The Black Dog and its new prey?

Sushant Singh Rajput -One more added to the list of good souls held captive by the Black Dog?

I saw him first in the movie, PK and was sure that he was a promising artist. With this single movie he moved to my list of favourites in Bollywood (in line with Aamir Khan, Shabana Aasmi, Konkona Sen, Nasuruddin Shah, Om Puri, Navasuddin Siddiqui, Nana Patekar, Paresh Raval, Kajol...). He had a captivating smile and his eyes could express even the subtle emotions.

I remember one of his speeches given to students of DCE where he was an alumni. The audience wooed and clapped for almost all the lines he spoke. There he described himself as an introvert. Though he was the owner of a personality that attracted the attention of a lot of youngsters, it did not sound contradictory to me. Many of the Mollywood actors whom I watched from childhood and appreciated were introverts. From big shots like Momootty, Mohanlal, Shobana to other talented actors like Prithviraj, Fahad Fazil, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Sreenath Bhasi, S P Sreekumar, Sudev Nair, Tovino Thomas, who won the hearts of people of Kerala are introverts. Many times I felt that they compensated for the limited words in their life with the mind blowing performances as outgoing characters. This was kind of confirmed in the message that Sushant conveyed in his speech at DCE. He admitted to feeling excited and happy when he played the characters in the movie who were very different from him.

Samuel Abiola Robinson a young actor from Nigeria, played the role of a football player in the Malayalam movie- Sudani from Nigeria. This movie won a lot of awards in the Kerala State Film Awards. Samuel was appreciated for his brilliant performance in this movie. Recently he was in the news because of his post in the social media regarding his stint with the Black Dog.

The topic of the Black Dog never came up in any of  Sushant's conversations. So none of his friends found the need to dig deeper or found any reason to be concerned. Did the brightness of his smile hide the Black one that growled behind him? Smiles can be very deceptive...

Reminds me of a small poem (Sher) which I jotted some years ago

कहते है सब, आप की मुस्कराहट है हंसीन बड़ी।
कहते है सब, आप की मुस्कराहट है हंसीन बड़ी।
मगर वह क्या जाने ;
दिल में जो चिंगारियाँ है, उसी की रौशनी चहरे पे पड़ी ।।

The black dog

I see him walk past my house every day;

He never lifted his eyes from the bay;

Never seemed to notice people or what they say;

Every day his big black dog, followed him all the way.

He was never seen without this canine.

Both their faces were dark without a shine,

He never talked or smiled,

He was bound by fear of some kind.

None in the avenue tried or cared,

To give a warm wish or friendly smile.

To approach this man with the dog, none dared,

None had a pleasant chat with him in a  while.

I know that dog! I know him close.

A dark one peeped in  life when I didn't choose;

Then my heart was filled with gloom;

My fears arose of the awaiting doom.

Then, I felt a warm touch and friendly hug,

This magic renewed me from rags.

Yes, this was the magic which brought in the beam,

It drove away the black dog, he was nowhere to be seen.

Today, I knew a paying forward was due.

I walked to him as he crossed the avenue,

The dog growled and its fury grew;

Unbothered, I held out my hands, "Friend, how are you?"

Startled, he lifted his head and looked at me,

In his face, a cry for help I did see.

The canine kept growling and barking at me,

But, the lost glow in his eyes was what I yearned to see.

This repeated the next day and the one after,

Each day the dog grew smaller and his growl milder,

My friend lifted his eyes and his face grew brighter,

I knew he had conquered his captor.

The next time you see a black dog's captive. 

Look beyond the dog and hear the captive's silent cries.

Jackson, Williams, Hemingway or Chester we wouldn't have lost,

With a bold warm friend, if they were close.

L. Joseph July, 21,2017

This poem is now published in an international blog twodropsofink.com
https://twodropsofink.com/2017/08/31/poetry-break-by-lily-antony/
Pin it here :  https://in.pinterest.com/pin/149041068901774307/