AK Hangal. RIP @95. I had the fortune to meet this towering stage/film personality when he gave me an interview at CPI congress. It was a heady feeling to push my way as a sophomore journo/freelancer for "Deccan Chronicle". We met at Railway Guest House at SCR. He was charming and gentlemanly. But the caption my editor gave for this story in DC forever estranged him - it hurt him for he was a communist at heart. I pray for his peaceful soul journey wherever he is. He gave me one of my earliest press stories while I was still in journalism school - and a scoop to boast of. Even if he has essayed fewer roles, he will be remembered forever - his multiple hats as theatre personality, as Rahim Chacha in "Sholay", as a CPI activist - all gave him a halo. He is the most-loved old man of Hindi Cinema.
