There is a beautiful ghazal from the movie ‘Alag Alag’, by the inimitable combo of R.D.Burman, Kishore Kumar and Anand Bakshi, picturized on Rajesh Khanna in a chawl. In the 80s, on Doordarshan’s ‘Chitrahaar’, I couldn’t help noticing an old guy sitting besides the star and enthusiastically ‘wah wah’ing both in anticipation and after the verse is sung. The rest of the crowd were full of junior artists and a few known actors, so I wondered who this senior junior artist would be. My research led to the reveal of the real person—Bhagwan Dada.
Bhagwan Dada led a life that would be called chimerical in any other domain, but not so in the world of light and dark. Movie industry is the place where fortunes change overnight and shift from sprawling building to congested chawls, and from the glare of hero spotlight to shade of filler characters. Bhagawan Dada had seen it all. His famous step in ‘Albela’ is supposedly to have influenced Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda.
Here’s Tabassum recounting her experiences with Bhagawan Dada and leaves us a reminder that no matter how big or small, nothing is permanent in this world/stage. There are many Bhagwan Dadas and Kasturi Sivaraos who can vouch for this fact.
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; … And one man in his time plays many parts…”- William Shakespeare
Related Links:
Wikipedia on Bhagwan Dada
‘Albela’ Song and dance steps
‘Chitrahaar’ is…
Kasturi Siva Rao journey