'At heart I am a Delhi boy'

Kabir Bedi, the actor with the eternal wanderlust, tells Dinesh Raheja, "You are stealing material from my book" while he talks about his relationship with Mumbai.
Mumbai is my home now, but at heart I am a Delhi boy. I have a strange love-hate relationship with Mumbai. I absolutely love its people but the place, except for its southern tip, has begun to resemble one vast chawl -- and I am saying so because I am concerned for this city and want it to look aesthetically appealing.We must make it mandatory to paint all the buildings. Everyone talks about garbage but an unpainted building is as much an eyesore unless you want to project the ''distressed'' look.
"I first came to Mumbai when I was a child. I remember standing at Chowpatty beach and marvelling at the sand and the waves. There is no sea in Delhi, as you know.
"In 1967, at the age of 21, I returned to Mumbai, full of hope and energy. In those days, Juhu was a lovely little village -- it looked a little like what Madh island does today. Bombellis at Churchgate -- an Italian-styled eatery -- was an institution. And at Purohit, you could have a sumptuous vegetarian thali for five rupees.
"I came here to be a filmmaker and found a job as the Film Chief of Lintas and later Benson''s, now known as Ogilvy and Mather. My bosses were bigwigs like Gerson De Cunha, Alyque Padamsee and Frank Simoes. "A reluctant model, I ceded because the money offered was very good. My first big splash was courtesy the Wills campaign for its king-sized cigarettes -- ''Start A Long Affair''.
I belonged to a generation of youngsters who pioneered the bell-bottoms. The spirit of the moment in those days was to loosen things up a bit, to break free from sixties orthodoxy. People all over the world were demonstrating for peace. The hippy cult and flower power was ''in''. The Juhu gang comprising Shekhar Kapur, Mahesh Bhatt, Protima, Shabana, Parveen Babi, Neelam Johar, Jalal Agha celebrated the spirit. We would gang up every Sunday at my residence at Beach House and have a blast.
"In the 70s, I did a play called Tughlaq that became one of the biggest hits of its time. O P Ralhan offered me a role in Hulchul (Zeenat also starred in it but we ended up in cameos while Ralhan and Helen turned out to be the hero-heroine) and I came into the limelight with Raj Khosla''s dacoit drama, Kachche Dhaage.
However, before I could entrench myself in the Mumbai film industry, my wanderlust took me to foreign shores. I flew on my personal expense to Italy for the screen test of Sandokan and bagged the hero''s role. Sandokan was a huge success. I have worked in Hollywood as well as done Hindi films. In Hollywood, the film is in pre-production for two years after which they shoot it in two months; while here we go into pre-production for two years and shoot a film over two years, too.
The longest period I have been away from Mumbai at a stretch is 1977 to 1989 though I did make short trips to Mumbai even in that phase. But ever since I started my third innings in Mumbai, it has become home to me. I spend most of my time here, and spend a few months with my wife Niki in London. Her work with a TV channel keeps her in London but she is only a shout away and joins me whenever she can.
According to a latest prediction, by 2010, Bangalore will eclipse Mumbai as the richest city in India. Before something like that happens we should do whatever we can. And since Mumbai has the amazing spirit to rise and keep functioning in the most adverse situations, I know that we have the potential to ensure that Mumbai stays ahead.