Ninety-two year old A K Hangal has been bedridden for the past five months. Yet, he was all smiles when I met him at his residence.
The veteran actor has acted in over 100 films -- from old classics like Guddi, Bawarchi, Aandhi and Sholay to recent ones like Lagaan and Paheli.
Not many know that Hangal was a tailor before he started his film career.
Patcy N gets Hangal to talk about his younger days as an actor, and the actor had lots of interesting things to say.
On his youth
I was born in Sialkot, but I spent my growing years in Peshawar, Pakistan. I am a Kashmiri Brahmin. My grandfather was the assistant commissioner of Peshawar and his cousin was Justice Shambhu Nath Pandit, the first Indian judge of the Bengal High Court.
My father also had a government job. But I was a freedom fighter and did not want a government job. I learnt tailoring, and I became a tailor. I formed a trade union for all the tailors in Peshawar.
After my father retired, we left Peshwar and moved to Karachi. My tailoring business was doing well, and soon, I had my own shop.
But I was always interested in music and stage plays.
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