Immortal Sanjeev: A Much Loved Man - Desklib

IMMORTAL SANJEEV
A MUCH LOVED MAN
REETA RAMAMURTHY GUPTA
and
UDAY JARIWALA
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Every man's life ends the same way.
It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man
from another.
- Ernest Hemingway
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When Narendra Modi, then CM of Gujarat inaugurated the Sanjeev Kumar (real
name Hari Jariwala) Auditorium in Surat on 14th February 2014, he remarked
appreciatively to Uday Jariwala, the late actor’s nephew and my co-author, about
how carefully all of Haribhai’s trophies and records had been preserved and
handed over to the auditorium authorities.
His remark had an important context- because Hari Jariwala never married and has
no offspring to preserve his belongings or carry his name. Yet, close friends of Hari
vouch for his strong sense of extended family- which was palpable. Far beyond a
sense of duty towards his siblings, accorded by the obvious mutuality of parentage,
Hari was a loving man. His vast affection for sister Gayatri and brother Nikul’s
children (Hari’s third sibling Kishore, had no offsprings), and their wholehearted
reciprocation of it, is the reason this book could be written, nearly four decades
after his death.
Uday recalls how Narendra Modi spoke about Hari’s films- Koshish, Khilona and
Angoor in particular, with nostalgia. As part of the inauguration ceremony, two
National Award trophies earned by the legendary actor were handed over by Uday
to Narendra Modi, who in turn handed it to the Mayor of Surat Niranjan Zanzmera
to place them in the auditorium. Post the event, the CM was to take a flight to Delhi
to begin campaigning for the historic Lok Sabha elections in 2014. “Send me all the
details,” he told the Mayor as he left and then tweeted about it.
By inaugurating the auditorium, Modi discharged his duties, both as a fan as well as
administrator. This gesture stands testimony to Harihar Jariwala’s contribution to
cinema and the adulation of fans, who have ensured that he has a road, a stamp, a
school and an auditorium to his name.
Uday and his mother Jyoti Nikul Jariwala, have preserved Hari’s diary, several
articles, fan mail, letters, invitation cards and clippings from the period 1971
onwards. Some clippings are torn, faded with time; luckily, several articles had a
clear mention of a writer and a publication name. Every single contribution has
been credited in the book. Hari-philes (a term we will use for Hari’s innumerable
fans) from across the world reached out with memorabilia and anecdotes- those
that could be verified, became part of the book.
I express my deepest gratitude to the untiring work of the journalists of the 1970s
and 1980s who have interviewed Hari Jariwala and given us a way to know him in
his own words.
Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta
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Deepest gratitude to
The late Gayatri Ashok Patel
Jyoti Nikul Jariwala
Without your memories harking back to the 1940s and the 1970s respectively, this
book would never be the same
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We miss you Dada
Uday and Neelam Jariwala, Aryan and Saachi
Prithvi, Rishika, Krishiv Jariwala
Ekta, Fiahan
We miss you Mama
Artee and Ashish Patel
Posthumously dedicated to
Father Jethalal Jariwala
Mother Shantaben Jariwala
Brothers Kishore and Nikul Jariwala
Sister Gayatri Patel and brother in law Ashok Patel
Lifelong manager Jamnadasji
Gratitude to all the friends, colleagues and scribes
who gave their time and their
memories to this book.
Hari-philes, this one’s for you.
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THE FAMILY TREE
Young Hari was born to plenty.
Grandfather Shivlal had a Haveli(large palatial home) in Surat, with ghoda-gaadi
(horse carriage) and all the trappings of wealth. Father Jethalal Shivlal Jariwala
became a Zari trader (fine gold or silver thread woven into fabrics), in the family
tradition. His only sister died when she was very small.
Those were times when a ceremonial gun mounted on the wall of the Haveli was
symbolic of grandeur. You also needed a license to have a radio in the British days
and Jethalal had one!
Hari’s mother Shanta, (hereafter just referred to as ‘Baa’), was also from a family of
rich Zamindars (land owners) in Bardoli. Her father was the Sarpanch
(administrative head) of his village and and it was because he was powerful, that he
could even think of getting his daughter married to a wealthy family in Surat city.
Baa was the third wife to Jethalal. From the first wife, Jethalal had two daughters,
Laxmi and Jasu. From the second wife, he had one daughter Bhagwati. From Baa,
he had five children, a first daughter who expired, followed by Hari, Kishore, Gayatri
and Nikul.
