As good an actor as soldier

Col HP Singh (retd)

Hey Harry boy, how are you?’ It was a pleasant surprise to get a call from him. My senior in boarding school and subsequently in the Army, Bizz Bizz, as he was popularly called, was now an established actor. He spoke enthusiastically about the movie he was planning on Siachen glacier that would give an insight into the challenges our soldiers face at the world’s highest battlefield. Little did I know that this would be my last conversation with him; he succumbed to Covid-19 a fortnight later.

‘Send him to Sanawar and make a man of him.’ This oft-quoted phrase from Rudyard Kipling’s book, Kim, had been the justification our seniors offered while ‘toughening’ us up in school. Bizz, with his compassionate attitude, was different; he preferred to role play an elder brother instead of a bullying senior.

Acting and soldiering were his passions. Undoubtedly, he was at his best on stage during school shows, as also on the parade ground for the annual ceremony of trooping of King’s Colours awarded to our school. His joining the Hodson’s Horse, as a second-generation officer, came as no surprise. Call it providence, this cavalier’s death coincided with the Raising Day of the Tank Corps he belonged to.

A great sense of humour and jovial nature, accentuated with excellent command over the Queen’s English, made him popular wherever he was posted. I remember his motorcycle was often borrowed by budding teenagers for joyrides, as was his collection of cassettes of soft country music. Many of them joined the forces following him as a role model.

After giving the prime of his youth to the Army, he took premature retirement and found his forte in acting. He started with television serials and soon muscled his way through stiff competition in Bollywood. He played character roles in movies like Page 3, Hijack, Murder 2, Corporate, Rocket Singh, Shaurya and Two States, to name a few. The combatant in him was always alive as he played a soldier’s role in many movies.

I last met him at the Military Literature Festival at Chandigarh, wearing medals on his blazer and posing for selfies. He appeared interested in the school insignia on my coat, enquiring from where he could get one. I read his mind and gifted it to him. He was overwhelmed and his tight hug had all the warmth on that cold December morning.

Destiny has little regard for plans of men; it was not written in the tablet of his fate to get any further on this movie. His untimely death is a tragic reminder of the fickleness of fortune. He has gone to his rest and now only the memory of him remains. My penning a tribute to Major Bikramjit Kanwarpal is one definite way of achieving a catharsis of emotions. As the saying goes, ‘Soldiers never die, they just fade away’. His movies will keep him alive in our hearts.

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