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Thank you Mr. Bachchan Ji for quoting my name on your twitter today something that I shared with you yesterday . . .

Actor Mac Mohan : Cricketer Becomes Sambha

Actor Mac Mohan:  Cricketer Becomes Sambha 

by:  Niilesh A Raje

24th April is the birthday of actor Mac Mohan popularly known as Sambha from the movie Sholay. Let me take this opportunity to write a small piece on the life and times of actor Mac Mohan whose contribution has been immense towards our Indian Film Industry which is currently celebrating the historic and most glorious moment - 100 Years of Indian Cinema (1913-2013).

First and foremost my sincere Thanks to all the family members of actor Mac Mohan for sharing their valuable time and information with me absence of which my endeavour to write this article would have been lackluster. My Thanks to his wife (Minny Makijany), daughters (Manjari and Vinati) and son Vikrant Makijany.

Mac Mohan - A Fabulous Cricketer

Actor Mac Mohan was born in Karachi in British India state. His father was an army officer. When the family relocated from Lucknow to Mumbai Mac Mohan made up his mind to become a cricketer. He held the reputation for playing fabulous cricket and was also known to participate in cricket tournaments. But destiny had its own plans.

His Style of Dressing

I learnt from his daughter Manjari that most of the costumes her father worn in the movies were primarily his own choice. His designer costumes were usually stitched at Madhav’s in Bandra or Kachins Clothing located townside. A widely travelled person her father considered Los Angeles his second home where he did most of his shopping be it his choice of expensive suite or owning an exquisite collection of imported perfumes.

Lover of Reader’s Digest Magazine

One thing the family admired the most in their father was his involvement into the discipline of reading. Mac Mohan had an excellent command over spoken and written English. Apart from reading newspapers at length he loved reading the Reader’s Digest magazine a lot.

Travelled 27 Times to Bangalore for the Sholay Shooting

The three words “Poore Pachaas Hazaar” in the movie Sholay shot Mac Mohan or the gun toting Sambha to fame. Sounds difficult to believe but yes the actor who played the smallest roles in the film travelled 27 times from Mumbai to Bangalore to complete the take. Initially the role of Sambha was much more but post editing it was reduced to just three words admits his daughter Manjari.

The movie Sholay ran and nobody could forget the character Sambha not even the tough looking Immigration Officer in New York who recognized Mac Mohan as the Sambha from Sholay such was the impact of his small but significant character.

One Big Success Wipes Out All Your Previous Failures

An interesting anecdote the family revealed during the course of my conversation. Once while they had been for visit in Pune and the crowd outside learnt that actor Mac Mohan was there and then they all started shouting “Sambha Sambha”. When the commotion became too loud the police had to be called in before Mac Mohan could leave quietly. An incident that totally shocked each of the family members as they never knew or guessed the impact could be so massive immortalized by just his three words “Poore Pachaas Hazaar”.

Rightly said, All it takes is one big success to wipe out all your previous failures and for Sambha the movie Sholay had been no exception.

Favourite Movies

As the conversation continued I was inquisitive to know which are the favourite movies of Mac Mohan the kids admired the most. The answers revealed Sholay, Don, Shaan and of course Kaala Pathar a scene that makes them cry even today where apparently Mac Mohan sacrifices his life so that his co-workers can live which only depicts he was so giving by nature with concern for all be it in reel life or real life.

Mac Productions

Mac Mohan’s wife Minny is an ayurvedic doctor. It was when Mac Mohan’s father was admitted in Arogya Nidhi Hospital in Juhu that their interaction first started and later the relationship culminated into marriage. Mac Productions was founded by ‘Mac Mohan’ with an aim to produce feature films. The same is now headed by his two daughters Manjari and Vinati Makijany together with their efficient team. Manjari is an emerging young filmmaker and Vinati is a talented theatre artist. “The Last Marble” short film written and directed by Manjari has just won a trophy at the 55th Rochester International Film Festival, USA. One advice Mac Mohan always gave to his kids. You can mould your career in anything one may aspire provided you take passion and pride in your chosen craft and give complete justice and total commitment towards it.

An Evening With Amitabh Bachchan

An evening that was "Global Sounds of Peace Concert" with Amitabh Bachchan, a special invite extended to me as part of his EF . . .

Amar Akbar Anthony : by Niilesh A Raje

As the Indian film industry marks its centenary year, I would like to share a small piece on the evergreen entertainer, 'Amar Akbar Anthony', which has captivated millions of audiences even thirty five years after its release.

 

 

The Story Line

 

Director Manmohan Desai got the idea for the movie “Amar Akbar Anthony” from a news item he read in an evening newspaper. An alcoholic man named Jackson was fed up with his life and one day he packed his three children in a car and decided to drop them off in the park.It can be rightly said where the news items ends director Manmohan Desai’s story begins. He twisted the story a bit by forgetting the alcoholic part and ensured that when the father returns he finds that all his three children have gone missing. In the story, the eldest kid is adopted by Hindu police officer and the other two by a Muslim tailor and a Catholic priest.

The Original Cast

Initial cast decided was Rakesh Roshan for Amar, Vijay Arora as Akbar and Navin Nishcol as Anthony. But the distributors agreed to pump in more money if top stars could be considered. Accidentally, it was Desai who happened to meet Prakash Mehra near Sumeet studio and showed him rushes of his forthcoming project Hera Pheri. It was here that Desai decided for Amitabh Bachchan as Anthony Gonsalves, Vinod Khanna as Amar and Rishi Kapoor for Akbar Allahabadi’s role.

