Actor Shekhar Suman recalled an anecdote about his interaction with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was a huge fan of the chat show Movers and Shakers, so much so that he used to watch the show religiously, and was particularly impressed with Shekhar’s impression of him. They had a memorable encounter one day, when the PM expressed his appreciation to Shekhar, and went on to correspond later as well.
Shekhar recounted the story in an interview with Siddharth Kannan. He said, “People used to ask me, ‘You’re doing an impression of the PM, won’t he be offended?’ And I said, ‘The mark of a great statesman is that he can take everything on his chin, all in a day’s work, with a pinch of salt and a sense of humour… There’s a marked difference between satire, humour, wit, and comedy. Comedy is pedestrian, it’s a little unacademic. Humour requires more skill. I heard that Mr Vajpayee is very fond of the show, and watches it religiously. Some industrialist’s son was getting married at Mahalaxmi Race Course, and I found out that Mr Vajpayee would be attending as well.”
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Shekhar said that he leapt on the opportunity, and decided to try and meet the PM. “I was well-known in those days, I wouldn’t have trouble at security checks. But just as I reached, Mr Vajpayee had departed. His convoy had started moving. I was so upset, I didn’t know if I’d get this opportunity again…” Shekhar decided to stand next to politician Chhaggan Bhujbal as Vajpayee’s cavalcade passed them by, in the hope that he’s spotted.
He continued, “Now visualise this as a film. I was standing there, the convoy is coming in my direction. There’s a huge crowd on either side, cops everywhere, loud sirens. The car stops right next to me. There’s pandemonium. The door opens, the PM gets out, nobody had any idea what’s going to happen. He begins walking slowly in my direction. I assume he’s going towards Mr Bhujbal. Mr Bhujbal also assumes he’s coming towards him. But Mr Vajpayee walked up to me and gave me a hug. I can never forget that moment. He patted me on my cheeks, and said, ‘You do a magnificent job. Keep it up. And let me tell you, when you take off on me, I laugh the loudest’.”
Shekhar said that he felt a sense of great accomplishment in that moment, because he realised that it could never be topped. “Can you actually think of a Prime Minister stopping his cavalcade and doing this? For the longest time, I didn’t repeat this story, because I felt it would be tantamount to boasting,” he said, adding that he contacted the PM once again, and the exchange was just as memorable. He told the PM that he was a great admirer of his poetry, and proceeded to recite one of the PM’s own poems to him. After he was done, Vajpayee said, “I am blown away, you did it a hundred times better than me.” Shekhar concluded, “Getting those compliments from the PM, while he was in the seat, is something that I can never forget.”
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