BHUBANESWAR: Actor-turned-author Kabir Bedi shares a special relationship with Odisha. In a discussion with festival coordinator Kaveree Bamzai at Odisha Literary Festival, Bedi said this is where he got his doctorate degree and did a number of voice-overs for light and sound shows at Konark and Dhauli.
“KIIT gave me a doctorate degree. I have the greatest respect for MP and KIIT and KISS founder Achyuta Samanta who is doing some brilliant work for tribal children. And of course my first wife Protima, an acclaimed Odissi dance, who learnt her craft from the great Kelucharan Mohapatra,” he said.
Speaking about his college friend Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the actor said Naveen, a remarkable human being, led a very different life before he chose to enter politics and is now one of the longest serving chief ministers of the country. “I bow to his achievements.”
Being one of India’s most famous international actors with a career that spans from Bollywood to Hollywood and Europe, Bedi spoke about his experience of working with theatre personality and ad filmmaker Alyque Padamsee. “My role in Alyque’s English production of the play Tughlaq, originally written by Girish Karnad in Kannada, actually set the pace for making me known in Bombay and it led to roles for me in Bollywood, the Italians discovering me, my stardom in Europe and many other things,” he said.
Bedi who last year released his memoir ‘Stories I Must Tell’, said the book has been received very well and is being translated into many languages including Hindi, Marathi, Hungarian and Italian.
“What people seemed to like from this book is that it is not just a tale of achievement but also the fact that I have not been afraid to accept my mistakes. And mistakes are what people relate to. My mistakes have defined my book as much as my triumphs and this has been true to all the stages of my life,” he said.
The actor-author spoke about his adventurous parents and also shared the agony of losing Parveen Babi and his young son Siddharth who ended his life after being diagnosed with schizophrenia.