Three actors from three different cities of Uttar Pradesh, spanning three generations of Indian cinema, came together in Lucknow to reflect on what the state has meant to their lives and careers. The panel featured Dalip Tahil , Faisal Malik and Anupria Goenka , and was moderated by Meghna Deka .
His parents’ families, he said, were all from Sindh, and after Partition in 1947 his mother’s family came from Hyderabad, Sindh, to Lucknow. The city has gained 20 to 25 lakh more people, and where he once remembered peace, there are now many bikes on the roads.
Born in Agra to a family that had migrated from Sindh, he opened with a light remark about being named a youth icon and said “I thought it’s a good thing to make me a youth icon. But then I was told that it’s not only for you, it’s for the youth. “This is my birthplace,” he said, though he did not stay long, given the frequent postings of armed forces families. “Whenever we did something naughty, my uncle used to tell me that the compounder will give you an injection,” he said. “This has been my basic relationship in Uttar Pradesh,” he said. Malik said the place of one’s birth carries a special significance. “If there is some magic in the lives of humans, that is where we are born,” he said. He described carrying both Allahabad and Lucknow within him, and said the upbringing instills good habits by default, saying “Your language is correct, your friends are good. He called this “a blessing in disguise if you are from our place,” adding that people from the state talk nicely and possess “a little bit of decency. ” With that foundation, he said, “the rest keeps getting set. Asked later about the changes he has seen in Prayagraj, he said the transformation has been positive. “Now, wherever you go, there are 5-7 girls sitting in a coffee shop,” he said. ” He added that he feels “very good seeing them,” calling it “a world of happiness. Goenka, who was born in Kanpur, raised in Delhi and made her debut in Telugu films, said her background carries another dimension. “I am from Rajasthan,” she explained, noting that her family’s roots lie in Nawalgarh, but that her forefathers came to Uttar Pradesh long ago.
Mr. Tahil, whose filmography includes global blockbuster movies like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Baazigar , was asked what Uttar Pradesh means to him. He explained that his father served in the Indian Air Force and was posted in Agra when he was born. “In this very city, in Lucknow, inside Hazratganj. It was their house. My five uncles, my aunt, my mother, we all grew up here. He recalled that one uncle ran a chemist’s shop at Mayfair Cinema, with a compounder who frightened the children. “So, this is our relationship. Mr. Tahil later studied in Nainital, which was then the sub-capital of Uttar Pradesh and is now part of Uttarakhand. He spent eight years at Sherwood boarding school, a stay he attributed either to his fear of the compounder or to his father’s wish to curb his mischief. “And from Lucknow, I went to Bombay. Mr. More significantly, he noted a livelier social atmosphere. “They have their own gang, who comes, sits, drinks coffee, and laughs. Ms. “Our way of living, our way of talking is in our home. Her extended family still lives in Kanpur, and “when we talk about home, then Kanpur comes to mind. “