On the sad occasion of Manoj Kumar’s passing, we pay tribute to the iconic actor by revisiting a special flashback interview. In this heartfelt conversation, Manoj Kumar opens up about his views on cinema, music, filmmaking techniques, and politics. Watch this insightful interview to celebrate the legacy of a true Bollywood legend who left an indelible mark on the industry. #manojkumar #kunalgoswami #dilipkumar #nayadaur #lehrenretro
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00:00If the pictures are different and touch each other, one can become an adventurous person.
00:10The rest is just like walking around under a tree.
00:15The day he gets money, the government notices him and says,
00:20you are a citizen of this country, give us our tax.
00:26In my humble opinion, I don't know if we study religion or understand it,
00:34but we don't follow it, we exploit it, we use it.
00:40Today, people say that if children come back from school,
00:45keep a cake for them and say happy birthday to them daily.
00:50If the husband comes home from work, say happy birthday to him.
00:58Sir, if we talk about films, there is a gap between then and today's cinema.
01:07If we start with your cinema, from the 50s and 60s,
01:11how much difference do you see in a film being made?
01:15And what do you think about the colour of a new film?
01:25Look, this is a technical facility.
01:34And the new era, Mughal-e-Azam, is a film of its own style.
01:46If the pictures are different and touch each other, one can become an adventurous person.
01:55The rest is just like walking around under a tree.
02:00If there is colour, there is courage. It's a good thing.
02:08I saw this film in 1956 or 57.
02:17So, in today's era, four generations have not seen it.
02:22And Dileep Sir, Vijanti Mala.
02:24Dileep Sir still looks so beautiful, as if he is 25 years old.
02:31And Vijanti Ji, who appears on TV, knows everyone's name.
02:38And the best thing about it is the story.
02:44There were performances, but the best thing was the music.
02:50Music is more popular than the music of today's hit films.
02:54So, today's music is not the same as your music. What do you think?
02:59I am not a student of a musician to be able to tell if a note is right or wrong.
03:09Sir, if you compare them, what do you find?
03:13First, let me tell you.
03:18Earlier, we had musicians.
03:25They would not play a foreign cassette or CD,
03:33or play a tune and make us write a song.
03:39Story writers, screenplay writers, dialogue writers,
03:43used to think that a song should be played in this situation.
03:52The situation was explained to the music director.
03:58And he used to take time for it.
04:01It used to take me 2-3 months with Laxmikant Ji or Kalyan Ji.
04:14Sometimes, it would be done in a day.
04:17And sometimes, it would take 2 months.
04:21Sir, who is your favorite freedom fighter?
04:26Bhagat Singh.
04:30Bhagat Singh had a philosophy.
04:33He gave the idea of complete freedom, which later Congress adopted.
04:40He was able to escape the death penalty.
04:43He created a ruckus in the Parliament so that no one gets hurt.
04:48We want to awaken the country.
04:52We want to make our voice heard by the foreign government.
04:58Bhagat Singh does not have a party in this country.
05:05Why are Bhagat Singh's photographs disappearing?
05:10And why are the photographs of the party leaders disappearing?
05:19Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose does not have a party.
05:23He is not talking about 5-star hotels and shops.
05:31If you say Netaji, it means Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
05:38He is a politician.
05:40Earlier, the government used to think about how to feed the hungry mothers and sisters of our country.
06:07Today, not everyone thinks about this.
06:11Most of us think about what we can give to our families and banks.
06:21What can we take from the people?
06:25Is this a trivial matter?
06:28Mumbai is a city.
06:30If you have a road tax, you have to pay a motor tax.
06:32If you buy a new car, it will break down in 15 minutes.
06:36Why do you have to pay a road tax?
06:41I started earning from the age of 58 or 59.
06:46For such a long time, I am the only person
06:51whose name has never been mentioned in the list of income tax.
06:56This man has to pay money.
06:58It has not been mentioned in the parliament.
07:00It has been mentioned in the list of the richest people.
07:05In one year, I paid a road tax of Rs. 99 lakhs.
07:12What message do you want to convey to the youth today?
07:26When a child is born, the government does not come to ask you
07:35if you have a child, if there is any problem,
07:38whether it is of medicine, money, or milk.
07:41No one comes to ask.
07:43With what difficulty do parents admit the child to school?
07:48With what difficulty do they pay his fees?
07:52With what difficulty do they buy his books?
07:55With what difficulty do they also arrange nutritious food for him?
08:01That child reads at night.
08:03Sometimes he borrows a book from someone,
08:06reads from the library.
08:08Sometimes he walks in the rain.
08:10Sometimes he gets drenched.
08:12Sometimes the light goes off at night.
