Veteran writer Dinesh Rai passed away in Bhopal yesterday (9th September). He was 80. He was a playwright and a respected one at that. In the world of literature and theatre, he was famous as Dinu Bhaiya. He had also written the story and screenplay of Shatrughan Sinha starrer Kalka.
Dinesh Rai was a very principled man and lived life without ever bending his principles. Although he had fallen on bad times in his twilight years, he refused to accept monetary help from even very close friends like Javed Akhtar and protégés like Rumy Jafry. Many years ago, he had once exhibited his paintings (he was a painter too) at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Bombay. Javed Akhtar and Rumy Jafry went to the exhibition and expressed a desire to buy some of his paintings. But Dinesh refused to sell them, asking the two to instead buy paintings of some youngsters so that the sale proceeds would be of use to them. According to actor Rajiv Verma, another close friend of Dinesh Rai, he was so passionate about theatre that he could do just about anything for it.
