Title
of book: The Non-Conformist: Memories of my Father, Balraj
Sahni
Author:
Parikshat Sahni
Date
of Review: November 17, 2019
This is a direct and honest account by Parikshat
Sahni. It gets a tad repetitive at times. A very loving picture of Balraj Sahni
is created by his son, Parikshat.
Balraj’s main tenet was that you cannot be a good actor unless you are a good person.
His method acting style and hard work is emphasized. He studied Stanislavski method style extensively. Their family was quite erudite and intellectual with Balraj’s brother Bhisham Sahni being a prolific writer as well.
Balraj’s love of his native language Punjabi and his tussle with his brother about the need to write in one’s native language is quite heartening in a way and possibly ironic since I read extensively in a non-native language only.
Balraj’s main tenet was that you cannot be a good actor unless you are a good person.
His method acting style and hard work is emphasized. He studied Stanislavski method style extensively. Their family was quite erudite and intellectual with Balraj’s brother Bhisham Sahni being a prolific writer as well.
Balraj’s love of his native language Punjabi and his tussle with his brother about the need to write in one’s native language is quite heartening in a way and possibly ironic since I read extensively in a non-native language only.
There were some revelations in this book for me
about Balraj Sahni.
Balraj was a die-hard socialist who acquired this world view during his trip and stay in London. He hated the Brits with a passion. Also the superficial wannabes in India who mimicked the Brits after independence. In one of the funnier accounts, he insisted on speaking only in Punjabi with these snobs and adopted mannerisms of a typical villager to make them more uncomfortable in a soiree he attended in Delhi.
He admired Russians immensely. Their communism as well as their literature. He sent Parikshat to study there for some years and the latter learnt Russian in 7-8 months and was extremely fluent in it. Parikshat identified more with the Russians and felt like an outsider when he returned to India.
Balraj was extremely fond of his fellow Punjabis, including truck drivers and waiters he met. I also was surprised to know about his friendship with Giani Zail Singh, who I always thought was dim-witted but this was not true according to the Sahnis. He was not sophisticated but quite astute and far-sighted in their account. This was demonstrated in his questions for the Russians who kept boasting about their system during their visit together (GZS, BS & PS). Zail Singh asked the Russian officials a lot of tough and uncomfortable questions, including their repressive methods and their famous prison for dissenters.
Balraj was heartbroken by his daughter's untimely death. He sought refuge in spirituality and extensively read Guru Granth Sahib near the end of his life. Interestingly Gurudev (Tagore) who encouraged him to write in his native language Punjabi had read Bulleh Shah and significant amount of Guru Granth Sahib. Gurudev told Balraj that Punjabi has a rich literary tradition and he must write in it. Balraj's Punjabi writings, though not as prolific as his brother Bhisham’s in Hindi, were quite acclaimed and are still used as text books at Panjab University.
Balraj was very physically active. Besides swimming in the sea almost every day near their beach side house in Bombay, he trekked mountains in Kashmir and skinny-dipped in freezing waters. He loved traveling extensively. The Kashmir Valley was a perennial favorite for them. Parikshat describes the great love the local populace had for his father.
Like all actors, Balraj was vain according to his son. He was quite handsome and did not like it when beautiful women did not pay attention to him. He was also fascinated with white women (as much as he hated white men, especially Brits but not the Russians apparently) and Parikshat suspects that that was one of the main motivations for him to go to London right after his own birth.
Balraj would devote a significant period of his time with the proletariat (working class people) even after achieving fame - e.g. slums, befriended fishermen (went for days for fishing far into the seas)..And no one knew about it.
He loved writing and would prefer to spend a lot of time on his typewriter, which he carried everywhere, even on long travels.
Balraj was a die-hard socialist who acquired this world view during his trip and stay in London. He hated the Brits with a passion. Also the superficial wannabes in India who mimicked the Brits after independence. In one of the funnier accounts, he insisted on speaking only in Punjabi with these snobs and adopted mannerisms of a typical villager to make them more uncomfortable in a soiree he attended in Delhi.
He admired Russians immensely. Their communism as well as their literature. He sent Parikshat to study there for some years and the latter learnt Russian in 7-8 months and was extremely fluent in it. Parikshat identified more with the Russians and felt like an outsider when he returned to India.
Balraj was extremely fond of his fellow Punjabis, including truck drivers and waiters he met. I also was surprised to know about his friendship with Giani Zail Singh, who I always thought was dim-witted but this was not true according to the Sahnis. He was not sophisticated but quite astute and far-sighted in their account. This was demonstrated in his questions for the Russians who kept boasting about their system during their visit together (GZS, BS & PS). Zail Singh asked the Russian officials a lot of tough and uncomfortable questions, including their repressive methods and their famous prison for dissenters.
Balraj was heartbroken by his daughter's untimely death. He sought refuge in spirituality and extensively read Guru Granth Sahib near the end of his life. Interestingly Gurudev (Tagore) who encouraged him to write in his native language Punjabi had read Bulleh Shah and significant amount of Guru Granth Sahib. Gurudev told Balraj that Punjabi has a rich literary tradition and he must write in it. Balraj's Punjabi writings, though not as prolific as his brother Bhisham’s in Hindi, were quite acclaimed and are still used as text books at Panjab University.
Balraj was very physically active. Besides swimming in the sea almost every day near their beach side house in Bombay, he trekked mountains in Kashmir and skinny-dipped in freezing waters. He loved traveling extensively. The Kashmir Valley was a perennial favorite for them. Parikshat describes the great love the local populace had for his father.
Like all actors, Balraj was vain according to his son. He was quite handsome and did not like it when beautiful women did not pay attention to him. He was also fascinated with white women (as much as he hated white men, especially Brits but not the Russians apparently) and Parikshat suspects that that was one of the main motivations for him to go to London right after his own birth.
Balraj would devote a significant period of his time with the proletariat (working class people) even after achieving fame - e.g. slums, befriended fishermen (went for days for fishing far into the seas)..And no one knew about it.
He loved writing and would prefer to spend a lot of time on his typewriter, which he carried everywhere, even on long travels.
My note: I have admired Balraj Sahni as an actor from the very first time I saw him in movies like Lajwanti and Sujata. He radiated gentleness, warmth, honesty, sensitivity, and beauty to me. This memoir was heartening in the sense that it did not shatter my perception of him. Parikshat has given an honest account as he also pointed his father's follies and contradictions. And as always it gives an insight into those times in India, after Independence and till 70s. The idealism and hope people nurtured for the country.
Recommended?
I recommend this book for people interested in memoirs, as I tend to gravitate
to. I would like to read Balraj Sahni’s autobiography’s English translation of ‘Meri
Filmi Aatmakatha’ as well as the
other two books, ‘Mera Pakistani Safarnama’ and ‘Mera Rusi Safarnama.’
He had a rich and interesting life as an artist and writer and had ideals
unlike the current breed of sycophants in the movie industry in India.
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