08:14There is no light in many places.
08:16He reads.
08:18After reading, he comes to a big city.
08:21He dreams in the metro.
08:24Suppose he comes from Bombay.
08:28He does not know anything about Bombay.
08:30He must have brought Rs. 200, Rs. 400, Rs. 500, Rs. 1000, Rs. 2000 from home.
08:35In three, four, or five days he will be finished in Bombay.
08:41He will sleep on the railway platform.
08:43The police will beat him.
08:46He will sleep on the footpath.
08:47Dada will beat him.
08:49Where will he go?
08:51Then one day, after working hard,
08:54when he gets a job,
08:56he starts earning.
08:58The day he gets money,
09:01the government notices him.
09:03You are a citizen of this country.
09:06Give us our tax.
09:09So, after working hard in Bombay,
09:14he got a small job.
09:15Then he got a bigger one.
09:17Small salary, then big salary.
09:19Then he started getting good money.
09:22He started getting good money.
09:24Then the government notices him.
09:26Sir, you are a citizen of this country.
09:29Give us our income tax.
09:33Now, it is less.
09:35Earlier, when a person died,
09:39the government took a share of the loss.
09:42Maybe they still take a share.
09:45When a person is born, they take a share.
09:47When a person dies, they take a share.
09:50You are roaming on the streets hungry.
09:53Your pocket is empty.
09:55You have a degree in your pocket.
09:58Won't the government ask for it?
10:00They won't ask at all.
10:02The day you earn,
10:04the government will say,
10:05where do you kids go?
10:08We will use your taxpayer's money
10:11to create a ruckus in the parliament.
10:14Our kids watch it live and laugh.
10:17They say, this is our Indian parliament.
10:21And these are our elected leaders.
10:25Sir, today's young generation
10:27doesn't want to come into politics
10:29because of these reasons.
10:31What message do you want to give them?
10:33Look,
10:39Today,
10:41every child wants to
10:45become Shahrukh Khan,
10:48Aamir Khan,
10:50Akshay Kumar,
10:52Salman Khan.
10:54I haven't heard from anyone
10:57what your mission is.
10:59Someone told me to become Manmohan Singh,
11:03to become Advani Ji.
11:06Rest,
11:09our standard of celebrating festivals
11:13has also fallen.
11:17We,
11:19in this country,
11:21all religions have
11:23an equal place.
11:26Everyone is allowed to believe in their religion.
11:30Everyone is allowed to promote it.
11:32This is our mission.
11:36In my humble opinion,
11:41I don't know if we read the religion,
11:44understand it,
11:46or understand it,
11:48but we don't follow it.
11:50We exploit it.
11:52We use it.
11:54God,
11:56call Him God,
11:58call Him the Lord of the worlds,
12:01call Him the Lord of the worlds,
12:03or call Him the Lord Almighty.
12:05He is one.
12:07He created man,
12:09and man created religion,
12:11and today religion
12:13is killing man,
12:15which God has created.
12:18Is God's creation great,
12:21or is man's creation great?
12:25We,
12:28we should follow the books
12:30written by the Gurus,
12:32the Peers,
12:34the Prophets.
12:37There are good things in them.
12:39We should follow them.
12:41And I say this,
12:43I say this with confidence,
12:45that if someone had followed the religion,
12:48if someone had understood the Bible,
12:50the Quran,
12:51the Vita,
12:53then this would not have been a war.
12:56This would not have been disorder.
12:58This would not have been
13:00an attempt to plunder each other's land.
13:02This would not have been
13:04an attempt to overpower each other.
13:06This is fine.
13:08This is God's creation.
13:10All are brothers and sisters.
13:12They live in their own colors,
13:14they live in their own ways.
13:16They should be useful to each other.
13:19Some countries say,
13:21keep making bombs,
13:23keep fighting them,
13:25keep occupying their land.
13:27This is beneficial.
13:29After every war,
13:31after the ceasefire,
13:33the decision is made sitting on the round table.
13:35The decision has to be made
13:37sitting on the round table later.
13:39So why fight for it first?
13:41Sir, what do you think about
13:43today's political problems?
13:45Today's politics,
13:47the politics of your time,
13:49when Nehru and Shastri were there,
13:51has changed a lot in 60 years.
13:53In what way?
14:01This is a small thing.
14:03I don't understand politics.
14:05Today,
14:07there are many leaders in our country.
14:09There are many parties too.
14:11They are leaders of parties.
14:13They are leaders of regions.
14:15I would like to apologize
14:17if anyone feels bad about this.
14:19We do not have a national leader today.
14:23If there is a national leader,
14:25then the youth of 12-14 years
14:27should listen to him
14:29and follow his lead.
