Click to play videoMumbai: Ram Tipnis, if you look carefully you will find his name in the credit roll of many a film. He's the man who made stars look beautiful, from Prithvi Raj Kapoor to Shahrukh Khan. He has worked for more than six decades in the industry. CNN-IBN caught up with this legendary but lesser known make up artist.
87-year-old Ram Tipnis' photographic memory is amazing. Having spent sixty four years in the industry, he has slapped the pancake on actors from Dilip Kumar to Dev Anand and from Suchitra Sen to Saif Ali Khan.
His first film was the Leela Chitnis-starrer Kisi Se Na Kehna. Later on, he joined Filmistan Studios in 1945 and for next 16 years worked for all their films.
But it was Shammi Kapoor who swore by Tipnis's work, and the man is still nostalgic about the star, whom he first met while doing make-up of Prithviraj Kapoor for Anandmath.
“Second day, a thin fellow came there, papaji...koi director ka naam liya, there is a trial and I want your wishes. Papaji ne usko bola ki Shammi ye bhi bahut mahan artist hai, make up man hai, actor bhi hai, tab shammi kapoor ne mujhe jhuke namaskar kiya. aaj bhi hum jab milte hain, woh bimaar hai, main bimaar hoon, tab bhi hum jhukkake namskar karte hain…thats love (When I met Shammi Kapoor for the first time, he bent and greeted me. Today, even though he and I don’t keep well, we still bend and greet each other),” Tipnis says.
Tipnis Dada, as he is fondly called by everyone , has many interesting tales from the industry.
Once he had to fool Rajesh Khanna by boasting about his foreign degree to put a beard that Khanna wasn't willing to put on and for Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani, he had to get horse hair to make a straight hair moustache for a Chinese character.
However today’s make-up artistes don’t impress Tipnis. He believes that all actresses look the same.
“Now nothing is there — all you see is white colour, eyebrows, eyes, lipstick, finish make up. There’s no face moulding. if you give moulding of the face, the face changes. I have got book on make up, which shows how you can change the face. But today, nobody bothers about it so why should we bother?” Tipnis adds.
What’s interesting is that Tipnis has also faced the camera a few times and has acted in many Marathi plays.
From black and white to colour films and from Doordrashan to satellite channels, he has seen it all and worked in every medium. He says he hasn’t made great money but has gained something else that’s everlasting.
“We still meet a this old artists still we meet we meet with the same pyaar. hum kabhi raste pad khade hain bus ke liye, dilip saab ki gadi jaati hai woh dekhte hain khade rehte hain, poochte hain kya kar raha hai idhar koi line mar raha hai kya tu, nahi na. kidhar ja raha hai ? hum shivaji park jaana hai. chalo idhar ye relationship hai (All the old artists still meet us with same love and affection. For instance, if Dilip saab’s car passes by while I’m waiting at the bus stop, he’ll pull over and say, ‘Are you teasing women? No, Right? We are going to Shivaji Park. Come with us.’ That’s the kind of relationship we have),” Tipnis says.
After having worked for over six decades, this octogenarian was forced by his family to retire because of his failing health in 2005, but every time an actor lights up the screen Tipnis' art lives on.
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