Bharathi S Pradhan [S Pradhan - Anything But Khamosh: The Shatrughan Sinha Biography

First published in 2016 by

Om Books International

Corporate & Editorial Office
A-12, Sector 64, Noida 201 301
Uttar Pradesh, India
Phone: +91 120 477 4100
Email: editorial@ombooks.com
Website: www.ombooksinternational.com

Sales Office
107, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj,
New Delhi 110 002, India
Phone: +91 11 4000 9000, 2326 3363, 2326 5303
Fax: +91 11 2327 8091
Email: sales@ombooks.com
Website: www.ombooks.com

Text copyright Bharathi S Pradhan, 2016
Images copyright Sources as indicated: Kussh S Sinha, the Sinha family private archives, Bharathi S Pradhan & Yogen Shah.

Photo-section design: Shraboni Roy
Text layout: Shiv Shankar Pandey

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the publisher.

ISBN: 978-93-85609-59-6

Printed in India

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Foreword

All the worlds a stage,

And all the men and women merely players .

And yet when the hero rose, the stage froze to watch his act in Silence .

Rarely do biographies bustle with the drama and excitement which Anything But Khamosh brings to the fore. The story of Shatrughan Sinhas life and career is engaging, involving as it does a candid account of the Hindi film industry, with a glimpse into the equally compelling world of politics. Shatrughans reputation as an independent thinker, a non-conformist, and as a person who cares two hoots about stereotypes, is reaffirmed through the lively narration.

One can conclude from the stories of his childhood that the seeds of his unapologetic, brash and rebellious nature were sown very early in his life. The slaps he has received from his mother seem to outnumber those he has had to take from Bollywood heroes and BJP netas. Through it all, he has remained insouciantly himself.

Starting off as a brash filmi villain, Shatrughan introduced a new brand of heroism to the world of cinema through his maverick avatar, portrayed in his trademark style. At a time when his superstar contemporaries were romancing heroines, Shatrughan, with his portrayal as the Bollywoods new baddie, and then as a rough-hewn hero, challenged the industrys norms. Similarly, when the BJP political establishment was falling in line behind the new leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Shatrughan did not hesitate to speak his own mind, even if it meant ploughing a lonely furrow.

As someone who is perfectly comfortable in his own skin, Shatrughan Sinha comes across as that rare breed of cinema star and even rarer variety of politician the wholly authentic human being. Throughout the book, he does not mince his words when discussing his own personal life, baring warts and weaknesses with a great deal of honesty.

The book is an objective, though sympathetic, appraisal of his life with a concluding premise that even those who bear a larger-than-life persona are not free from human flaws and quirks. The book ventures into the grey areas of Shatrughans life through Bharathi S Pradhans words, and through the many anecdotes shared by film personalities and by a cross-section of politicians and bureaucrats.

It is said that a mans achievements can be measured by the respect he garners from his fraternity. And it is fascinating how Shatrughan has not only received the respect of his peers but has also inspired the acting styles of formidable superstars like Chiranjeevi and Rajinikanth.

It is quite admirable that Shatrughans passion for social reform and consciousness of public service inspired him to shun the illusions of comfort and embark on the tumultuous path of politics. His independent discourse and rational thought have guided him in prioritising issues over ideologies.

As a minister in the UPA government, viewing Shatrughan Sinha in the front benches of the BJP Opposition, I was struck by the courtesy with which he treated me and his uncommon graciousness in applauding some of my speeches, a trait all-too-uncommon in our uncivil politics. We started off as political adversaries and became personal friends: that is a tribute to his essential decency and his ability to transcend the artificial boundaries that divide us.

And whenever entreated persistently enough, he could always be relied upon to issue a stirring rendition of his immortal Khamosh !

May he through this enjoyable book and through the many deeds left to him to perform in the years ahead never be silenced.

Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi
November 4, 2015

Authors Note

Im not Walter Isaacson, hes not Steve Jobs, and were not in America.

Therefore, unlike Isaacson, I didnt get carte blanche to go to press without the subject, Shatrughan Sinha (SS), scrutinising the final manuscript.

However, I have reason to believe that the reader would be hard put to find a more honest biography in India.

On Thursday, November 27, 2008, SS and I were at 10, Talkatora Road, his official residence in Delhi, watching Mumbai under siege on TV. That was the day we had our first round of talks with publishers in Delhi for an authorised biography on him.

On Saturday, November 14, 2015, SS and I were at his hotel suite in Nagpur, watching Paris under siege on TV. That was the day we put a full stop to Anything But Khamosh .

Seven full years, between two terror attacks that coincidentally bore a close resemblance to each other, was what it took to put together Anything But Khamosh a biography that combined the glitz of Hindi cinema with the grit of Indian politics.

Seven years is a long time.

At the outset, Sonakshi was Daddys participative little girl whod curl up on the sofa to listen to her dad and me tape hours of conversation for the book.

Midstream, Sonakshi had grown into a time-strapped celebrity who understandably frowned at intrusion into her space.

In seven years, Luv overcame the heartache of an indifferent debut in Hindi films to bash on regardless. Kussh took his place behind the camera and went from being an eligible bachelor to a newly-wed. The twins were the ones I turned to for information, for photographs, for company.

In seven years, two Lok Sabha elections were fought and won; Delhi and Bihar assembly elections came and went. Equations changed between SS and his party. But interviews conducted over seven years with a rainbow of towering personalities remained relevant; compliments and criticism recorded a while ago did not cross the expiry date. The only exception would perhaps be that when I interviewed senior leaders like Sushma Swaraj, they had told me that they believed SS would never leave their party. Today, its not about his leaving them but about whether the BJP still wants him on its roster or not. SS retort to Uma Bharti and those whove talked of his expulsion after the Bihar elections, is a part of Chapter 7: The Rough And Tumble Of A Life In Politics.

We talked for seven years, in the Talkatora Road bungalow in Delhi, over innumerable dinners, events, parties, commercial flights, chartered ones, election rallies in Patna and Delhi, even in the hospital where he recuperated after bypass surgery. He drove with me to meet Nitish Kumar who was in the thick of the Assembly elections in Patna, he took me to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his hotel suite, he sent me to Lalu Prasad Yadav.

For seven years, we travelled together Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Patna, Indore, Pune, Goa, Nagpur.