There was a 16-year age gap between Baa and Jethalal. Young girls getting
married to older men was very common in those days. Hence, Jethalal’s daughters
from his earlier marriage, namely Laxmi, Jasu and Bhagwati were almost Baa’s
age. The first two were already married when Baa came into the family and Baa
was a part of the third one’s marriage rituals.
As Jethalal had no sons, it was Baa’s wish to bear him a son. There was a Maata
ka Mandir (a temple with a Goddess as deity) at Charoti on the Maharashtra-
Gujarat border, a couple of hours form Surat. Baa used to travel all the way to pray
for a son. The term for these prayers is ‘Mannat’- a vow taken to entice God to
grant a particular outcome, in exchange for some penance. Baa pledged to God
that if he gave her a son, she would make him wear only ‘donated clothes’ for the
first 10 years and bring him back to the same temple for his ‘Mundan' (hair shaving
ceremony). After five long years of marriage (it was common for a child to be born
within the first year itself), a prodigal son Harihar Jariwala was born on 9th
July,1938. Three more children followed; Kishore in 1944, Gayatri in 1946 and Nikul
in 1947.
Hari went on to become Sanjeev Kumar, an actor who was loved by millions of
Indians. He chose to remain single.
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Baa’s second son Kishore Jariwala grew up to be an actor and musician. He was
estranged from the family for several years. Later on in life he married Prafulla.
They had no children.
The daughter Gayatri got married to Ashok Patel and settled in America. Ashok
passed away on 18th April, 2017 and Gayatri passed away on 17th February 2021.
They have two children Alex (Ashish) Patel and Aartee.
The third son Nikul Jariwala became a producer. With his wife Jyoti, Nikul parented
three children-Uday, Prithvi and Ekta. Ekta is settled in London. Uday and Prithvi
live in Mumbai.
All three of Baa and Jethalal’s sons died within a span of 20 months! Nikul in
September 1984, Hari in November 1985 and Kishore in May 1986. All the
brothers succumbed to heart disease, just like their father Jethalal.
Uday Jariwala, co-author of this book, performed their last rites.
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FOREWORD
Sublime stagecraft
When the Almighty decided to bless Hindi cinema with largesse, he sent Haribhai
Jariwala. A ‘parasmani’ (jewel) who could convert a simple role into a stellar
performance, an ordinary dialogue into an auditory odyssey, Haribhai Jariwala was
a nonpareil performer. I am humbled to be spoken of in the same breath as
Haribhai, courtesy our work and state of origin, Gujarat. Our journey from theatre to
cinema is also a common thread.
My experiments with theatre started in the early 70s. Haribhai, a superstar at the
time, came to see my play ‘Kabro’ (based on the English play Equus) at Bhaidas
Hall. This must’ve been around 1979. On another occasion, he came to see one of
my plays at Prithvi theatre; he mentioned that he was staying in the same complex
at a friends’ home. I remember this distinctly because within a short period, he
suffered a heart attack and I went to see him at Nanavati Hospital. This was 1983.
However, the last time I saw him was at a shoot at Filmcity in 1985. He was doing
Nitin Manmohan’s film ‘Baat Ban Jaaye'; he had just returned from his cardiac
surgery in the US. I went over from my sets to his, to pay my respects. What I saw
was a blanched apparition of the happy man I had seen before! In all fairness, I had
only known him as a big star- so he wasn't particularly accessible or
communicative. But thanks to a few common friends, actors Amrit Patel,
Chandrakant Thakkar and producer Jayant Malkan (who produced Namkeen), he
was always polite and courteous to me. I will never forget what I saw on the sets
that day- when the camera turned on, Haribhai resurrected himself into the
character he was playing.
Theatre is an excellent training ground and Haribhai was already a thespian stage
artiste when he sought roles in cinema. Theatre requires exceptional memory-
there are no ‘short takes’ that can be patched together. It is an actor’s medium,
your performance is organic and live. Once the curtains open, the actors have to
hold the audience and assay the plot. Theatre gives you confidence and instils
discipline and alertness. The subjects in theatre are also intense, the literature is
fine and the writing is exceptional. You mature as an artiste around sensitive
subjects. But here’s the key; theatre prepares you for a marathon, whereas cinema
is a 50 metre run. Haribhai understood this intuitively.
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