Apurva Asrani shares entertaining video of 84-year-old junior artist who worked with Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Sunil Dutt

Apurva Asrani has shared a video of a junior artist he met in Srinagar and said that the “supernovas” are remembered, while the smaller stars fade into the darkness slowly. The 84-year-old junior artist worked in Hindi films and worked with Sunil Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Raaj Kumar, and Dilip Kumar, among many others. (Also read: Waheeda Rehman recalls how her ‘white hair’ shocked an unwell Sunil Dutt in ICU)

Apurva posted a long note about the actor on his Instagram profile. The writer-editor wrote, “I had the honour of meeting Pamposh Vani, a park attendant in Srinagar, Kashmir, who used to be a Bollywood actor in the 60s and 70s. He’s 84, but is a healthy, sprightly and wildly entertaining young man, who can mimic all the stars of yore. I watched in awe as he delivered the dialogues of Raj Kapoor, Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, Dilip Kumar and Johnny Walker with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Makes you think about how we only remember the supernovas as the smaller twinkling stars fade slowly into darkness.”

The video showed Pamposhvani enacting a few dialogues mimicking a few stalwarts of the bygone era. Pamposhvani said in the end, “My name is Pamposhvani. I have done small roles in Bollywood films. I am a small person, all I need is something to feed me.” He also said that each artist had a different style of speaking before he went on to mouth dialogues in Sunil Dutt, Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Raaj Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Prithvi Raj Kapoor and Johnny Walker styles.

The actor also recalled he worked in Mehmood studio at a time when sets were created from cardboards. Pamposhvani has worked in films for 48 years and is now “semi-retired” in Kashmir continues to entertain people by mimicking even as a ticket collector in a small park in the valley, Apurva said in his post.

“Raj Kapoor, and all of them loved me so much. An actor with Dilip Kumar’s talent was never born again,” Pamposhvani said. Asked how he kept himself fit at the age of 85, he added, “Mai Dev Anand ki booti khata tha. Wo nimbu se khana khata tha (I take the same potion as Dev Anand did. He used to use lemon in his food.

Sharing the video, Apurva wrote on Twitter, “I met Pamposh Vani – once a junior artist in Hindi films and now a park attendant in Srinagar. He’s 84 and still so entertaining. Made me think about how we remember only the supernovas while the smaller twinkling stars fade slowly into darkness.”

“If anyone would like to employ Mr Pamposh Vani, DM me, I have his contact details. As is evident, he isn’t financially sound, and really wants to face the camera again,” Apurva added. Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri responded with, “Wow! I love his spirit.”

Actor Rahul Bhat was quick to respond with, “Thank you for sharing this @Apurvasrani, so many films and shows are shot in kashmir these days , I request all the directors and casting directors to employ #pamposhvani Please send me his no. I will be shooting in #kashmir next month , I will request my director to hire him.”