Madras Café is the only feature film he has acted in.'
'I told him simply, "Sir, will you do this role?" and he agreed immediately.'
In 1982, at the age of 27, Piyush Pandey strayed from the cricket field into the offices of Ogilvy & Mather, the wellknown advertising agency. And like Fevicol ka mazboot jodh -- a 1997 campaign which took the adhesive brand's market share from 25 to 40 per cent and spewed 15 more iconic ads -- the bond between Pandey and the agency stayed strong for over four decades, ending only with his sad demise on October 24.
Everyone remembers the ad guy with the walrus moustache, but few remember the actor.
Yes, Piyush Pandey appeared in a 2013 film Madras Café, directed by Shoojit Sircar.
The political thriller is set in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the Sri Lankan civil war and ends with Rajiv Gandhi'S assassination.
It features Piyush Pandey as the Cabinet secretary chairing a joint intelligence committee meeting in New Delhi.
When Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya reached out to the filmmaker to share his experiences of directing the creative genius, Shoojit started out by reiterating the sentiment heard all weekend in the media, on social media and elsewhere, "It is a sad day today."
"I'm glad that Madras Café is there for people to see and watch Piyush now that he is no longer amongst us." Shoojit Sircar tells Roshmila.
'It was because of the trust and friendship between us that...'
Piyush Pandey was my mentor. I came to Mumbai because of him, him being a guiding force, trusting me, and of course, for the person he was.
Madras Café is the only feature film he has acted in.
I told him simply, "Sir, will you do this role?" and he agreed immediately, saying, "If you are there, I will do it."
It was a very special role, that of the Cabinet secretary.
He did ask if I was sure he would be able to do it and I assured him that I was confident he would pull off.
I'm sure it was because of the trust and friendship between us that he agreed to do my film.
'I'm glad this film is there now for people to see and watch Piyush'
Directing him was simple and easy because he looked the part.
Piyush and Siddharth Basu -- he plays Robin Dutt aka RD, chief of R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing, India's intelligence agency
So, the scenes featuring them worked very well and were set in a conference room in the secretariat in New Delhi.
It was just three-four days of work, but we all had a lot of fun because of the person Piyush was.
He was always laughing.
It's been a long time, over 20 years, and that's all I can remember and I will hold on to these memories of the moments we spent in Delhi together.
I'm glad my film is there for people to see and watch Piyush now that he is no longer amongst us.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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