Seriously fun!
When Sourav Ganguly did a Salman Khan at Lord's, and jubilantly lost his shirt as he tossed it into the stadium below, it was a very un-Dada like gesture.
Here was this reserved, taciturn Indian captain showing off a side of him that no one knew existed. Not many will remember if his chest was waxed or hairy but they'll remember that this as an offthe-chest spontaneous act by a cricketer not known for such emotional displays.
There are people who come across as reserved, stern, even intimidating and formidable, and you'll seldom see them dropping their guard. But nevertheless, they do have their fun side, and they do know how to lighten and loosen up. Just that they do not always want the entire world and their uncle to see them in that light.
"Sourav is big on food and adda, and there's no mistaking the glint in his eye when there's biryani and poshto on the table," says cricket analyst and author Boria Majumdar. "He loves a good adda on anything from politics to the future of Indian cricket. It's difficult to penetrate his veneer of reserve, but he has a few close friends, and with them he is completely himself."
From the Bengal southpaw to the earnest politician from West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. Who would have ever thought that this woman who causes many a politician and industrialist to lose their sleep is an angel with kids, writes poetry, is a good artist, and has a huge collection of Rabindra sangeet?
"My sister draws very well. In fact, even when she's at meetings and party conferences, you'll find her doodling and sketching. She's also a closet poet who mainly writes on the crises facing the country and other topical issues of the day. And though she's an incurable workaholic, it's when she's in the midst of children that she best unwinds," shares brother Karthik Banerjee. Now only if Ratan Tata had known this last bit, he could have tried another route to persuade her over Singur.
Take director Sanjay Leela Bhansali (S! LB). Imp assive, inscrutable (not yet a recluse, though). But is there another SLB that resides in him that we aren't acquainted with? Apparently, and, surprisingly, there is.
"Sanjay Leela Bhansali is the Kohinoor of the film industry," avers actor Jackie Shroff. "He does have a fun side to him, but that's not for the world to see. I've been associated with him right from Parindey through 1942 A Love Story, and then Devdas. On the sets, he functions as a tough administrator and a complete taskmaster, but when the day's shoot is over and done with, he cracks jokes and often cracks up too.
Once when I was dubbing for 1942, I used some foul words, and I realised that SLB had quietly slunk away from the room. Later, when I asked Vinod about it, he said SLB was like that. Sensitive, gentle, with zero appetite for any kind of unpleasantness. SLB has magic in his head and his feet on the ground. He's not any gabby director air-kissing and mwahing-mwahing his way into the high visibility zone. Though he's a thinker, he can be really funny." Apart from doing the thinking, we have it on good authority that SLB is also very fond of doing up interiors in his house, and can be quite the compulsive and extravagant shopper when it comes to splurging on the house. Behind the tough, no-nonsense, seldom smiling exterior of IT mogul Narayana Murthy lurks a western classical music aficionado. "He has an enviable collection of classical western music, and though he's almost Spartan in the way he lives, the only indulgence he's really allowed himself is the state-of-the art high-end music system. I also believe he has a piano. He's most definitely not a party animal, but if he has to attend social dos, he makes a very quick exit after an equally quick dinner," says Naresh Narasimhan, architect and close associate of Murthy for over two decades now. Talking of Murthy, actor Sudha Belawadi of Mungaru Male fame, says, "He called the entire cast and crew of Mungaru Male, and treated us to a sumptuous typical Karnataka ! lunch. H e'd seen this movie on his wife's recommendation, and he let us know that was his first movie in more than 20 years! He interacted effortlessly with all of us, and said we had made him a proud Kannadiga. It was an easy camaraderie that we all shared."
Most interviewers get a case of nerves when talking to Sir Vidya Naipaul who's known for his acerbic wit and his complete inability to suffer fools. But we dug some, and discovered that there's indeed an other side to him. He is passionate about cats.
Recounts a fellow writer, partial to felines, who once shared a car ride with the Nobel laureate, "Not only is he passionate about cats, he actually gave me a 30-minute talk during our journey together on how to give tomcats an enema. It was an eye-opener, his profound knowledge on the subject."
