“I was fortunate enough as an actor to be part of that group of game-changing filmmakers in the 1970s Saeed Mirza, Aziz Mirza, Vinod Chopra and Kundan Shah.
In fact it was Aziz Saab who called me to tell me about Kundan’s death and to inform as many friends about it as possible . It feels like the death of an era…Kundan was soknowledgable and not just about cinema. Way back in 1986 he revolutionized the way we looked at television.
The work that he did in Nukkad,Manoranjan and Circusremains unparalleled to this day on Indian television. I was lucky enough to be part of Nukkad and Manoranjan. I learnt so much from working with Kundan.
The wisdom and intelligence he brought to television and then to cinema with Jaane BhiDo Yaaron was amazing. Though I didn’t have a role in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron I served as an assistant on the film. Kundan was a hard taskmaster.
He expected plenty from himself and from those around him. Unfortunately the work that he did afterNukkad and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron could not measure up to them. This happens to many outstanding filmmakers. I haven’t seen his later works. But none of them had the same impact. It is remarkable what that group of filmmakers achieved .
Whether it was Kundan with Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, Saeed Mirza withAlbert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai and Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro(in which I starred) or Vidhu Vinod Chopra with Khamosh and Parinda…these are films that changed the way we look at Indian cinema.
I am very proud to be associated withKundan. I met him last after Saeed Saab’s surgery six months ago. We met at the hospital and then chatted over a meal.I wish we met more often.”
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