Yes, the movie, “Jodha Akbar”, has proved a turning point in the lives of many established actors. Take Hrithik Roshan, who looked like an exact replica of a royal persona, of the Mughal Era. Or be it Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, whose beauty charmed the audiences, in the role of a Rajput Princess.. Also consider Illa Arun, whose negative character, people loved to hate…..
But amongst these Biggies there was also a new comer, who managed to snatch away all the attention of the viewers whenever she..ohh… I mean he was on the screen…
I am sure you must not have forgotten, “Neemat” (the eunuch), in the movie Jodha Akbar… A role played by Tejpal Singh.…
A man with a difference and a lot of courage, as he decided to do this role of a eunuch, in the beginning of his career, without the fear of being type casted…
A Garhwali, born and brought up in Jaipur.. Studied in St. Xaviers’, always had the dream, to be a Hindi film Director. And finally, after a struggle of 10 years or so, opportunity knocked at his door and he got appointed as one of the Assistant Directors in the crew of movie Jodha Akbar, (the Movie was Directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar)…
With the dream of directing his own hindi film one day, he began to learn the minorities of Direction…
But neither he nor any body else knew that destiny also held a surprise for him in its lap…
Ashu ji, (Ashutosh Gowarikar), was looking for an actor to play the role of Neemat! Earlier given the commitment, an actor who was supposedly doing the role, backed out… This created a problem for Ashu ji and the whole team, as the shooting was to be kept at hold..
The A.D. Tejpal felt the difficulty his master was facing.. Thus he offered his loyalties to Ashu ji and suggested his name for the role….
But that was not easy… Tejpal says, “to play another sex needs a lot of mental transformation”…
Ashu ji asked him to walk like one… And this was not behind the doors, but in a hotel. And that too in front of 70-80 people… Tejpal Singh did so…
A serious and sophisticated ambience of the hotel turned into a jovial and fun atmosphere…
And then there was no looking back for him.. He did both the roles, (on and off screen), with a lot of conviction…
He even lost his dear brother Manu Singh forever, in the mid way… What an Irony??? But they say… the best comedy comes out of the most Tragic man sometimes…. Tejpal Singh proved it correct… He was making everybody laugh when his heart was crying….
The result of this is that he has now been nominated in the category for, “The Best Comic Role”, in IIFA Awards 2009….
The nomination has come alongwith the big names of the industry- Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav, Shreyas Talpade and Tusshar Kapoor…..
Well I have my fingers crossed for Tejpal Singh, as I have loved his role.. I wish the new guy gets his dues soon…
And If he is reading this then i wanna tell him that people would love to see him again setting the screen on fire….
