Santoshi stories

In Bollywood you have to be a wonderful storyteller if you want to make a film. How well you narrate the story to a star often decides whether you can get him or her. If you were to do a poll amongst directors Raj Kumar Santoshi would be amongst the best narrators... now you know why he announces more projects than he actually makes them!

One apocryphal Santoshi incident is the manner in which he narrated the Khaaki role to Tushar Kapoor. When Tushar left Santoshi's office his chest was puffed up. He believed he was the hero of the film. His heart sank when he saw the trial show---but the role is still one of his best. Ashwariya Rai too was maha-thrilled when she heard the narration; but all that evaporated a couple of days into the shooting. Like the rest of her parivaar, she avoids working with Santoshi now.

A friend of mine who once worked with Santoshi says the director's stamina for narration is amazing. He once saw him narrate to an actor for two hours, hop in his vehicle and narrate another film to another actor for almost an hour on his mobile, and reach his office and narrate yet film to another actor!

But my favourite Santoshi story is of the storyteller at the recieving end. When he announced the Legend of Bhagat Singh, Piyush Mishra a well known theatre actor and writer (who has also acted in Dil Se, Maqbool and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom) was furious. Piyush, who knew Santoshi well, had written a play on Bhagat Singh and had heard he was not getting writing credits. So he had a couple of drinks, barged into Santoshi's home, poured kerosene on himself from his rum bottle and threatened to light himself.

It was the best narration Santoshi got. He promptly gave Piyush the writer's credit.