I had never attended a fun evening at Le Chakallas, a fairly spacious studio at Aram Nagar in Bombay, next to the Arya Samaj temple. When the studio owner, Shashank Shrivastav, a new friend I made during the lockdown, invited me to one such fun evening today (19th February), I didn’t know what it would be like. The video invitation, conceived and recorded by actor-writer Amitosh Nagpal (who was a co-host of the party) in his own voice, was so well-worded and so beautifully rendered that I immediately decided that I had to go — to not just experience the fun but to compliment Amitosh in person, for the unique invitation to a party which, I was to later realise, was also unique. Shashank and Amitosh, I was told, go a long way.
The sight that greeted me at the studio was one of a room packed with youngsters who were singing and dancing like there was going to be no tomorrow. Amitosh was standing atop a chair and belting out — along with many others — one Bollywood hit song after another. A few seconds in the studio and I knew that it was going to be an evening well spent.
“The idea is to get like-minded people from the entertainment industry to simply come here and unwind, have fun and, maybe, network,” explained Shashank who has produced stage-plays and ultimately wants to make films and do many other things in the film industry. Since the invitation asked the invitees to come along with friends, there were several who had come with someone or the other but did not know the host. That was unique!
I enjoyed meeting Amitosh at the party. He shared several memories of times he had spent with his dear friend, late Irrfan Khan. He recalled how Irrfan and he used to often meet for no reason in particular; perhaps, only because they were fond of one another. “Oftentimes, we used to be sitting and not even chatting… we were connected by our hearts,” revealed Amitosh who had written Hindi Medium which was one of the several landmark films of Irrfan’s career. Amitosh also reminded me of how, in my review of Besharam, I had made a positive mention of his performance and gone on to add that the makers ought to have increased the length of his role to continue in the film’s second half, to good advantage. Which set me thinking… was real life imitating reel life in Nagpal’s case? If what he has already accomplished in his career so far can, for a moment, be considered as the first half of his professional life, why was the second half so far not a quarter as exciting as it should be? Why was a talented actor like him not being seen in more films, and why was the name of the writer of Hindi Medium not adorning the titles of other films?
Probably because Amitosh does not think like a businessman. Why, when a producer came with a super-lucrative offer to buy his script, Nagpal didn’t sell it, only because he had committed that script to another director (Maqbool Khan, who later directed Khaali Peeli for Zee Studios, Ali Abbas Zafar and Himanshu Mehra). Amitosh also very gently requested the prospective producer to refrain from mentioning this to Maqbool for fear that the latter would prevail upon him (Amitosh) to not let the God-sent opportunity to go by and hence sell the script to that producer, if only because that’s the bonding they share. It was an extremely emotional moment for “dear friend” Maqbool (and Amitosh too) when he got to know — much later — that his “Chhote” had forgone a fat cheque only and only because in his mind, the script belonged to him (Maqbool). “I’m an actor and a writer,” says Nagpal, adding, “It’s not my job to think like a businessman.” He then continues thoughtfully, “Unfortunately, very few are thinking creatively about their films today, most of them have become businessmen. Filmmaking has become a business when it should actually be a passion. Therefore, more proposals and less films are being made today.” Words of wisdom, indeed! “But I run miles away from the word ‘proposal’. I want to enjoy while I work,” concludes Nagpal who has come to the city of dreams from Haryana. There aren’t too many people like Amitosh Nagpal in the industry in today’s times. This talented actor-writer has his heart and his mind in the right place.
Another person I met with great joy at Le Chakallas earlier this evening was Alok Arbind Thakur. I knew him as producer Sunil Bohra’s all-in-one — production hand, accountant, etc. I was thrilled when he informed me that he had produced two web series (under his banner, Katalyst Motion Pictures) during the lockdown and was in the process of starting two more. But I wasn’t one bit surprised. For, even when I had interacted with him some years back, I had always felt, Alok would do something much bigger than what he was doing (which itself wasn’t small). What added to my joy was that he had cast a lot of new talent in the web series. Lesson to learn: With hard work, honesty, sincerity and devotion, you can achieve your goals.
In picture on top are (l. to r.) Alok Arbind Thakur, Komal Nahta, Shashank Shrivastav and Amitosh Nagpal.
