Guest Blogger Anupam Kher : My Tryst with Michael Jackson
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Fans in the Eastern Hemisphere have woken up today to the tragic news of the demise of Michael Jackson some hours ago. And as his millions of fans react first with shock, then grief, at the passing away of one of the greatest icons of pop music, for many who have had a brush with him, it is time to recollect their personal memories.
My story goes back quite some time ago to the early nineties when I was shooting a television programme for my company with Prabhudeva, the one Indian who could moonwalk like Jackson. After the recording, I casually asked Prabhudeva, who had offered his services for free, one thing I could do to return the favour. Prabhudeva seriously told me that he would like nothing better than to be introduced to the King of Pop. I said he was indeed asking for the moon!
Though there was much talk of Michael Jackson coming to perform in Bombay – that was before it became Mumbai — it finally happened in November 1996. And the city went delirious. I could not attend the concert, but when film producer Bharat Shah threw a party at the Oberoi for the city’s who’s who, I attended. And when the King made his appearance, all the celebrities there were aware that they were in the presence of a living legend. We were all like zombies. I couldn’t help thinking that we were all acting as the extras in his Thriller video.
Then something inside me snapped. Rather than clapping prettily on the sidelines as the others, I broke Jackson’s firang security cordon and vaulted up the stage to shake his hand, saying something that I was a fan of his. Before the security guards could hustle me, Bharat Shah intervened and said to Jackson and his guards that I was India’s greatest actor. Not that Bharatbhai believed that bit about me for a moment, but I’m sure he did it out of sheer fright of the consequence of what happens when you breach a superstar’s security! I remember Shobha De writing the next day, “Anupam Kher broke the security cordon…so did I..”
To get to the story, I suddenly remembered Prabhudeva’s wish. I dialled him and asked him to fly down to Bombay. When he arrived, I begged Bharat Shah to introduce ‘India’s dancing Michael Jackson’ to the Original. Eventually, the two met and I took comfort in the fact that I had lived up to his request.
It is sad that the King of Pop later lost his genius and was reduced to a Whacko Jacko. In all this there is certainly a moral for us. But whatever Jackson may have become, no one can deny his place in history as the greatest entertainer of our times. Though I missed it, his concert, with 40 tonnes of equipment flown in, exposed Indian fans to what a true world-class music event ought to be.
In my book, Michael Jackson is to entertainment what Gandhi is to peace and humanity.
- Anupam Kher, Guest Blogger, PFC
Video of Michael Jackson’s India tour
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
No wonder you felt like zombies in the video – I felt like a tongue tied zombie – just at watching the video. In his presence – I might have done the exact same thing you did! While I felt bad for MJ I was happy that he did not become a sneering old guy and die in a hospital unattended . He died in the same sensational fashion he has thrilled us all. I felt bad for my judgement of MJ when I learnt that his skin colour is due to some rare skin disease and not a treatment as it is widely believed to be. May his soul rest in peace.
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The Best…King R.I.P
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Never saw him in flesh. But my earliest memory of MJ was when one of my neighbor( who was about 7-8 years older the me) was blaring Beat it! on his new “two-in-one” Phillips stereo on a repeat mode. I had to go and ask him who was the singer. You dont know MJ? came a pat reply. Then he made me listen to his whole album and when i asked him ” what is he singing?” I dont understand anything..neither did he..but the music had engulfed me..there was some aura in his music that even today it doesnt age.
Go to any club/bar in US, if the proceedings are goign a bit dull and no one is on the dance floor..no DJ hesistates to play Billy Jean to get the crowd grooving again..
BTW..Anupam..i had read that Shobha De article long time back..and had a smile on my face :-)
RIP..King of Pop: Beloved MJ!
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very much wonderfull and needed post, thanks !!!
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thanks for sharing ur experience with us here….. i dont think there will be another global icon like him….. it is indeed the end of pop…….i thought i will go his comeback concert next year and now i feel very bad to miss his bombay concert in 96.
RIP MJ
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hey…just yesterday some channel was doing a feature on MJ in M’bai and there was this video of you shaking hands with MJ. i couldn’t believe it for a moment b’cos i did not know that u were a fan of MJ. it was nice to read here about that personal experience because i was curious to know more about it. thanx for sharing…
may his soul finally rest in peace
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Anupam sir, i did watch that clip of yours last nigh, where you shake hands with MJ and turn back like an ecstatic kid. That clip says a lot about the fact that despite being ‘The Actor’ you are still so grounded and humble. RIP MJ.
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a nice tribute to the great artist
RIP MJ
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I exactly remember the day when Jackson was performing in Mumbai..it was chaotic.Thank you Sir for talking me down the memory lane.
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Never knew this story.
‘Michael Jackson is to entertainment what Gandhi is to peace and humanity.’
MJ might be more.
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Great thought you have shared with us. Look forward to more of such wonderful instances in your long and illustrious career.
And yes, as rightly mentioned by you there is a lesson to be leart by all (on obseving MJ’s life) on how to handle success as well as failure.
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