‘I need to work to find some joy in this life.’
IMAGE: Kanwaljit Singh with wife Anooradha Patel. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anooradha Patel/Instagram
Kanwaljit Singh loved the fact that everyone “hated” him in Mrs.
The 73-year-old actor looks back at his long innings in the film industry and tells Patcy N/Rediff.com, “I tell everybody that I am there if you need me for a role… If I want, I can retire in Lonavala but I am a workaholic.”
Tell us how you met your wife, Anooradha Patel.
I was doing a series called Chhapte Chhapte with Sippy Films. Sarika was opposite me.
We shot the pilot but halfway through that, she left for Madras to meet you-know-who, na?
Kamal Haasan?
Yes. Then we started looking for a leading lady. I came up with the idea of taking Mini (Anooradha Patel) because I had worked with her.
They brought her in and that’s where the whole thing started.
We fell in love and got married after eight years.
IMAGE: Kanwaljit Singh, Anooradha Patel and Director Sudhir Mishra in 1985’s Chhapte Chhapte for Doordarshan. Photograph: Kind courtesy Sudhir Mishra/X
Why did you wait for so long to get married? Was there any opposition?
No. She is 10 years younger than me, so I had to wait.
I bought my first house — a very small and cute one — and then I thought I can settle down now.
How did you get the biggest television series Buniyaad?
The Sippys were trying to make a big family drama, based on Partition. They called Manohar Shyam Joshi, a brilliant writer, who had written Hum Log.
Amita Khanna, who had done the casting for Chhapte Chhapte, was also handling Buniyaad.
Initially, it was decided to take big actors like Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan.
But that did not materialise, so they decided to take actors, who were already available with them from Chhapte Chhapte like Alok Nath, Asha Sachdev and me.
After the narration, Ramesh Sippyji asked me to play Roshan Lal.
I was heartbroken.
I told him I was inspired by Satyavir’s character.
He said, ‘No, you will not look younger than Dalip Tahil and Mazhar Khan.’
I was a big size in those days.
I asked for 15-20 days and went on a strict diet.
I lost a great deal of weight.
Then when I knocked at Ramesh Sippy’s door, he said ‘Aaye Satyavirji.’
That’s how I got the role.
(Roshan Lal was eventually played by Mazhar Khan.)
IMAGE: Soni Razdan, Kanwajit Singh and Dalip Tahil in Buniyaad.
Buniyaad made you a household name. How did that change your life?
That was the first big series to happen in Bombay.
Hum Log happened in Delhi, most of the actors were from there.
We shot Buniyaad for two-three years, from 7 am to 11 pm.
Rameshji is a workaholic. If he had his way, he would have asked everyone to sleep in the studio!
I met him a couple of weeks ago and he said Buniyaad 2 is on the line.
We had become famous but we had no idea because we were in the studios, the whole day, for three years!
I didn’t even have a television in my house those days; we couldn’t afford it.
After Ramayana became a huge hit, we got to know that its cast was making more money. Someone told me that the Ramayana actors were travelling by car from Delhi to a small town for a show.
The driver was very enamoured by them, and invited them to his village.
The Ramayana actors asked for money and visited the driver’s village.
We were not that smart. If we were, we could have also made some money doing shows.
IMAGE: Deepika Amin and Kanwajit Singh in Farmaan.
Which was your favourite show?
Lekh Tandon’s Farmaan. I fell in love with my character.
I would behave like Azar Nawab even after I finished the show.
I went for a holiday to Nepal and would introduce myself as Azar Nawab to the foreigners that I met.
Virendra Ghatge was supposed to do the role. But when they were leaving to shoot the series in Hyderabad, he said he had an offer to work in a French series.
Raja Bundela told them I was jobless.
Tandonsaab and I hated and loved each other. He is my favourite director but he demanded too much from Navin Nischol and me.
IMAGE: Neena Gupta and Kanwaljit Singh in Saans.
Your television show Saans with Neena Gupta became very popular.
After they saw the pilot, they said it’s very different and won’t work.
But when Sony TV’s old management left and the new one came in, they loved it.
Neena Gupta was the producer, director, story writer and actor.
My character in Saans is not just black or white; there are grey shades to him.
If you leave your house for some reason, get divorced or separated, you will not forget your kids and ex-wife.
The relationship stays because you have shared so many years together. Plus, there are so many things to finalise about the kids. You have to sit together and plan their future.
So I would tell her I will not portray the character totally black.
We would fight a lot. We had creative differences.
I was also doing Lekh Tandon’s Daraar at the time. The story was inspired by Mr Oberoi (Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi), the owner of the Oberoi hotels.
In between out of the blue, I got an offer for Family Number 1.
I asked them, ‘How can you think of me in a comedy role? All my life I have been crying or getting angry.’
But they wanted somebody who people will least expect this from.
I enjoyed it.
It was a great relief from Saans and Daraar.
IMAGE: Om Puri, Chandrachur Singh, Kanwaljit Singh and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in Maachis.
Being from a Sikh family, how did Maachis affect you? You played a negative character. I heard it did not go well with your relatives.
I am born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh.
I had some idea about what was happening in Punjab but I didn’t know about the encounters.
When I did that film, I thought it was very well written and directed by Gulzarbhai. Who would not want to work with him?
I am fan of his poetry and the person that he is.
After the film, I went to Punjab and they wouldn’t tell me directly but I could feel that this topic shouldn’t be discussed there.
I saw objectionable pictures hanging from their walls but I would not comment.
IMAGE: Vaani Kapoor and Kanwaljit Singh in Chandigarh Kare Ashiqui.
You earned a lot of praise for Chandigarh Kare Ashiqui where you support your son on becoming a girl.
These LGBTQ guys would come to me and talk to me very nicely, as if I have done a personal favour to them.
When I’m shooting, I did not realise it. I just did my character.
Like, I didn’t know I was such an evil man to Sanya (Malhotra in Mrs).
Does it upset you to ask for work in your 70s?
I tell everybody that I am there if you need me for a role. I need work and I want to work.
If I want, I can retire in Lonavala but I am a workaholic.
I need to work to find some joy in this life.
IMAGE: Kanwaljit Singh with Anooradha Patel, and their sons Siddharth and Aditya, and mother Rani Ravinder Kaur. Photograph: Kind courtesy Kanwaljit Singh/Instagram
Why did Anooradhaji leave acting?
She did not. But then, the kids were born and she took a back seat.
Now she is working again. She played Kiara Advani’s mother in Radhe Shyam and Salman Khan’s mother in Ready.
