Veteran actor Kiran Kumar recently opened up about an incident from his past where he found himself in a rather turbulent situation during his time at FTII (Film And Television Institute of India). He shared an engaging anecdote in which he and his group of friends, which notably included Raza Murad, faced rustication from the institution after getting involved in a physical altercation. Fortunately, their dire situation took a positive turn when renowned filmmakers BR Chopra and AK Abbas intervened, ultimately leading to their reinstatement.
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Kiran Kumar talked about how he naturally had a strong and aggressive personality. He explained that fights between students in the acting and directing departments were quite common. Kiran, who was studying acting, got into a fight with students from the directing department.
He said, “We hit them. We physically assaulted them. Police came to the scene, and they took us with them. They took me and Raza Murad. There was Jagdish Sodi and others, and the police took us with them. Tanjea Saab, who was our guru, came to the station and bailed us out. But our principal was very angry. He said, ‘I will not spare these troublemakers.’ So we were rusticated.”
The actor went on to say, “But when we were rusticated, the other students from the acting department said, ‘If you remove these boys, we will all go on strike.’ So, there was a strike, and it lasted for 45 days. The whole department gathered on the road outside the institute. For those 45 days, nobody questioned us, and there was no understanding. Nothing happened. Then, some industry members from Mumbai were called in to help resolve the issue. BR Chopra and AK Abbas were among them. They brought in the students who caused the trouble.”
“Chopra, like a fatherly figure, asked, ‘Beta, you weren’t like this before, why have you started fighting?’ I apologised, and they asked the principal to give us a second chance. The issue was resolved, and we were allowed back into the college.”
Kiran Kumar went on to say that after the issue was sorted out, AK Abbas invited him to his guest house. Thinking he might be scolded, Kiran was surprised by what happened. Instead of scolding him, Abbas surprised him by offering him a role in his movie. He said, “I’m making a film, and I need a ‘lambu’ engineer. Will you do it?” The director went on to explain that the shooting would take place in Jaisalmer, and Kiran could join during his holidays. An excited Kiran agreed and signed the film contract for Rs 7,500.
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