"The audience must reject junks"

Santosh Mehta

The decline in the quality of Bollywood films upsets at least one veteran actor no end. The audience must junk such films, he says, and declares that censors must get into the act to prevent the release of such films to protect the audience.
He is Tom Alter, a veteran who has acted in 350 films during his 42- year acting career, the 66-year-old cinema and stage actor was awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution as an actor, playwright, director, cricket columnist and passionate writer. His actual name is Thomas Beach Alter but is popularly known by Tom Alter.

Tom loves theatre, and started the theatre group Motley Productions along with famous theatre actors Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gliani in 1977. Their first play, Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," was staged at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai.

Tom Alter The talented, simple and downto- earth actor continues to attract admirers in large numbers even at this age. They flock to him at gatherings, where he speaks freely and frankly without bothering about consequences. No wonder, fans queue up for his autographs. He does not keep a car even today, and prefers to commute by taxis. And the unpretentious Tom continues to live in the same modest house in Mumbai for over four decades.
Tom finds the growing trend of vulgarity in the so-called popular Hindi cinema intolerable. He is horrified that Shahid Kapoor is shown urinating in "Udta Punjab." True, it is an expose on the drug menace in Punjab but, he asks: Is it necessary to include such vulgar scenes in such a film?
He also detests the manner in which the commercial success of a film is celebrated by its producer, director and actors: loud shouting, getting drunk and dancing well past midnight in Mumbai's quiet suburbs. "Is this the right way to celebrate success? I wonder. I like good and healthy cinema for our audience, and I am not against censorship!"
Commercial cinema contains item songs and vulgar scenes to appeal to huge audiences to become successful. And big actors have no compunctions about acting in such films because they get paid in crores. Tom often asks some of the actors who perform item songs and vulgar scenes why they degrade themselves by doing such films. He says: "They tell me: Tom Saheb, vulgar scene or an item song gets us ten lakhs of rupees!"

Dev Anand Says a distressed Tom: "Actors may be willing to do anything in films for money .But it's up to us as the audience. We can always reject and ignore vulgar movies by refusing to see them so that such films are not made in future. As an audience, it is our responsibility to reject vulgar films that Bollywood keeps churning out from time to time!"
Born in Mussoorie (Uttarakhand), he is the son of an American Christian missionary who migrated to Delhi in 1916 from Sialkot, now in Pakistan. He graduated from the Woodstock School in Mussorie and studied at the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Tom got his first film break in the Dev Anand's '' Sahib Bahadur.'' But his first release was Ramanand Sagar's ''Charas,'' in which he played the role of a CID officer.

William Darlymple Tom loves theatre, and started the theatre group Motley Productions along with famous theatre actors Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gliani in 1977. Their first play, Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," was staged at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai.
It's not just in Hindi films that Tom has performed. Two decades ago, he acted in Assamese filmdirector Dr Santwana Bardoloi's ''Adajya.''

Ramanand Sagar A decade later, he acted in William Darlymple's "City of Djinns" along side famous actress Zohra Sehgal as well as Manish Joshi's Bismil. His solo play Maulana Azad has received much praise due to his brilliant acting skill.

Manoj Kumar Rang Rasiya' and ,'Junoon','. His most appreciated role was as a British officer in Manoj Kumar's 'Kranti'. He has acted in famous tele serials such as ' Shaktiman',' Zabaan Sambhalke and Shyam Benegal's iconic 'Bharat Ek Khoj', and even in a Hollywood movie called ''One Night with the King.''.

Satyajit Ray He has worked with famous actors like Manoj Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah and others. He has also worked with Rajat Kapur in ''Bheja Fry.''
Mumbai-based Tom was recently in Delhi as chief-guest for the release of ''That's News To Me! A Presswallah's Journey" written by Manjula Lal, senior journalist and deputy editor of Tehelka magazine, and published by Readomania.

Naseeruddin Shah Acting in films and on stage apart, Tom is also a passionate writer and poet. He has authored many books, including ''The Longest Race'' and ''The Best in the World.'' He was a sports journalist for 15 years and still remembers interviewing Sachin Tendulkar with some pride.
Delhi is his second home and he remembers Jangpura, Daryaganj Rajpur Road, and his cycle rides to meet Carol, his girl friend then and now wife. He lived in Delhi for 11 years with his parents. He has a son and a daughter. His son recently married Meha, a television anchor from Dehradun.



