Rituraj Singh and SRK's debut film 'In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones'

Rituraj Singh who passed away at the age of 59 in the wee hours of Tuesday was a member of TAG the same Delhi theatre group as Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh KhanThe two used to rehearse together and play football And they acted together in SRKs debut film In Which Annie Gives It Those OnesAired in 1989 it was made for Doordarshan by filmmakerenvironmentalist Pradip Kishen based on Booker Prizewinning novelist Arundhati Roys script drawing heavily on her days as a student at Delhis School of Planning and ArchitectureThose days SRK despite being wellknown for his pivotal role in the TV serial Fauji was nowhere near being the super star that he was to become so the role that he was so keen to essay went to RiturajIn the film which won two National Awards Best Feature Film in English and Best Screenplay Rituraj played the role of Arjun Kamat who along with his girlfriend Radha portrayed by Arundhati Roy hatches a plan to turn the hostile thesis panel in favour of the titular character and their friend Anand known as Annie during the submission processAnand was played by Arjun Raina a local actor who also acted in Kishens next film Electric Moon and is today better known as a Kathakali dancer and National School of Drama teacher whose students include Nawazuddin Siddiqui Adil Hussain and Ashutosh RanaArjuns role which he so badly wanted slipped from SRKs hands and he had to satisfy himself with a supporting part SRK played a fellow student known as simply Senior SRK it is said never really forgave Arundhati Roy for her casting callThe central character in the film Anand is idealistic student who would study less and instead dream up utopian solutions to Indias problems like planting trees alongside railway tracks where underprivileged Indians defecate the faecal matter acting as compost and the water from sprinklers attached to trains doing the restSet in the 1970s the film was high on comedy and got praised for its realistic portrayal of contemporary college life It also featured Roshan Seth best known for playing Pandit Nehru in Sir Richard Attenboroughs Gandhi in Annie he played the comical colege principal YS Billimoria aka Yamdoot Manoj Bajpayee and Raghubir YadavIn Which Annie Gives It Those Ones was never released in theatres but has over the years gained a cult statusRituraj Singh who passed away in the wee hours of Tuesday was discharged from hospital after he was admitted following a stomach infection His health condition however deteriorated and he suffered a heart attack to which he succumbedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever