Vagabond in ITVille - Sholay

The cafeteria was noisy as ever. There was a sea of people - some waiting for the masala tea and samosa they had ordered, some waiting to order and even some more waiting to wait. There were young people with curious faces, middleage ones with impervious faces and a small number of old people with serious faces. The time was almost 330 PM and yet no one seemed in a hurry to get back to work. If not for the air conditioned cafeteria and neatly dressed people serving tea and samosa, one could easily mistake the place to be any Government office in India. 

The man serving tea and samosa had an ever smiling expression unlike his customers. He was the only one working in that crowd and the only one who seemed to be content and clear about his work. He wore the mandatory head gear and branded uniform provided by the catering company he worked for which, for some reason, lent an aura of peace and grace to him. 

It was a pleasant setting all in all. 

The Vagabond sat at one of the tables near the far end of the room sipping his coffee (tea would make him seem like one of the crowd) and staring at his samosa with a guilt-ridden look on his face. As he pondered upon the quandaries of a middle aged man, few of the younger ITVille lot spotted him and courteously asked if they could join him. 

"Sure you can. Anytime"

"Sir, when we met last time you promised to share with us some of your experiences at ITVille. It has been a long time and we never had a chance to meet after that. Would you have time today to spend with us?" one of the earnest looking ones asked.

"Yes, we can chat today. But how about you guys? Do you not have to go back to work anytime soon? I thought you all worked on some important projects?"

"Yes sir we do. But the work can wait and no matter what we do, we end up staying late in the office anyways"

"OK and yes, that pretty much was how I used to work too when I was working on projects for customers who live in timezones that demand a trifle amount of zombiness from us Indians. That always has been our key differentiator, the zombiness I mean" the Vagabond laughed nervously.

"Yes sir. So tell us about your projects and experiences in ITVille over the years. We are really keen to learn and shape our careers based on the experience of seniors. More so because you seem to have a past that is quite interesting". It was the earnest one again. The rest of his friends just stared at Vagabond intensely without ever losing focus of their own plates of samosa or tea.

"Let us make it an interesting discussion" the Vagabond said. "I am sure you all must have seen the movie Sholay and familiar with the characters and the storyline. Aren't you"

The group nodded in unison.

"I will tell you about my projects with the movie as the theme. I will leave it your imagination as to what messages you take from each one of those scenarios from the movie. That will be an evening well spent, what do you all think?"

The group nodded in unison.

The Vagabond started his narrative.

Project 1

The setting was the office room of Ramesh Sippy, the director of Sholay. Amitabh Bachhan was called in for a sitting to hear the storyline and he was sitting across the table having completed the hearing.

"What do you think Amitabh?" the director asked excitedly.

"I think this is a super story. But was there not a recent Manoj Kumar movie with the exact same storyline? Why do we want to make another movie?"

"Manoj Kumar movie was a flop. But we will make it on a much bigger scale and will definitely add some more masala and talent to the mix"

Amitabh seemed convinced with Ramesh's conviction. "So I guess you want me to play either one of the roles of Jai or Veeru. Right?"

"OK..OK.. Let me put it this way. Of all the characters in the story, the one with the most knowledge and conviction is the one that I'd like you to play"

"Makes sense given my serious looks and deep voice" Amitabh agreed. "But it might be a little old for me. Do not misunderstand my openness to take up challenging roles here but I am just worried if this is the right time in my career to play such a character"

"No Amitabh" Ramesh said in a cajoling sort of way. "One of the best things about you is your ability to grow into any character. This particular character has deep convictions, is loyal to his cause, knows the past fully and is quietly dignified. It is because of him that the story moves and without him the story just falls apart. You must take up this role"

"Well.. if that is what you say then that is what I will take up. Who have you chosen for the other characters?"

"Most of the others are already closed. Dharmender for Veeru, Hema for Basanti, Amjad for Gabbar, Rajesh Khanna for Jai and Sanjeev Kumar for Thakur. It is just your role that is left"

"Hain..." Amitabh jumped from his seat. "If Sanjeev Kumar is Thakur then which other old character is left for me? Raheem chacha? Are you crazy? I am not in for this project". The angry young man was angrier than ever.

"No..no.. please understand. This is not the role of Raheem chacha. For that we already have chosen Hangalji. I would not be so naive to position you as Raheem chacha"

"Then what else left, mate? I am outta this stupidity. I thought you were a sensible man and would offer me a sensible role. There are none left"

"No sir, Amitabh. You are forgetting the most important character of the entire story. The one with deep knowledge, conviction and commitment. Without that, the story doesn't move"

"Now don't play games here, Ramesh" Amiatbah said in a manner of controlled aggression. "It has been some years for me in this Industry and I know my way around now. Let us call this off and I wish you good luck"

"Now listen to me, Amitabh. The story is such that audience might have diverse views of the various characters. Some might even sympathize with Gabbar and some may resent Jai & Veeru. Some might hate Thakur for being thoughtless and overtly emotional. But this is one character the entire audience would love. He maintains his equanimity throughout the movie. He moves the story by connecting Jai & Veeru with the Thakur. He gives the background when required and pays out money to the heroic mercenaries. He is well respected by Thakur and silently admired by the villagers. He is mysterious himself as no one knows if he ever had a family of his own. And mark my words, this will become a standard character in all the movies that will come after this one"

"Hmm... that sounds quite intense and interesting. May be I was not paying enough attention when you were narrating the story. So which character is this again?" Amitabh was slightly excited.

"Ramu Kaka" Ramesh blurted out excitedly. "You are going to make history Amitabh. Oh I am so glad you have agreed to take this role up. Together we are going to make wonders with this powerful character"

"OK.. wow.. never realized the importance of this character. But still, the audience will hardly get to see me and they might not even remember the character at the end of the movie"

"Do not worry about that. All main characters will have at least one scene with Ramu kaka.You will be directly under the single most powerful character in the movie, that of Thakur. So your reporting structure, if you allow my corporate lingo, is clear. And like I said, every other character needs yours to take some important decisions in their lives"

"May be I should have a word with Jaya about this. But hey, makes lot of sense to me - what you are saying. So though I did not really agree to take up this role, looks like you made up your mind already. So, OK. I would not disappoint an old friend on such trivialities"

"Thank you. Thank you Amitabh. You will never regret this decision and will forever be etched in the memories of people as Ramu Kaka"

Amitabh was carried away by the moment and agreed to take up the role of Ramu Kaka in Sholay.

                                                             **************

The Vagabond paused here and surveyed his audience. They did not seem convinced with the scenario put forth by him. 

"Look guys. In our own view of ourselves, we are always top notch, upright and holier than thou, right? When we walk out of a  movie, we tend to identify ourselves with Amitabh and not one of the group dancers. Do we?"

"No we do not. But Amitabh never played the role of Ramu Kaka"

"No he did not. But the Amitabh of my imagination, which is myself, did and therein lies the difference between the movie and real life" 

"But the scenario you described is real life even though the discussion was about a movie. The movie actually feels more real than the reality here" the earnest one said softly.

"And it is. Do you want to ponder about this and come back next week? Or do you want to hear about another one of my projects now?"

The younger lot seemed unsure and exchanged few glances amongst themselves. "What is the next scenario vis-a-vis Sholay, sir?" the earnest one asked.

"OK. The next one is about Gabbar without Samba or Kaalia, or for that matter, it is about Gabbar without a team. I will leave you with that idea and may be you can come back next week if that interests you"

"So what if Gabbar doesn't have a team? How will the story change?" one of the group who was quiet until then asked. He did not find the Vagabond stories authentic or the Vagabond worthy of all the admiration.

"Well, imagine this" Said the Vagabond. "When mothers try to put their kids to sleep by telling them that Gabbar would come otherwise, the kid would shoot back 'Why should Gabbar come himself to put me to sleep? Does he not have a team?'". The Vagabond paused here and asked  "You know how that impacts Gabbar's image?"

"That is only a way of saying things. It does not really mean that Gabbar is on the horseback every night going from village to village putting kids to sleep" the unconvinced one did not change his view.

"How about this - Gabbar, when he needs to know when Holi is, instead of asking Samba, picks up the Calendar and starts going through it?" The Vagabond paused again. "You know how such small tasks affect Gabbar's overall image and impact? What if he reaches the village and Holi was the day before and everyone is still sleeping from the effects of Bhang? What'd Gabbar do then?"

The Vagabond became emotional at this point. "You guys should know the significance of Samba and Kaalia in Gabbar's overall character build up. He is nothing without a proper team. People would laugh at him because he cannot afford a team. They'd say 'lets give him some money even if he doesn't ask. Poor chap doesn't have any support'. A fearsome character becomes a mere 'some character'"

Sensing things were going out of control, the earnest one interjected at this time.

"Sure sir. We will go back with this story today and think about the next one. Thank you very much sir"

The Vagabond collected himself. He did not like to become emotional in front of the younger lot. Working with computers for so many years should, ideally, leave one with the same level of emotions as the computer - so he thought was what the world expects from an experienced IT professional.

"That is a nice idea, I'd say" He laughed. "You are always welcome. And you know how to find me, I am sure. I am always here anyways" the Vagabond laughed again loudly and picked up the Samosa - guilt free.