		EDITOR'S MAIL MATTERS OF PUBLIC POLICY FIVE-STATE POLL PUNJAB ELECTION ON RECORD FRANKLY SPEAKING REALPOLITIK CHANGING POLITICAL PROFILES THE NIGHT THAT WAS RBI AUTONOMY A DIVIDED PARTY DIDI'S POLITICS INDIA ESSAY VOICE FROM LONDON 45TH U.S. PRESIDENT HITS & MISSES MIXED BLESSING ENVIRONMENTAL NEGLECT BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR YOGA IN DAILY LIFE-X SIGNS OF THE TIMES INTERVIEW BOLLYWOOD PANORAMA TRIBUTE THAT HEROIC EVENT LIVING WITH NATURE ART OF LIVING Issue:February' 2017 Subscribe Now	BOLLYWOOD PANORAMA "The audience must reject junks" Santosh Mehta The decline in the quality of Bollywood films upsets at least one veteran actor no end. The audience must junk such films, he says, and declares that censors must get into the act to prevent the release of such films to protect the audience. He is Tom Alter, a veteran who has acted in 350 films during his 42- year acting career, the 66-year-old cinema and stage actor was awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution as an actor, playwright, director, cricket columnist and passionate writer. His actual name is Thomas Beach Alter but is popularly known by Tom Alter. Tom loves theatre, and started the theatre group Motley Productions along with famous theatre actors Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gliani in 1977. Their first play, Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," was staged at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai. Tom Alter The talented, simple and downto- earth actor continues to attract admirers in large numbers even at this age. They flock to him at gatherings, where he speaks freely and frankly without bothering about consequences. No wonder, fans queue up for his autographs. He does not keep a car even today, and prefers to commute by taxis. And the unpretentious Tom continues to live in the same modest house in Mumbai for over four decades. Tom finds the growing trend of vulgarity in the so-called popular Hindi cinema intolerable. He is horrified that Shahid Kapoor is shown urinating in "Udta Punjab." True, it is an expose on the drug menace in Punjab but, he asks: Is it necessary to include such vulgar scenes in such a film? He also detests the manner in which the commercial success of a film is celebrated by its producer, director and actors: loud shouting, getting drunk and dancing well past midnight in Mumbai's quiet suburbs. "Is this the right way to celebrate success? I wonder. I like good and healthy cinema for our audience, and I am not against censorship!" Commercial cinema contains item songs and vulgar scenes to appeal to huge audiences to become successful. And big actors have no compunctions about acting in such films because they get paid in crores. Tom often asks some of the actors who perform item songs and vulgar scenes why they degrade themselves by doing such films. He says: "They tell me: Tom Saheb, vulgar scene or an item song gets us ten lakhs of rupees!" Dev Anand Says a distressed Tom: "Actors may be willing to do anything in films for money .But it's up to us as the audience. We can always reject and ignore vulgar movies by refusing to see them so that such films are not made in future. As an audience, it is our responsibility to reject vulgar films that Bollywood keeps churning out from time to time!" Born in Mussoorie (Uttarakhand), he is the son of an American Christian missionary who migrated to Delhi in 1916 from Sialkot, now in Pakistan. He graduated from the Woodstock School in Mussorie and studied at the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Tom got his first film break in the Dev Anand's '' Sahib Bahadur.'' But his first release was Ramanand Sagar's ''Charas,'' in which he played the role of a CID officer. William Darlymple Tom loves theatre, and started the theatre group Motley Productions along with famous theatre actors Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gliani in 1977. Their first play, Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," was staged at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai. It's not just in Hindi films that Tom has performed. Two decades ago, he acted in Assamese filmdirector Dr Santwana Bardoloi's ''Adajya.'' Ramanand Sagar A decade later, he acted in William Darlymple's "City of Djinns" along side famous actress Zohra Sehgal as well as Manish Joshi's Bismil. His solo play Maulana Azad has received much praise due to his brilliant acting skill. Manoj Kumar Rang Rasiya' and ,'Junoon','. His most appreciated role was as a British officer in Manoj Kumar's 'Kranti'. He has acted in famous tele serials such as ' Shaktiman',' Zabaan Sambhalke and Shyam Benegal's iconic 'Bharat Ek Khoj', and even in a Hollywood movie called ''One Night with the King.''. Satyajit Ray He has worked with famous actors like Manoj Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah and others. He has also worked with Rajat Kapur in ''Bheja Fry.'' Mumbai-based Tom was recently in Delhi as chief-guest for the release of ''That's News To Me! A Presswallah's Journey" written by Manjula Lal, senior journalist and deputy editor of Tehelka magazine, and published by Readomania. Naseeruddin Shah Acting in films and on stage apart, Tom is also a passionate writer and poet. He has authored many books, including ''The Longest Race'' and ''The Best in the World.'' He was a sports journalist for 15 years and still remembers interviewing Sachin Tendulkar with some pride. Delhi is his second home and he remembers Jangpura, Daryaganj Rajpur Road, and his cycle rides to meet Carol, his girl friend then and now wife. He lived in Delhi for 11 years with his parents. He has a son and a daughter. His son recently married Meha, a television anchor from Dehradun.