Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a doyen of Hindi literature.
By Prabhav Hiremath
MUMBAI: He has made the audience laugh, cry, go weak in their knees with a single glance. From an angry young man to becoming a Don, and being an on screen father to playing a child in Paa, you name it and he has done it. But, if there’s one character that Big B himself would love to bring alive on screen is that of his father, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, from his autobiography, ‘In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography’.
The megastar expressed this interest in response to a fan’s query during a question-and-answer session at the night of Penguin Annual Lecture 2013 in Delhi. The enthusiastic fan asked Bachchan to pick one of the characters he would like to play in a film.
He replied, “Maybe I’d like to play the role that my father played in his autobiography.”
During the conversation, the star also shared details about some of his talks with his father in his childhood days and in 2003, which is when Harivansh Rai Bachchan breathed his last due to a respiratory condition, at the age of 95.
His father was a noted poet of early 20th century Hindi literature, with renowned works to his name, including ‘Madhushala’, ‘Madhukalash’, ‘Madhubala’ and ‘Agneepath’. His last poem, ‘Ek November 1984’ was based on Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Harivansh Rai Bachchan was also famous for his translations to Hindi, including Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othello and the Bhagvad Gita. He also had a stint in the Rajya Sabha, and was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi award and the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Hindi literature.