Remembering Lekh Tandon

Devesh Sharma profiles the veteran filmmaker who passed away recently

- Devesh Sharma

Writer-director Lekh Tandon’s father FC Tandon was a childhood friend of Prithviraj Kapoor and that relationship helped ease Lekh’s entry into filmdom. His father sent him from Lahore to Mumbai in 1948. He started off as a camera assistant on Raj Kapoor’s directorial debut Aag. Then he became an assistant to Raj Kapoor’s mentor, Kidar Sharma. He was paid a royal sum of Rs 80 at that time. He once again assisted Raj Kapoor in Aah (1953). He got the chance to direct his first feature film, Professor (1962), starring Raj’s younger brother Shammi Kapoor. The film, produced by FC Mehra, was a musical hit with songs like Main chali main chali, Aye gulbadan, Khuli palak mein jhoota gussa, and Aawaj deke hamein tum bulao. The film was written by Abrar Alvi and a life-long friendship ensued between Lekh and Abrar.