By Col Inder Khanna (Retd)
Prakash Mehra’s film career is available on the Wikipedia, which I will not touch upon. We are cousins (his mother & my father were first cousins), belonging to the Khanna family, Khathrian Mohalla, Bijnor, UP.
Prakash’s mother Indu Devi was married to Kailash Nath Mehra, a farmer from Bareilly in 1938. Unfortunately, Indu passed away prematurely due to TB in late 1949 or 1950, leaving behind Prakash 10 or 11 years old and his younger brother Babbu, about 8 years old. Prakash was born on 13 July 1939. He died on 17 May 2009. The father could not reconcile to his wife’s death and he renounced the world, becoming a Sadhu, leaving everything behind. Thereafter the responsibility of looking after the young boys, Prakash & Babbu, fell on the grandparents in Bijnor. While in Bijnor, Prakash was all set to become a singer and dreamt of joining the Film World in Bombay. We (Prakash and I) grew up together at Bijnor in the early fifties. Being two years younger to him, I would generally make fun of his ambition of becoming an actor; any way those were good old young days, we were more friends than brothers.
Having studied up to 7th class, Prakash one fine day disappeared from home (Bijnor) in 1952 or ‘53 and reached Bombay. From where he got the money to travel, I really do not know, (hearsay is that he stole a measly amount from his Granny to travel). We lost contact for the next 2 or 3 years. In the film world he tried his hand at any and every odd job, pulling the stage curtain screens, cleaning the floor, worked in a saloon, sleeping in the open at Juhu. He generally roughed it out.
It was in 1955 when my father was posted to the Ordnance Depot, Bombay, that he got in touch with his Mamaji and came to stay with us. My father had his priorities very straight, a strict disciplinarian, “spare the rod and spoil the child” was the rule he followed. We lived in ‘Riviera’ building on Marine Drive. This was before the Backbay was reclaimed. Prakash would catch the local train from Church Gate Railway Station to Juhu or Andheri, on a two annas return ticket. On certain days, he would return home hungry, when my mother (his Mamiji) would feed him without my father getting to know. Prakash always respected his Mamaji and he was well looked after the best they could. Prakash became a disciple of two film personalities (whose names I do not remember) who groomed him to become a Director and Producer. On certain occasions he would not return home for two to three days at a time, roughing it out as earlier. He stayed with us for 6 or 8 months before moving to Juhu area as a paying guest.
After having slogged for almost 12 to 15 years, he got his first break in Bollywood in 1965 or ‘66 when he produced “Haseena Maan Jayegee”. Thereafter there was no looking back. In the meanwhile, in 1964 he got married to a girl belonging to the family circle, (Gandhi Gali, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi) where his Mauseeji (Shakuntala) and my Taiji (Shanti Devi) belonged. Basically, Prakash was attached to the roots of his family from Bijnor. A word about our large family – my father had five brothers and three sisters. Being farmers, none were well educated except my father who completed his BA in English from Meerut College in 1938 and went on to join the Army in 1942, much against everyone’s wishes. If my grandmother had her way, he would have ended up being a school teacher in Bijnor. He was a good tennis player, No.1 of his college which helped getting him into the Army. By nature, he was law abiding, God fearing and very strict. He did a lot for all the family members in his own little way.
Now getting back to Prakash; he passed away early, less than 70 years of age. Unfortunately, his wife had fallen ill and gone into a coma for almost seven or eight years. Prakash could not face this shock, and devoted his entire life looking after her till the very last days of her life, giving her the best treatment possible. With her demise he went into a shell and renounced the world, living all by himself and faded away. He has two sons who did not venture into the film world. They are well settled, look after the Studio created by Prakash and also own a Restaurant in Juhu. They also have a beautiful house there. There is very little or no interaction with the family and they are totally cut off from their roots in Bijnor.
A word about his picture “Zanjeer”; starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha, 1967/68, when the duo came into prominence. It was a hit and Prakash’s name was acclaimed as an upcoming Producer-Director in the Film World in Bombay. “Mukaddar-ka-Sikandar” is a glimpse of his own life and struggle, and the way he achieved glory. Having lost his parents at a very young age, venturing into the unknown world, with no background knowledge or backup, having left schooling at a tender age of 13 or 14 years, eventually he became an iconic figure and a famous personality in the film world. The movie is dedicated to his grandmother and Mamaji (my father, the late Colonel Jai Narain Khanna). Prakash had a talent for singing and in one of his films, he actually sang the song, ‘Yaari hai Yaari’, but that was the only time he did so!
Thus did Prakash Mehra rise and fade in his life, a self-made person, till the very end.
God bless his soul. R.I.P.
