Kolkata  :

In a career spanning more than half a century, Saeed Jaffrey had made almost 200 screen appearances, working with directors including John Huston, James Ivory, David Lean, Richard Attenborough and Stephen Frears. But, his performance as Mir Roshan Ali in Satyajit Ray’s ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ remains the high point of his career. When news of the demise of the 86-year-old actor reached the Ray family, it brought back many memories of him working at Kolkata’s Indrapuri studio.

In the film, set in 1856, Jaffrey had played the role of one of the two Indian noblemen in Lucknow who was obsessed with the game of chess. “Back then, I was assisting my father. I remember having spent some wonderful time with him on the sets. Always full of life, he came across as a sparkling personality. He was a colourful man and always jovial,” recalled filmmaker Sandip Ray, who remembered shooting with Jaffery both in Kolkata as well as in a village near Lucknow for the climax of the film.

Jaffrey was the first actor to have come on board for the film. “Baba had cast him even before he had cast Amjad (Khan), Sanjeev (Kumar) and Richard Attenborough. Prior to that, we had all heard of Saeed’s name. Sometimes, Baba and he would meet up casually. They would bump into each other at airports. Whenever they met, Saeed would say: ‘Manik-da, I am waiting for your call’,” Ray said.

When that call finally came from Ray, while he was planning ‘Shatranj…’, Jaffrey was “literally on the seventh heaven”. “I don’t remember whether Baba had made a telephone call or sent him a letter. All I can recall is that he was elated. Later, when he came down, we all sat and read the short story by Munshi Premchand on which the film was based,” he said.

While many have said that the character of Mir Roshan Ali was naive and absurd, others have described it as complex and elusive. “I don’t think it was a simple character. Saeed gave his best. He was practically a one-take artist,” Ray said.

Not just his own acting, Jaffrey apparently helped Sanjeev Kumar, too, on the sets. “It was a story of two friends and Saaed used to help out Sanjeev in some of the scenes. When he was on the sets, he would make sure that the environment was lively,” Ray recalled.

Mimicry, according to Ray, was his passion. “But, when it came to acting, he was totally focused. He brought certain nuances to the character, especially the nawabi style, that added so much to the film. Casting him ensured that a director was safe,” Ray said.

Once the shooting was over and the film was to release in the US, Jaffrey had accompanied Ray on the trip as well.

On Sunday, Jaffrey’s niece broke the news of his death on Facebook. When this news reached Sandip Ray, he said, “We lost an actor who was an insurance for any director.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Priyanka Dasgupta, TNN / November 17th, 2015