Teachers’ Day: Celebs recall that one precious life lesson from the best teacher in their life

On the occasion of Teacher’s Day, Bollywood celebrities reveal the biggest life lesson they have got till date.

Behind all the glitz and glamour, celebrities, too, are people like us, who had to face a lot of obstacles on their way to success. Here are five such celebs, who recall that one precious life lesson which they will always cherish, and also tell us the teacher behind those pearls of wisdom:

Manoj Bajpayee calls theatre director Barry John his teacher.

SUMEET VYAS

LESSON: ‘Don’t talk about acting, do it’

Veteran actor Nadira Babbar has been the foundation for me as an actor and artist. I started working with her when I was 17, and among the many things she told me, one thing which struck a chord with me was that acting is something you do and not discuss. I see a lot of actors theorizing acting a lot. Role ka poora post mortem kar dete hain, but when you see them on screen, you don’t see what they talked about — that I think is the most valuable lesson about acting and creating art in general. She was hard on me during our first interaction. I was 17, had a lot of pimples, and really heavy at that time. She saw me at the rehearsals, and she would ask ‘Who’s this guy?’ Then she asked me ‘How do you sit? Tum halwai ho kya, voh baithte hain aise’! I didn’t know how to respond. She means a lot to me.

MANOJ BAJPAYEE

LESSON: ‘Practise and practise’

Acting teacher Barry John will always be the teacher of my life and theatre. I will always cherish this one fact that there is this guy, who was not of this nationality in the beginning, and now he is a citizen of this country. He showed faith in me when one institute kept turning me back. What he told me about acting in one line was ‘Acting is not talking about it, but just doing it’. He simply meant one should go on practising.

RAKEYSH OMPRAKASH MEHRA

LESSON: ‘Produce every film you want to make’

All my gurus have taught me. I asked Gulzar, ‘What’s a director? Is he the one who says ‘action’ or someone who has got ‘andaz-e-bayan’ (expression)?’. He said, ‘Director is one who has a point of view, who wants to say something, and which is not just about what’s two into one’.

Then I asked Narayan Moorthy, who’s a mentor. He gave me a guru mantra. He said, ‘I would like to go to a DVD shop and say, ‘I want to see a Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra film.’ I said that’s arrogant! He replied ‘No. It’s like saying I like his films, show me his films’. We have gurus around us, and my naman to Mani Ratnam as well, who’s given amazing insights into the cinema you want to make, and (how to) survive and not sell out. He told me early on ‘Produce a film if you want to make it, otherwise you would be making someone else’s films.’

NORA FATEHI

LESSON: ‘Honesty is extremely important’

I have had amazing relationships with all my teachers in high school. They all became my friends and I was kind of a teachers’ pet.

But there is this one teacher who taught me so many life lessons. His name is Mr. Terry Jones. And has become both a father figure and a dear friend since 10 years now. He taught me that integrity and honesty is extremely important, and to never allow anything in life to get in the way of my ethics and my morals. He taught me to never allow people to intimidate me and break my confidence, especially when it comes to following my dreams. He was the one who told me that I can do anything, if I put my mind to it. He said one should never take shortcuts in life. He means so much to me and I am grateful to have him as a teacher and a friend.

ELLI AVRAM

LESSON: ‘Materialistic things don’t have any value in life’

My father taught me as a teenager, that materialistic things doesn’t have any value in life. ‘Things’ will always be around. What matters in life is our family and beloved ones. After my grandfather passed away, I realised the depth and truth of my father’s words.

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