Kabir Khan: He proved his calibre in a five-minute cameo

I grew up seeing Omji's films. Naseer Saab (Naseeruddin Shah) and he were two of the best and brightest actors in the Hindi film industry. Before I entered films I met him through filmmaker Ramesh Sharma and he agreed to do the voice-over for some of my documentaries. He was a very warm person even back then but I was completely in awe of him and hesitant to speak much.
When the 'Kabul Express' script came up, I approached him for a role and we had longer discussions.He was eager to do the film but we were shooting on the roads in Kabul and he was suffering from a back problem so he had to opt out. But we kept in touch and I discussed all my films with him. He was always on my wish list.

At one point I had toyed with the idea of approaching him for Irrfan's (Khan) role in 'New York' and also for Girish Karnad's role in 'Tiger'. He gave his voice for the opening scene of 'Phantom'. And I was so glad when I finally shot with him for 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'. He proved his calibre as an actor, shining through in a five minute cameo of a Pakistani maulvi. We shot for four days in Rajasthan and every morning he would greet me with a warm, Punjabi-style hug and all day his booming voice and laugh would surround us. He was a brilliant actor and an even brilliant human being. Very genuine, no pretences, his heart was in the right place. For hours we'd discuss issues. His son, Ishaan, who is training to be an actor, would spend time on the sets with us.
It was a pleasant experience and I was happy to have him back in 'Tubelight'. It's another endearing role and much longer. We've finished most of his portions. There's just one scene left which we were to shoot on January 8. When I go back to the sets, we'll celebrate Omji's life. He used to joke that if I didn't take him in all my films now, he would break my leg. I'll remember those moments.
As told to Roshmila Bhattacharya