By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
In 1988 a local stage artist, accompanied by two ,whom he intrduced as director and writer- lyricist reached my Sector 17 office. They had come with a message to be passed on to me from a local producer D.K.Chawla who was to begin shooting of his debut film titled ” Apna Desh Paraye Log”, and who wanted my help in the project as an advisor. The producer invited me to his residence in Sector 33 close to where I was residing. I met him in the evening and asked how much money he wanted to invest in the project. He replied it could be around 30 lakh,but could go up to a maximum of 40. I suggested him few names whom he could approach-the likes of Om Puri,Sonu Walia, Mangal Dhillon, Dan Dhanoa, Neeta Puri including some known local players. As the budget was small, I suggested him to go for soft or mediocre players. I could have persuaded Dolly Minhas( Miss India 1988) to play the lead but later left it to her as it was a matter of her career. However I told the producer that she would surely be in his next film “Sahibaan” starring Madhuri Dixit, Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt, which the producer was also planning.
After few sittings a press-conference was held at Hotel Mount View.In next few days the cast & ‘Mahurat’ date was finalised. The ‘muhurat’ took place in Bombay followed by a shooting stint at Filmistan Studios. Directed by Pradeep Huda( of ‘Saanjhi’ fame), the film had story and lyrics by Armaan Shahabi, music score by Usha Khanna, cinematography by Baldev Singh and dances by Habiba Rehman.There were two romantic pairs-Sonu Walia-Sumeet Sehgal and Suresh Oberoi-Upasna Khosla. Neeta Puri ,Sunil Babbar, Asha lata, Dan Dhanoa, Mangal Dhillon ,Moon Moon Sen, Neeta Puri, Bharat Kapoor and Ishrat Ali appeared in stellar roles.
Basically a crime thriller, the story of the film revolves round Sadashiv Amrapurkar who played a fake sadhu( holy man)with his characteristic aplomb. He is engaged in all sort of illegal activities, and is willing to jeopardize the country’s security for a rich pay-off. He is always surrounded by a string of young, voluptuous and sexy ‘sanyasins’.Clad in flawless saffron, like Sadashiv himself, these bewitching beauties are used as baits to bewitch, beguile, bully, and even blackmail the men who matter.
Predictably, the ‘holy man'( engaged in ‘unholy’ deeds )lives in style in the company of his luscious female devotees. The film was shot in a marathon 20-day schedule in and around Chandigarh including at some picturescue Kullu Manali locations. The aforesaid Ashram scenes were filmed at ‘Timber Trail, a beautiful hill-top resort situated at a height of above 7000 ft. above sea level. The place captures a panoramic view of the upper range of the Shivaliks . The site is reached by a cable car. Sridhara plays the role of ‘sanyasin-in-Chief’ at the Ashram.
The film also provided an opportunity to many of my Bank colleagues to be a part of the film and also to meet and see the stars from a close range. Producer Chawla died of a heart attack before the release of his film “Sahibaan” in 1992.