If that has you purring in disbelief, then maybe it's time you knew that some surfaces can be scratched deeper to get to know someone better. And many a time what lies beneath is a pleasant revelation. It's what they are when the lights are out and they're with their own.
Not a limelight-hogging actor, Ajay Devgn comes across as aloof, even a tad stand-offish, but those close to him vouch for his fun side. "Ajay is this incredibly energetic actor, and really very chilled-out," says actor Tusshar Kapoor. "He comes into his own after pack-up time, but he consciously limits his circle of friends." Agrees director Madhur Bhandarkar, "Ajay is one helluva easygoing chap. He has no starry airs and doesn't take himself seriously. He's fond of cars, and dotes on his pet dogs."
Though by no means severe or daunting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh keeps his other side quite under wraps. Says eminent Kucchipudi dancer Raja Reddy, who's had the PM and his wife Gurcharan Kaur at several of his dance performances, "Manmohan Singhji is extremely fond of old movies and old Hindi songs. One of his favourite Hindi numbers is...Ayega aane wala from the movie Mahal. He's also a great one for cla! ssics li ke Baiju Bawra, Mughal-e-Azam, Mahal." Reddy continues, "His other side is not very different from the side we know of him because it draws on the same qualities. Once during my performance, he had a call from the President of Iran, and would you believe he waited till he had my permission to take the call. He had to leave, and when I went to see him off, he bent down and apologised profusely for having to leave the function midway, and assured me that his wife would sit through right till the end. That's what makes this man so great."
Another politician who's kept her other side hidden is Maneka Gandhi. Of course, she has her pet passions and green causes, but there's more to her. Says designer Madhu Jain,"Maneka is someone who's very much into art, literature, and her family. She knows and reads up a lot on art, and her son has inherited his penchant and flair for writing poetry from her."
Now that you know that sometimes what you see is not quite all there is to it, you can go ahead, explore, and discover hitherto unknown dimensions to people. Remember, however, to watch out for that 'keep off ' sign!
purba.dutt@timesgroup.com
Here was this reserved, taciturn Indian captain showing off a side of him that no one knew existed. Not many will remember if his chest was waxed or hairy but they'll remember that this as an offthe-chest spontaneous act by a cricketer not known for such emotional displays.
There are people who come across as reserved, stern, even intimidating and formidable, and you'll seldom see them dropping their guard. But nevertheless, they do have their fun side, and they do know how to lighten and loosen up. Just that they do not always want the entire world and their uncle to see them in that light.
"Sourav is big on food and adda, and there's no mistaking the glint in his eye when there's biryani and poshto on the table," says cricket analyst and author Boria Majumdar. "He loves a good adda on anything from politics to the future of Indian cricket. It's difficult to penetrate his veneer of reserve, but he has a few close friends, and with them he is completely himself."
From the Bengal southpaw to the earnest politician from West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. Who would have ever thought that this woman who causes many a politician and industrialist to lose their sleep is an angel with kids, writes poetry, is a good artist, and has a huge collection of Rabindra sangeet?
"My sister draws very well. In fact, even when she's at meetings and party conferences, you'll find her doodling and sketching. She's also a closet poet who mainly writes on the crises facing the country and other topical issues of the day. And though she's an incurable workaholic, it's when she's in the midst of children that she best unwinds," shares brother Karthik Banerjee. Now only if Ratan Tata had known this last bit, he could have tried another route to persuade her over Singur.
Take director Sanjay Leela Bhansali (S! LB). Imp assive, inscrutable (not yet a recluse, though). But is there another SLB that resides in him that we aren't acquainted with? Apparently, and, surprisingly, there is.
"Sanjay Leela Bhansali is the Kohinoor of the film industry," avers actor Jackie Shroff. "He does have a fun side to him, but that's not for the world to see. I've been associated with him right from Parindey through 1942 A Love Story, and then Devdas. On the sets, he functions as a tough administrator and a complete taskmaster, but when the day's shoot is over and done with, he cracks jokes and often cracks up too.