My name is Anthony Gonsalves

The inspiration for Anthony came to Desai from the real life character Antav, a bootlegger who was staying closer to his home in Khetwadi. He used to wear a funny hat and used to converse with Desai in his lingo, “Desai Kaisa Hai Dikhtaich Nahin”. Director Desai was very much fascinated by his character and decided to showcase him on the screen.

In the song 'My name is Anthony Gonsalves' (You see, the whole country of the system is juxtapositioned by the haemoglobin in the atmosphere because you are a sophisticated rhetorician intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity) spoken by Anthony when he emerges from the Easter egg, is an almost exact quotation from a speech in the Parliament of the United Kingdom given by British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in 1878. Disraeli (who was referring to William Ewart Gladstone) used the word "inebriated" rather than "intoxicated.”

Medical Disaster

As said by Amitabh Bachchan: "He (Desai) would first design the `items' that he wanted in the film then he would shoot them and then write the (screenplay) to link them up." He was known to do some of the craziest stuff but it always worked for him.

If we were to talk about the famous `blood donation' scene (where three sons of a mother give her blood at once) Bachchan says, "It was a medical disaster. Where in the world you have three people lying in the same room giving transfusion from one bottle?"

"It was a medical impossibility. But Desai did it, and it worked. When the (scene) opened, there was unbelievable applause in the theatre." That’s the creativity director Manmohan Desai exhibited.

The Man Himself Manmohan Desai

In most of the films of Manmohan Desai, one thing was evident; he always showcased his profound respect for Mother figure. Desai always believed that parents came above God and of course, above self. Hurt them and you hurt yourself, was his simple belief which continues to echo even today in the world of cinema.
Amar Akbar Anthony turned out to be one of the biggest box office hits. Even today after thirty five years of its release it continues to be one of the most cherished evergreen entertainers of all times. Why not, "Anahoni ko honi kar den honi ko anahoni Ek Jagah Jab Jama Hon Teenon Amar Akbar Anthony.”

A Bank for the Buck ~ Book Review by Niilesh A Raje

A Bank for the Buck

Reviewed by:  Niilesh A Raje

Author	Tamal Bandyopadhyay
Publisher	Jaico Books
Price	Rs 395/-
Pages	372
ISBN	978-81-8495-396-1

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I am sure many would remember those days when Bank employees from tellers to managers were in great demand in the matrimony market. The girl’s father were always appreciative to have a banker as their son-in-law that gave the individual status as well as dignity. Technology and product innovation were unheard in those days.

“A Bank for the Buck” is the story of the birth as well the growth of HDFC Bank which turned eighteen in August 2012. There are many things one can do when one turns eighteen years and it very much varies from a country to country. In India, one can vote and get a license to drive a car, but can’t drink in public places. But, in China, turning eighteen gives one the licence to drink. In the odyssey of past eighteen years the book tries to showcase if life did turn out to be different for the bank’s employees, customers and investors.

The entire journey of eighteen years the author has covered it as a story which spread across thirteen chapters. By writing it as a story the author has kept it interesting by engaging the readers. The objective was not merely to come up with the bank’s history but to revolve a story about the making of this successful bank in India.

Author, Tamal Bandyopadhyay is one of the most respected business journalists in India. His weekly column, Banker’s Trust, in India’s second-largest read financial daily Mint, where he is Deputy Managing Editor, is widely read for its deep insights into the world of finance and its unerring ability to anticipate major policy moves.

Tamal has kept a close watch on the financial sector for over fifteen years and has had a ringside view of the enormous changes in Indian finance over this period. He has been a frequent speaker at seminars across India and has hosted a very successful weekly show (by the same name as his weekly column) on television, featuring some of India’s most respected bankers, policy makers, central bankers and regulators.

He has contributed to The Oxford Companion to Economics in India, edited by Kaushik Basu and published by Oxford University Press in 2007. Banker’s Trust, an anthology of his weekly column in Mint, has recently been published. This is Tamal’s first book.

The journey begins right from how different names were suggested like Bank of Bombay (BoB) or Bombay International Bank before finally settling down with name HDFC Bank. The acronym for Bank of Bombay clashed with the established public sector bank, Bank of Baroda and that was dropped off.

The first four chapters speak about the making of the bank, how it was conceptualized, how the core team was built up. The next four chapters discuss about the business philosophy of the bank and how it is different from the rest of the pack. Chapter number nine and ten talks about mergers. Chapter eleven details about what went wrong with the bank and how it got into a mess. Chapter twelve delves into the story of what makes Aditya Puri the longest serving CEO of any bank in India. The last chapter tells the readers the story as to why this bank is successful.

Looking at the journey today it would be difficult for many to be believe that in the initial days the training sessions were conducted by the bank under a tree at a textile mill compound in Central Mumbai.  It was not an easy task either for the Chairman Deepak Parekh to bring each member’s of the core team to a common level of understanding.

The book is not just meant for new players or bankers but would be a valuable story for business school students to learn how a bank of this class can be set up in India. The author has kept it interesting by maintaining an informal style of narrating the stories. To amplify his thoughts for his first book we learnt that the author left from Mumbai and went to Goa for about two months in search of privacy leaving his family behind. He ended up writing for almost 16 hours per day the end result being an excellent read “A Bank for the Buck”.

Chetan Bhagat and Me ( Niilesh A Raje )

With Chetan Bhagat so which novel are you currently working upon . . .

Chetan Bhagat and Me ( Niilesh A Raje )

Coffee with Chetan Bhagat motivational speaker, columnist and author of five blockbuster novels. Time magazine named him as the "100 Most Influential People In The World" . . .