathi. Achyut was a graduate from IIM AHMEDABAD WITH A FELLOWSHIP FROM CAMBRIDGE & an Economics Graduate from Delhi University. I was extremely influenced by Achyut in my most impressionable age. His Marathi play as a playwright “BED CUM SOFA” had received a lot of acclaim at that time. Four of us used to meet at his office in Ballard Pier in the evening & stay on till around 11pm. I joined his magazine as his complete assistant. I used to be a correspondent, sell, do circulation, interview people & look partly after the printing process etc. The salary was Rs.250/- per month plus expenses. At times I used to be a door todor salesman in south mumbai like peddar road,warden road,kemps corner etc.TELEVISION was in a very infant stage & ONLY MUMBAI DOORDARSHAN WAS ACTIVE IN MUMBAI. Television was transmitted a very few hours in the evening barring Sundays for a Hindi film. The subscription was Rs.15/- a month. Our idea was to give a weekly programme guide with articles of celebrities & programmes. TV TODAY, the magazine changed from weekly/fortnightly/monthly depending on our financial status & other content related issues. One evening I had the opportunity to interview PREETI SAGAR, the singer of the hit song “MY HEART IS BEATING” from the super hit film “JULIE”. PREETI was living at Teenbatti, Malabar Hill. I had heard that PREETI SAGAR was a very beautiful girl ,but never seen her .I was very nervous to interview, but meeting a beautiful girl was exciting. And as I entered the fantastic big house I realized that one of my shoe was a little torn from the front. I was trying to cover it with my bell bottoms. And then PREETI came in the drawing room. She was tall, slim, deep blue eyes, perfect sharp features, & a great dimpled smile. I was mesmerized. She said hello & I could not utter a word. She burst out laughing. I was nervous again. But she started with a conversation & made me feel at ease. I finally interviewed with all the questions I had mugged up all the way to her house. I met her father, the yesteryear Actor MOTI SAGAR, the nephew of the all time great actor MOTILAL. They both asked me to wait for dinner,but I didnt &they were a little worried how I would reach home in Vile Parle as it was almost 11 pm Our base later shifted to Rajeev Naik’s AKSHAR PRATIROOP PRINTERS. WADALA, where the magazine used to get printed. I started going to DOORDARSHAN office at Worli by bus. I was fascinated to meet people like TABASSUMJI(Programme: Phool Khile Hai Gulshan Gulshan Fame), the fantastic actor, comedian, BABAN PRABHU, Actor T.P.JAIN , YAKOOB SAYEED, my senior friend VINAY APTE who helped me a lot, SUHASINI MOOLGAONKAR who was the director & a towering personality & I was scared of her. Another interesting person I met was the writer KAMLESHWAR. I liked his voice & his protruding eyes & the way he used to say “BARHAL” on his T.V show PARIKRAMA. I had this immense satisfaction when I saw the magazine printed & on the stands. Team work was very important as always. I made friends at Akshar Pratiroop with people like MAYEKAR, the binder with his own workshop. Many a time’s me & my dear friend SATISH PAI used to go and study at MAYEKAR’S workshop in Wadala. Pai used to study & I used to hang around with the printing staff trying to learn the art of letterpress & offset printing. ACHYUT used to put all his salary into the magazine. The magazine was in dire financial straits as people never subscribed for the magazine because most of the people in Mumbai didn’t have T.V sets. Also no big advertisement revenue because of lack of circulation. One more interesting person I met at Akshar Pratiroop Printers was the handsome boy ALHAD NAWATHE, the son of the great film director RAJA NAWATHE, director of hit films like GUMNAAM, MANCHALI, AAH, PATTHAR KE SANAM & many others. ALHAD was a canvasser of printing & we became friends. One of the peculiar things I remember was ACHYUT’S DUKER FIAT CAR. If you keep something on the back of the seat it used to go in the dickey of the car automatically. During this time I remember eating bhurji, kaleja, kheema, omlette at places like Dadar, Marine Lines, Charni Road, Wadala AT 2/3/4/5 AM. BOMBAY AS IT WAS CALLED THEN WAS DIFFERNENT. PAO BHAJI, CHINESE FODD AT SMALL JOINTS HAD NOT YET ARRIVED AS I REMEMBER. In the year 1998 approx, my role model ACHYUT VAZE went on to become a big, successful T.V content Producer. I reached him through some of my contacts in a big two storey office in LOKHANDWALA & found him sitting on a big chair. His Marathi television soap was a big hit & he had made some money. He welcomed me with all his humility & we had a long chat. Some years later I suddenly met Achyut on a morning walk at Juhu beach. We exchanged pleasantries & he enquired about my well being. On that day all the memories of 1977 came rushing back to me.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 11:04:48 +0000
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