There's nothing like 'mooh bola bhai': Amar Singh
Ex-Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who hosted an evening for Sridevi in the capital, tells TOI why he now stays away from 'freeloaders' and 'good for nothings'
He played the game smartly, and made many friends and foes in the process. But the twists and turns of politics finally got him, and he retired and went into a hibernation of sorts.
But on Monday, Amar Singh, the ex-Samajwadi Party kingmaker, the host who threw some of the best parties that Delhi perhaps remembers till date, was in his element. He talked and laughed loudly, hugged the guests and friends, gave killingly sarcastic comments every time someone asked about things he didn't like, and looking rested and at ease, played the host to perfection. When asked what brought him out of his 'sanyas', so to say, he said, "Sridevi was keen to show me her film, and I thought jab dekhna hi hai, toh let me do it in style." He posed as he said this, telling the photogs, "Chalo picture bana deta hoon," and fed laddoos to Sridevi. "Photo ho gayi?" he asked a while later, and insisted on distributing laddoos personally to everyone who had come for the screening. He hosted a dinner for everyone as well, later on.
But not for one moment did he let us believe he has let bygones be just that. The public might have forgotten the controversies, the drama in parliament, the tapes, the things that made Amar Singh quit politics, but the man himself is still smouldering, and has forgotten nothing, and that becomes evident when the once bitten, twice shy politico deconstructs everything that happened, and gives a few surprisingly candid answers...
You've become invisible. We don't see you anywhere now...
That's deliberate. I don't want to see or be seen.
Then why are you here?
Sridevi is an old friend, and she was keen to show me the film. So, like I said, I decided to do it in style. The movie made me nostalgic, and touched a chord in me. I identified with the character - I also didn't know English very well at one point in time...
So, you brought so many people along?
It's being screened simultaneously in all screens - that's a lot of people. I didn't want to do it like Amitabh Bachchan did in Sharabi - as he watched Jaya Prada dance all alone in a huge empty theatre! So, I invited all my friends, and hosted this evening for them.
So, is this your comeback as well, then?
I had not gone anywhere. I was very much here all the time. It's just that you all don't want to see me anymore. I just closed the doors of my home and heart for one and all, and that's still not open. And like I said, Sridevi is not a filmi heroine for me at all, and hence, this does not mean I've come back.
When will the doors open?
Why should I open it? I've seen it all in my life, I am saturated with all this. And then, thank God, I must say just in time, I realized that my health, my family is what matters. I am done with fake relationships, and those people whom I had surrounded myself with, and those who I had indulged.
Fake relationships?
Yes. There is nothing, no term such as a mooh bola bhai or a mooh bola baap, as I realized. Ultimately, to use a cliche, blood is thicker than water. Rest all is fake, as I realized during my time of distress. Nobody stands by you, except your own blood. People only do lip service; when the time comes to stand up and help, they take others' sides, or do nothing and look the other way.
Are you hinting at someone in particular?
You can take it anyway you want to. Earlier, during my birthdays, I used to host these parties, and call all people - filmi and others. But in the last few years, I've been doing charity, and this year too, I will do just that.
No party, again?
Yes. I don't want to indulge freeloaders and good for nothing people. I am not star-struck, or mesmerized by all this. When Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya used to come to my birthday parties, they were not there as superstars. Amitabh did not come to my parties as a superstar. Anyway, now, like I said, no parties for anyone.
Not for Amitabh, for sure... isn't it?
Had I been mesmerized by Amitabh and Jaya, had I been star struck as I've been told to be, I'd still have maintained a relationship with them, despite what they did to me, notwithstanding their behaviour towards me, isn't it? The fact that I've distanced myself from them, made sure I've nothing to do with them, it shows that I am not the kind to fancy crazy titles like superstar, or shahenshah.
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