Sahir Lodhi is a phenomenon. He’s everywhere — on radio, television and film.
He has a cult-like following which comprises in equal parts earnest, adoring fans and those who mock him but can’t look away from his narcissistic shenanigans. Both groups have cause to celebrate these days. The object of their attentions has just released a film, Raasta, in which he is the star, the director, the producer, the writer and the song-writer.
Just a day after the premiere of his film, Sahir agrees to meet Icon despite his hectic schedule of movie-theatre appearances, presscons, radio shows and morning shows on TV. Dressed in a black shalwar-kameez that accentuates his insanely clear complexion and haunting eyes, he looks preoccupied and subdued, unlike the exuberant morning show host we usually see on TV.
Thrown off by his unexpected demeanour, I start off on the wrong foot. I ask him about what seems to be his obsession with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan [SRK].
“I don’t know why people ask me this irrelevant question. Mein thak gaya hoon is sawaal se. [I’m tired of this question]” His vehement denial is a double whammy – he’s dismissed the question and set the defensive tone for the entire interview.
“Maybe it is just that our people have no respect or regard for anyone,” he says. “I respect and admire SRK as an actor and a person. What if the situation were the other way round? If SRK was here, would he be disrespected the same way as I am? SRK sat across from me in an interview and said two people can look alike and sound alike but that doesn’t mean that they copy each other. The worst part is that, in 11 years, no one has seen me. They wanted to see someone else and they have always seen someone else. But, this is a problem with just a fraction of the people in Pakistan who have the permission to write. Ye sirf unn ka problem hai! [This is just their problem!]”
The look in his eyes grows intense. “I’m going to be blunt. People who live along the seaside, on ‘that’ side of the ‘bridge’ — the pseudo-literate people — have a chip on their shoulder.” He speaks softly, almost with modulated radio perfectness. “They have never appreciated me. Not that I am dying to be appreciated by them. Reading books in the English language and writing a few reviews doesn’t really make you ‘educated.’ Whatever they say about me, or SRK, my response is that these people suffer from an inferiority complex. They enjoy putting others down, disrespecting them, making fun of them. Hum wohi loag hain jo America se qarza lete hain aur unhi ke khilaaf naaray lagate hain, hum hypocrites hain. [We are the same people who take loans from the US and then raise slogans against them, we are hypocrites.] If I haven’t been able to convince them in 11 years, will I do it in an 11-minute interview?”
I have to admit I am a bit taken aback. He laughs just like SRK, his expressions and SRK’s outstretched-arms pose in Raasta, it’s all there, sometimes almost natural and at other times contrived. He’s even read out whole scripts of SRK films on his radio shows, pointedly doing the SRK lines himself. But he continues to deny he’s in any way obsessed.
"I’m going to be blunt. People who live along the seaside, on ‘that’ side of the ‘bridge’ — the pseudo-literate people — have a chip on their shoulder. They have never appreciated me. Reading books in the English language and writing a few reviews doesn’t really make you ‘educated.’ Whatever they say about me, or SRK, my response is that these people suffer from an inferiority complex. They enjoy putting others down, disrespecting them, making fun of them. If I haven’t been able to convince them in 11 years, will I do it in an 11-minute interview?”
“I have survived doing what I want to do despite all the criticism and accusations. Today, I am one of the most-known faces in Pakistan, one of the most talked-about people and ranked among the top stars of the country and it is certainly not without the will of God, so there must be a good reason to it. There is more credit to my talent than just copying SRK.”
Although he has a huge fan following — aside from his loyal radio listeners, he has almost 900,000 followers on Facebook — loads of people also love to make fun of him. Does he know that? “It is a sad situation but we must learn to support, respect and encourage our own people. Pagal logon ki baat ka mein bura nahin manta [I don’t mind the rantings of crazy people],” he declares. “They are not Sahir Lodhi, however much they may rave or rant. People don’t gather around them, people don’t want to take selfies with them. I’m not going to stop just because they want me to stop.”
Talking to him, one often feels what seems contrived might just also be real. Is he a drifter, dreamer and an idealist? “I live in moments,” he says philosophically. “Sometimes we spend our whole lives searching for a moment, sometimes we find our whole life in a moment. I am constantly in search of these moments,” he says, looking thoughtful and staring into space.
“I find peace in watching kids play. I am moved by two underprivileged individuals happily sharing the precious little food that they have got from somewhere, or when I see a family of five on a motorcycle and the mother is holding her baby as though the tiny being is her whole world.” I begin to wonder how much of this spiel is practised, but if it is, he is a very fine actor because he sounds entirely sincere. “My heart fills with pride and respect for the girl who leaves her home to support her family and who runs and catches a bus to reach her workplace. For others, maybe, it means nothing but for me this is the ethos of life.”