Dandeli

Long before the Swiss and others managed to rein in the Chopras and the Rajs to shoot their movies in the Alp facing locales, there were - and still are, mind you - places such as Dandeli which would once in a while attract the stars to descend here to shoot their movies.

I must have been around nine and studying in Dandeli in a school called St Michaels. Our world during those days used to very much revolve around movies. We loved playing cowboys and sometimes, we would be the Hindi film stars. We recognized even stars such as Jeetendra and Amitabh, (who was just then rising liking a meteor) apart from villains such as Prem Chopra and Ranjeet. We never did understand the movies and the only thing that excited us was the fight scenes or the chase sequences. Oh yes, our movies were filtered by my mother and we got to see the ones that passed their censoring eyes. Ours was an idyllic world where apart from school and a few minutes of homework, it was all play and mischief.

One bright day there was much excitement in the school and in our colony. The stars from Bombay had descended in our town to shoot a movie. We were delirious. 

A note about Dandeli - it was and still continues be a great holiday destination. It sits just by the borders of the huge forests that stretch all the way to Karwar. It also has the mighty Kali, a river that is frightening in the monsoon and nubile in the off season. Those were the days when the Supa Dam was being constructed and today is is a great sight. Dandeli today houses many resorts and hotels by the river Kali and offers adventure lovers a chance to do white water rafting and explore the jungles. The verdant forests are eye-pleasing and sport a variety of trees and not least among them, bamboos!

It was this greenery and splendour of the place that brought the stars to shoot in Dandeli. 

Come evening, me and my friends rushed to the guest house to catch a glimpse of the stars. There was a huge crowd in front of the guest house where Jeetendra was resting for the night. We managed to squeeze through and it was a quite a memorable moment for me when we struggled in the frenzy and I somehow managed to touch him. He looked tall and larger than anybody else around. Later we rolled around in the green lawns with laughter and glee at our accomplishment. But we still hadn't had our fill. We heard that the villainous Ranjeet was put up in another guest house. Off we raced to the spot but unlike earlier we could not enter the gates and could only see him from afar but clearly enough to see him wearing a thick gold chain around his bare torso. We marveled and told ourselves that it must be a ten kilo chain. It had to be. It was so thick and big...

Even our elders were smitten and it showed. The colony boys decided to hire a truck and speed down into the jungles and watch the shooting and it was a crowd of around 50 packed into truck, which made a way to the shooting spot, eager to be a part of the movie magic. 

The spot chosen by the director was a lovely one. The river flowed down in the valley and a rope bridge connected either ends. Onlookers like us were supposed to stay on top and watch the proceedings. We did not mind. We had a bird's eye-view of the shooting and the extra bonus was in seeing Saira Banu. The shooting never made any sense to us kids. Again and again the same thing. But we did not get bored. We saw the demure Saira Banu swimming, full dressed , in the river. 

The movie. I heard later flopped. I managed to watch it on TV once and tried to see if I could notice any of the locations. It was hard because it all looked alike. But even today, I feel I cannot think of Dandeli without thinking of my first glimpse of the stars.

Fifteen years later I was in Mumbai working for a Film Trade Magazine and asked to cover a shooting. Off I went to Film City and located the studio where Akshay Kumar, (fresh from the success of Khiladi) was shooting a movie with other stars.

One of the production guys welcomed me and made me sit with the actors as they rested between the shots. Akshay was being shot at that moment. I was introduced around to Anupam Kher, Ashwini Bhave and then to Ranjeet who was still around playing the villain to the hilt.

I couldn't help remembering Dandeli and the first time I spotted him from afar with so much glee. 

Today, unfortunately, was just another day. 

(Written in 1990)