March 14, 2017
The last dialogue we ever heard Narendra say on-screen was: "Life is
unpredictable. Who knows about the next Friday?"
He sad this in "2016 -
The End", which released towards the end of last year.
Narendra was a
fabulous actor and always reminded me that I never did anything about it. Apart
from mentioning him in my film reviews, I never got down to actually praising
Narendra. This is one devil who never got his due. We were too busy chasing
stars.
Actor Narendra Jha, 55, died early on Wednesday following a heart
attack.
It is ironical that Narendra died on Aamir Khan's birthday. Aamir
is everything that Narendra could have been if only success had smiled down on
him.
But Narendra remained divorced from stardom despite polished
performances in Rahul Dholakia's "Raees", Sanjay Gupta's "Kaabil" and most
notably Vishal Bhardwaj's "Haider" where his role as Tabu's suspected
terrorist-husband was the best thing about the film.
"Yes! But what good
is it to say this to me if you don't write about it," Narendra once said again
reminding me of the chasm that existed between critical perception and public
acknowledgement.
Last year, Narendra was part of both the Republic Day
releases "Raees" and "Kaabil" -- and he was equally engaging in both. We were
too busy writing on the clash between Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan.
Reacting to Narendra's sudden demise, Dholakia said: "Very sad, shocking! Too
young, a very strong personality. Had fun shooting with him in ‘Raees'. He was
very involved in his character and was also very appreciated for his role as
Musabhai."
Rakesh Roshan, who produced "Kaabil", said: "He was not only a
very fine actor but also a dignified human being. Quiet, restrained and
graceful... Shocked to know he is no more."
One of Narendra's last
appearances was in "2016 - The End", an ominously titled film. Its director
Jaideep Chopra can't believe Narendra is gone.
"In the climax of my film,
he had to say a dialogue, ‘Aaiye aaj mein jeena shuru karte hain, pataa nahi yeh
duniya kab khatam ho jaye, ho sakta hai yeh aapki aakhri film ho ya meri, next
Friday ka kya bharosa aaye ya na aaye.'
"Narendra didn't want to say
these lines. But I pushed him to say that dialogue. He was worried ki ‘kabhi
kabhi Saraswati hoti hai zubaan par'. Who was to know my film ‘2016 - The End'
would be his last release?"