IMO, India’s most underrated actor

Months before the release of Ramesh Sippyrsquos Shaan 1980 showbiz titans like Raj Kapoor and Yash Chopra were in touch with actor Kulbhushan Kharbanda knowing the film was set to be director Sippyrsquos cityslicker version of Indiarsquos biggest blockbustermdashSholay 1975 similarly scripted by SalimJavedWhich it was with a cop Sunil Dutt and two delightful outlaws Amitabh Bachchan Shashi Kapoor in a faceoff with a massive villain down to the song lsquoYamma Yammarsquo for lsquoMehbooba Mehboobarsquo if you mayKharbanda as villain Shakaal would become the new Gabbar surely Only that Kharbanda somehow knew there was no reason for him to build castles in air He even went over to Shaanrsquos postpremiere party at INS Vikrant without a plusone and quietly left in his selfdriven Fiat without much fanfareHis hunch was right A reason the film bombed then according to writer Javed Akhtar was he didnrsquot give Shakaal a memorable stockphrase for public recallmdashsomething he rectified with a similar villain in Mr India 1987 ldquoMogambo khush huardquoThis is ironic given the Tshirt Irsquove put on to meet Kharbanda has the caricature of bald Shakaal in it with a semiiconic line ldquoAb apki kya khatir ki jayerdquoKharbanda didnrsquot realise until I brought my Tshirt to his notice at his sprawling bungalow in Pune that he says ldquobelongs to his wife a minor royal whorsquod bought this family inheritance from her brotherrdquoBehind us was a gigantic portrait of Kharbanda as Raja Puran Singh that was a prop in Lagaan 2001 which director Ashutosh Gowariker gifted himOver nearly 50 years Kharbanda 77 has been part of every cinematic movement possiblemdashparallel cinema Godhuli Chakra critically acclaimed plus popular Arth Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander hardcore commercial Jaanbaaz Joshilaay TV Bharat Ek Khoj Deewar lsquosinglescreen massyrsquo Coolie No 1 Border lsquomultiplexrsquo Earth Monsoon Wedding OTT Mirzapur A Suitable Boymdashjust name itIn my opinion he is Indiarsquos most underrated actor wersquove decidedly taken his screen presence for granted chiefly because he has A delightfully reluctant interviewee he tells me he hasnrsquot watched 90 per cent of his work ldquoThe chef doesnrsquot devour his own foodrdquo Not true for Shaan though hersquos seen that twiceLately veteran lawyer Shanti Bhushan also Indiarsquos former law minister has been calling him up regularlymdashtotally impressed watching him in Guilty Minds 2022 where he plays a character inspired by Bhushan Itrsquos a great series codirected by Bhushanrsquos daughter Shefali ldquoArre apne dekhi hai yoursquove seen that toordquo Kharbanda responds Hersquos not mockingNaturally gifted as a stage performer Kharbanda refused admission to National School of Drama because hersquod hung around depressed actors enoughmdashliving off tea cigarettes on borrowed moneymdasharound Delhirsquos Mandi House Thatrsquos not what he wantedOnly that a paid job with regular salary he eventually landed was with an English theatre company in Delhi doing backstage work Theatreguru Barry John was his young colleague He moved to similar employment in then Calcutta and continued to perform when these theatre companies did plays in Hindi chiefly for grants which was rare Life seemed setIn the mid rsquo70s when director Shyam Benegalrsquos office called him to audition for Nishant 1975 he saw no point in such a long train journey and only went because they offered him a flight ticketmdasha luxury thenThe journey thereafter as Kharbanda describes it was a ldquolong partyrdquomdashwith a retinue of house helps in a seafacing Marine Drive place that a benefactor had provided for a lot of filmmaking aspirants at zero rentMany FTII folk including Om Puri later stayed at this bachelorrsquos mansion The drinking and chilling rarely stopped Kharbanda gave up drinking 25 years ago because he had begun to rely on it to fall asleep the quantities kept going upHe of course then moved to a Bandra apartment that he bought because buddy Girish Karnad had bought one He just asked Karnad to pick up the neighbouring place for him without even seeing it ldquoThings have just happened to merdquo he says and is that why he doesnrsquot like talking about it muchNo Like his nickname Kul hersquos just cool like that I figuremdashsomeone simply incapable of taking himselfhis legacy seriouslymdashtoo busy constantly kissing his pet parakeet Mammo as we speak How many films has he done ldquoWho remembers this about characteractors 300 or sordquo His most satisfying role ldquoHow does one answer thatrdquo He tells me later he enjoyed Benegalrsquos Kalyug 1981 immenselyOf course he has great back stories from here and there about this and that Like how he came up with a whistle as code for a perennially frisky husband in Kalyug Or how writer Salim Khan finally tracked him down to cast as Shakaal Khan had seen Kharbandarsquos art house films Benegalrsquos insecure producers wouldnrsquot part with his phone number Sippy wanted Shakaal to be performed realistically not overthetopKharbanda recalls ldquoEverybody knows that part was lifted from a Bond villain Blofeld Whatrsquos there to say Even Sholay had tanked the first 15 days But Shaan never resurfaced afterrdquoldquoImagine if it had worked and I wouldrsquove become like a lot of people in showbiz whose backs I notice keep straightening up further and further with success To a point it seems theyrsquoll just collapse with that straight a backhellip So glad what happenedrdquoMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper