Had
an interesting experience a few days ago. I had read of lifecasting used by
sculptors to achieve accuracy in creating statues and busts in museums and by
special effects conjurers in cinema for creating dummies in scenes requiring
perilous stunts by the actors.
Last week, Riteish Deshmukh, my dear friend
Vilasrao Deshmukh’s talented son, visited us with his lifecasting expert to get
impressions of my hands and Saira’s hands which will be in a museum he proposes
to have for cinema lovers. The alginate mixture poured into trays reminded me
of the mixture I used to see in a bakery in Poona years ago where I used to drop in to
buy my favourite biscuits during my first ever stay away from my family in the early 1940s.
It
took only a quarter of an hour for the team to get the mixture ready and get
our hands imprinted on the mould which I am told will be imaged on metal for
display in the museum. It is Riteish’s brain child and it is his way of telling
those of us who spent the best years of our lives entertaining and, hopefully,
impacting people’s minds through our films, that our hard work and
contributions to the growth of the medium have not been in vain.
I
have heard from my family about Riteish’s gift for excelling in comedy. I have
known him for some years now as a well bred young man doing his parents proud.
I hope to be at his wedding on February 3 and share the Deshmukh family’s happiness on the occasion.
Video is attached with this.
DK
Video is attached with this.