What i learnt from my father: Celebrity Speak

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan: “My father(the Hindustani classical exponent Hafiz Ali Khan) taught me that with patience and toleranceone could  achieve one’s goal in life.”

Amit Kumar: “In our time there was no day set aside for mothers and fathers. My father(maestro Kishore Kumar) was from the village and never subscribed to these urban laws of living. His advice to me for the 35 years that I was with him was to  believe in simple and high living and to avoid hypocrisy at any cost.”

Tiger Shroff: “The one main thing that mt father(Jackie Shroff) has taught me would be to love and respect my mother. His mother was everything to him. To me both my parents  are everything for me. I can’t choose one  over the other.”

Rahul Khanna:  “What I learnt from my father(Vinod Khanna) is that dogs are an important part of a fulfilling life.”

Rakesh Roshan: “My father(legendary music composer Roshan) taught me to practice honesty and passion in whatever I do.”

Tajdar Amrohi: “What I learnt from my father (the legendary filmmaker Kamal Amrohi) is the value of humility. I was taught bymy father to love and respect everyone no matter what his or her status in life. The only time I was slapped was when I was rude to a servant once.My father’s humility stays with me even today.”

Aarya Babbar: “Everything about life I’ve learnt from my father(actor-politician Raj Babbar). But the one lesson I’ve learnt fromhim as a professional actor is the value of time. From him I’ve learnt that when a producer pays for an actor’s time he can do what he likes with it.And from that came my biggest lesson: patience.

Pinky Bhalla: “I would like to be cool, calm and generous like my father(Pran)”

Girish Taurani: “My father(producer Kumar Taurani) has taught me many things. But the one lesson that I’ve learnt from him is to try to be a good humanbeing. It isn’t about just  being good or not being good. My father taught me you’ve to work on it every single day. I’d like to pass on this lesson to my children. Happy Father’s Day, Dad.”

Prem Kishen: “My father(actor Premnath) taught me have faith in God and to play my part with all my heart  and not bother with results.”

Vivaan Shah: “I’ve learnt many things from my father(Naseeruddin Shah). But most of all I’ve learnt the importance of kindness and sensitivity towards people . His discipline and dedication have taught me a lot.”

Baba Azmi: “What I learnt from Abba(poet-activist Kaifi Azmi) is that that no job/work is big or small.Aim to be the best in whatever you do.”

Zayed Khan: “My father(actor-director Sanjay Khan) taught me the value of a focussed vision in life and that the word ‘impossible’ only exists in the mind.”

Ayaan Ali Khan: “My father(Ustad Amjad Ali Khan) taught me to be good humanbeing. The rest including good music, would just follow.”

Amaan Ali Khan: “The one thing I have learnt from my father is to be helpful to the needy.”

Pooja Bhatt: “Integrity courage and passion are what I’ve inherited from my father(Mahesh Bhatt).”

Rahul Bhatt: “My dad(Mahesh Bhatt) is an exceptional man. He taught me the biggest risk in life is to not take a risk at all and that  nothing helps you succeed like failure.”

Rajeev Chaurasia: “My father(the flautist Hari Prasad Chaurasia)’s lesson to me: each of us has the power to rise above mediocrity to achieve excellence by completely surrendering our being to whatever we do in our daily existence. The management jargon for this  is,perserverance with passion . We in the world of music and arts term is simply as Bhakti and Sadhana.This is what I see and learn from my father, my rock star, every day.”

Jackie Shroff: “Sabr(patience) is what I learnt from my father.”

Bappi Lahiri: “My father(musican Apresh Lahiri) taught me that work is worship and and that being a good humanbeing is more important than bring successful.”

Alka Yagnik: “My father my hero my role model taught me tolerance and compassion for all.”

 Shabana Azmi: My earliest memory  of Abba(father Kaifi Azmi)… sitting  on a  writing table  in   his kurta-pyjama  smoking incessantly and writing  till the wee hours of  the morning. As a child I was convinced a poet was a euphemism  for someone who didn’t have any work. Daddys were supposed to put  on trousers, shirts and  ties and go out to work. In fact  when  people would ask me  what my father did I said he  was a  businessman and  quickly changed the topic….Oh , the follies of innocence…My father was  a   really gorgeous looking man  with  this beautiful voice.  People  don’t know this, but he  had a tremendous sense of  humour. I remember  once I was  putting eye-drops in his tiny  eyes. The drops kept falling all  over his face.  He told me about this inept  prince who was taught archery and who broke everything in  the house during practice. Then he said, ‘Put  the drops in my  ears they’ll   go in my eyes.’ He said  such   lines with a poker face.  He always made digs at  the strange procedure in  our films where  tunes came   first and lyrics were  written  into  them later. ‘It’s like first digging a grave and then trying  to fit a corpse into it. But I constantly  keep   fitting  the corpse into the grave, so everyone  thinks  I’m a good  lyricist’ he said…. You know I took  my father for granted, as all children tend to. But as a poet he continues to overwhelm me  each day even four years after  his death. Whether it was his poem Makaan  or Aurat…they’ve  been a great source of inspiration. My concern  for slum-dwellers started with my father’s poem Makaan which  talks of  the irony of  the construction worker who builds  a building with his sweat and blood  but isn’t allowed  to   enter  it.In   Hindi cinema , along  with Sahir, Majrooh  , Jaan Nissar Akhtar and  Shailendra,  my father raised  the standards of film lyrics. They were often deceptively  conversational  ––Kuch dil ne kaha…..kuch bhi nahin….As  a film lyricist he was a mixture  of  simplicity and poeticality. Take these lines Kissi  ka na  ho jiss pe saaya mujheaisi din  aisi  raat do/ Main manzil to khud dhoond loongi mere haath main zaraa apna haath do/ Qadam-do-qadam tum mera saath  do….And when Lataji   sang  these lines by myfather….what can be said? You know what was exceptional about  my father? He  never spoke at  home  about  his work.My  most favourite Kaifi Azmi lyrics? Hmmmmm… Koi kaise yeh bataaye ke wohtanha kyon hai/who  jo apna tha who aur kisika kyon  hai/yehi duniya hai to phir aisi yeh duniya kyon  hai/yehi hota hai to aakhir yehi hota kyon hai?…The simplicity of  these  lines kill me.  Imagine , a spouse-deserted woman (in the film Arth) being faced with these lines!….That sense of  commitment which artistes  of my father’s generation had ,  has been missing. But slowly it’s coming back in my film fraternity. I like it when film people   come  out to involve themselves with social issues.”