Once when I was dubbing for 1942, I used some foul words, and I realised that SLB had quietly slunk away from the room. Later, when I asked Vinod about it, he said SLB was like that. Sensitive, gentle, with zero appetite for any kind of unpleasantness. SLB has magic in his head and his feet on the ground. He's not any gabby director air-kissing and mwahing-mwahing his way into the high visibility zone. Though he's a thinker, he can be really funny." Apart from doing the thinking, we have it on good authority that SLB is also very fond of doing up interiors in his house, and can be quite the compulsive and extravagant shopper when it comes to splurging on the house. Behind the tough, no-nonsense, seldom smiling exterior of IT mogul Narayana Murthy lurks a western classical music aficionado. "He has an enviable collection of classical western music, and though he's almost Spartan in the way he lives, the only indulgence he's really allowed himself is the state-of-the art high-end music system. I also believe he has a piano. He's most definitely not a party animal, but if he has to attend social dos, he makes a very quick exit after an equally quick dinner," says Naresh Narasimhan, architect and close associate of Murthy for over two decades now. Talking of Murthy, actor Sudha Belawadi of Mungaru Male fame, says, "He called the entire cast and crew of Mungaru Male, and treated us to a sumptuous typical Karnataka ! lunch. H e'd seen this movie on his wife's recommendation, and he let us know that was his first movie in more than 20 years! He interacted effortlessly with all of us, and said we had made him a proud Kannadiga. It was an easy camaraderie that we all shared."
Most interviewers get a case of nerves when talking to Sir Vidya Naipaul who's known for his acerbic wit and his complete inability to suffer fools. But we dug some, and discovered that there's indeed an other side to him. He is passionate about cats.
Recounts a fellow writer, partial to felines, who once shared a car ride with the Nobel laureate, "Not only is he passionate about cats, he actually gave me a 30-minute talk during our journey together on how to give tomcats an enema. It was an eye-opener, his profound knowledge on the subject."
If that has you purring in disbelief, then maybe it's time you knew that some surfaces can be scratched deeper to get to know someone better. And many a time what lies beneath is a pleasant revelation. It's what they are when the lights are out and they're with their own.
Not a limelight-hogging actor, Ajay Devgn comes across as aloof, even a tad stand-offish, but those close to him vouch for his fun side. "Ajay is this incredibly energetic actor, and really very chilled-out," says actor Tusshar Kapoor. "He comes into his own after pack-up time, but he consciously limits his circle of friends." Agrees director Madhur Bhandarkar, "Ajay is one helluva easygoing chap. He has no starry airs and doesn't take himself seriously. He's fond of cars, and dotes on his pet dogs."
Though by no means severe or daunting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh keeps his other side quite under wraps. Says eminent Kucchipudi dancer Raja Reddy, who's had the PM and his wife Gurcharan Kaur at several of his dance performances, "Manmohan Singhji is extremely fond of old movies and old Hindi songs. One of his favourite Hindi numbers is...Ayega aane wala from the movie Mahal. He's also a great one for cla! ssics li ke Baiju Bawra, Mughal-e-Azam, Mahal." Reddy continues, "His other side is not very different from the side we know of him because it draws on the same qualities. Once during my performance, he had a call from the President of Iran, and would you believe he waited till he had my permission to take the call. He had to leave, and when I went to see him off, he bent down and apologised profusely for having to leave the function midway, and assured me that his wife would sit through right till the end. That's what makes this man so great."
Another politician who's kept her other side hidden is Maneka Gandhi. Of course, she has her pet passions and green causes, but there's more to her. Says designer Madhu Jain,"Maneka is someone who's very much into art, literature, and her family. She knows and reads up a lot on art, and her son has inherited his penchant and flair for writing poetry from her."
Now that you know that sometimes what you see is not quite all there is to it, you can go ahead, explore, and discover hitherto unknown dimensions to people. Remember, however, to watch out for that 'keep off ' sign!
purba.dutt@timesgroup.com
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