Actor Johny Lever is considered the best comedian in the film industry and has a strong body of work to prove that. However, his formative years in Mumbai’s Dharavi have been not only full of struggle but also exposed him to the dark realities of the slum life.
In an interview with Beer Biceps, the 66-year-old actor shared that due to his father’s alcoholism, he once attempted suicide but the thought of his three younger sisters made him change his mind.
Johny spoke in Hindi, which loosely translates into, “I faced challenges in childhood. I had to look after my family. There would be food only if I worked. My daddy would drink and he wouldn’t know what he was doing. He used to indulge in rowdyism. So many times I had thrown away his weapons.”
The actor further added, “At the age of 13, I went to a railway track to commit suicide. I was fed up with my father. So I went on the track and the train was coming. Suddenly the faces of my three younger sisters appeared in front of my eyes saying, ‘what will happen to us?’ and I immediately moved away from the track.”
Johny, who is considered one of the most reputed artists in Bollywood now, said that it was music, which brought him out of that suicidal state of mind.
Further narrating the incidents of the same evening, Johhny said, “It must be around 6.45 pm or 7pm. I got up and went near a barber’s shop and it had some music playing there. Behind the shop, there was a bench and I sat there”
It was the song “Main to tum sang nain mila ke haar gayi sajna” from 1962 film Man Mauji, that caught Johny’s attention at that moment.
“That song was playing at the shop and I felt all the tension and depression going away from me. I started feeling good and I thought, ‘I was going to leave music?’ I am in love with music. Music saved me, and taught me how to live. Look at the power it has,” shared an emotional Johny.
Recalling more days from Dharavi, the senior actor said it was usual for him and people of Dharavi to witness murders daily. He remembers seeing his first murder when he was just seven years old. “When I was going to school in Class 3. I was 7 years old. Someone had murdered and thrown someone. It doesn’t feel good to speak about these things but I have seen all this,” he said.
Johny has also witnessed the time of Bombay gangsters Vardharajan and Haji Mastan.
He shared, “In our area, Vardharajan was there and Mastaan bhai was in Bombay’s side. They were like real brothers to each other. If something happened here in Dharavi, Mastaan saab would come and if that side something would happen, Vardharajan would go. When he would come here, there would be huge crowds. There was a lot of respect for him.”
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