How 'Soorma Bhopali' and 'Calendar' were created!

Bollywood's most popular comic actor's converge in producer Dheeraj Kumar's Safar Filmy Comedy Ka, which traces the evolution and trends of comedy across 100 years of India cinema. Divya Dutta, Satish Kaushik, Shakti Kapoor, Jagdeep and Rajpal Yadav among others, recall memorable and funny moments on and off the screen.

Comedy gets controversial

Jagdeep, who has worked in films like Qurbani, Shahenshah, China Gate, Andaz Apna Apna and other is synonymous with his role as Soorma Bhopali in Sholay. The character came into being when Jagdeep told screenplay writers Salim-Javed about a forest officer from Bhopal called Soorma. He even discussed the peculiarities of this person that were also incorporated in the film.

Interestingly, the real life Soorma from Bhopal met Salim (Khan) and Javed (Akhtar) and slapped a case on them as people began calling him a woodcutter because of the film, while in reality, he was a forest officer.

Birth of Calendar

Actor and film-maker, Satish Kaushik worked in a textile mill when he came to Mumbai. While recalling his struggle in the film industry, he shared some behind-the-scenes moments of the cult hit Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. Not many know that Kaushik as on board only as a co-writer. As he wrote the film, he even recorded the script and dialogues and improvised on them before the script was finalized. Director Kundan Shah was so impressed with the improvisation and Kaushik's acting that he decided to cast him in the film as well.

Kaushik, who worked as an associate director in Mr. India, revealed how his name, that of Calendar, came about for his role as Anil Kapoor's cook in the movie. Kaushik's father sold clocks in Rajasthan, and one of his dealers was called Calendar. When Mr. India was in its scripting stage, Kaushik mentioned the quirky name to Javed Akhtar (co-write of the film), who incorporated it in the story.

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