14:31Today,
14:33there is no one
14:35to guide us.
14:37If you talk about
14:39Vajpayee ji or Advani ji,
14:41they will say,
14:43they are Hindu fundamentalists.
14:45For example,
14:47Mohammad Ali Jinnah and
14:49Liaquat Ali Khan's Muslim League
14:51Gandhi ji and Nehru's
14:53Congress were called
14:55Hindu fundamentalists.
14:57So,
14:59there are elections
15:01and debates on each other.
15:03There are no issues
15:05other than that
15:07who did good and who did bad.
15:09The flood has been coming
15:11for 60 years.
15:13What has the government done
15:15since 60 years?
15:17What did they do?
15:19Earlier,
15:21the frontier mail used to go
15:23from Bombay to Peshawar
15:25in the British rule.
15:27Today, the frontier mail
15:29goes to Delhi
15:31and Amritsar.
15:33Will you reach
15:35the next station from Bombay Central?
15:37Are you safe or not?
15:39Today, people say
15:41that if children
15:43come back from school,
15:45keep a cake for them and say
15:47Happy Birthday to you.
15:49If your husband comes home
15:51from office, celebrate his birthday.
15:53Today is his birthday.
15:55Today, people are terrified.
15:59Today,
16:03there was a time
16:05when Panditji
16:07used to get out of the security car
16:09and go to the public.
16:13Today,
16:17artists
16:19and businessmen
16:21who work hard
16:23are not dishonest.
16:25They are honest.
16:27Living is haram.
16:31Disturbing someone
16:33and
16:35extortion,
16:37we have become bored
16:39and don't know
16:41who is a criminal
16:43and who is not.
16:45There was a storm
16:47in this country.
16:49Rajiv Gandhi's government
16:51was in shock.
16:53V.P. Singh's government
16:55was in shock.
16:57What happened to Bofors?
16:59What didn't happen?
17:01We don't know.
17:09We are like mixed pulses.
17:11We don't know
17:13who is a criminal
17:15and who is not.
17:19Politics...
17:23It's a very deep subject.
17:27It's a very good subject
17:29if there is a feeling of service.
17:33Those who came before
17:35in politics,
17:37Lala Rajpat Rai,
17:39Sher-e-Punjab,
17:41Shri Bal Gangadhar
17:43Til,
17:45they were hot-blooded.
17:47They used to say
17:51that a boy like
17:53Chandrashekhar Azad
17:55who had come to Lucknow
17:57and was not allowed to meet him,
17:59he lied on his legs
18:01and met him.
18:07Those who inspired
18:09are caught
18:11in big scams.
18:13There is a commission on this.
18:15There is a CBI on this.
18:21I have not heard
18:23that someone
18:25who is in politics
18:27or in business
18:29has been punished
18:31for cheating
18:33thousands of crores.
18:35Ram,
18:37all these people
18:39are corrupt.
18:41A fool like me
18:43will not get punished.
18:49No,
18:51listen to me.
18:53No,
18:55listen to me.
18:59My
19:01liking
19:03is personal.
19:05A person
19:07who is honest towards the country,
19:09who speaks well,
19:11who has an opinion.
19:13I have been listening to
19:15Atali since 1964-65
19:17and
19:19from 1967-68
19:21I have had family relations.
19:25So many family relations
19:27that I cannot tell you.
19:29As long as he
19:31remained the Prime Minister,
19:33I did not go to Delhi to meet him
19:35that he is the Prime Minister
19:37and
19:39why should I waste his time.
19:41I had family relations
19:43with Advani ji
19:45and still do.
19:47Whenever there is a government,
19:49during the days of elections,
19:51they call artists and
19:53industrialists. So I was also called.
19:55I also went.
19:57I
19:59was one of the
20:01two-three film artists
20:03of the BJP.
20:05I went to Gujarat
20:0715 years ago
20:09to campaign
20:11for them.
20:13Our President,
20:15First Lady
20:17Pratibha Tai,
20:19I have campaigned for her
20:21in Congress.
20:23I have campaigned
20:25for H.K. Al-Baghdadi.
20:33They gave me a receipt.
20:37So you think
20:39that
20:41I went to the campaign
20:43after the elections.
20:47It has been 10-15 years
20:49that I have not gone to the campaign.
20:51I
20:55did not
20:57want anything
20:59from them
21:01that I did not get.
21:03I got
21:05an offer many years ago
21:07and still do.
21:09But
21:15I
21:17do not consider
21:19that I
21:21can speak
21:23in front of them.
21:25They are very good people.
21:27They know
21:29what they are doing
21:31for the country.
21:33An unknown person
21:35like me cannot do that.