Saeed Jaffrey, the cigarette shop owner Lallan Miyan had a customer Siddharth aka Farooq Shaikh, who unluckily couldn’t smoke. And thus, on the sets of the 1981 comedy Chashme Buddoor, director Sai Paranjpe had to take it on herself to teach her hero how to puff his way into the scene. Captured by ace lensman Jagdish Aurangabadkar, this picture shows how Sai was a hands-on filmmaker. In India, where women smokers are still looked down upon, Sai had no qualms teaching her male lead actor Farooq how to smoke. As the two actors stare at their director, Sai lights up with a coir rope hanging from the cigarette shop. And those were the days when Coke had still not made its second entry into the subcontinent. So there was the celebrated replacement Cola – Campa! And there was Ship matches. And of course, there was the absence of designer wardrobe, director’s hats, and too many assistants. There was a saree-clad filmmaker who took the reins of her project and led it forward. And that, as we call it, makes history! “
