Either way, I always keep a tab on Bollywood news, and often when I’m watching interviews or movies, some connection with Hyderabad always pops up and immediately my brain just bookmarks that information.
SRK – The Tolichowki Connection: Shah Rukh Khan’s mother is from Tolichowki. This fact comes up whenever SRK is doing a movie promotion tour in Hyderabad, or if a Hyderabadi journalist travels to Mumbai to cover him. He will throw in a ‘kaiku’ and a ‘hallu’, and I’m thinking wow. The man who said ‘K-k-k-Kiran’ was just a stone’s throw away from K-k-k-Khairatabad... our area is surely special.
Harsha Bhogle’s Hyderabadi Accent: Harsha Bhogle, though not a Bollywood star, is essentially the SRK of cricket commentators. The way he describes Sachin’s batting has more love per square inch than DDLJ.
He is from Hyderabad, and whenever there is a match in the city or he is interviewing a local player, he suddenly switches gears. He goes from perfect Queen’s English to totally Deccani Urdu. The shift is so contrasting yet classy that Hulk and Bruce Banner would feel insecure.
Tabu – St Ann’s, Vijaynagar Colony: We all know Tabu is from Hyderabad, any basic writer would know that. But I know the exact school she studied in: St Ann’s in Vijaynagar Colony. If it were up to me, I would put up a board outside saying, ‘The actor from The Namesake, Maqbool, and Andhadhun studied here’. This location is of great interest to me; if I’m in the radius, I make sure we pass by that school so I can tell whoever I’m with, ‘Hey, Tabu studied here!’, even if it means taking two more traffic signals.
Kader Khan – Osmania University: I have always loved Kader Khan; he was an underrated genius. If you laughed in the 90s, it’s because of him. He was already a successful writer and comedian, but recently I found out that at the peak of his career, he took a break and studied for an MA in Islamic Studies and Arabic literature at Osmania University.
Omg, Kader Khan and I graduated from the same university! Well, this university for sure churns out funny people: Kader Khan, me, and KCR. I now understand how so many Govinda-Kader Khan movies feature a Hyderabadi character, or why Govinda played a proper Deccani guy as Banne Khan in Waah! Tera Kya Kehna, it now feels like it was clearly inspired by Kader Khan’s days in Hyderabad. I always wondered how this was the only movie in Bollywood that got the character so accurately right.
Well, if Kader Khan is too old for you, you may know that Vijay Varma, or as he calls himself, the Marwadi Johnny Depp, has learnt how to act like a psycho in Hyderabad... must have been inspired by the Razakars.
St Ann’s, Secunderabad was Sushmita Sen’s alma mater too. St Ann’s has some kind of Cinderella secret they are hiding!
Shabana Azmi’s father even has a road named after him: Road No 3 Banjara Hills is Kaifi Azmi Road. My dream in life is to meet Javed Akhtar. That seems far, but his father-in-law’s road is quite close.
Imtiaz Ali and Vivek Oberoi are other minor mentions who have noted connections with Hyderabad. I really don’t know what happens inside my brain, but it saves that information in a local folder.
Sandesh
@msgfromsandesh
(This comedian is here to tell funny stories about Hyderabad)
(The writer’s views are his own)