Oscar R. Window | Valladolid (EFE).- The life of the actors is sometimes marked by their best-known character. It happens especially when television enters the scene to multiply the impact. With this scheme, Rowan Atkinson is Mister Bean, Daniel Radckiffe is Harry Potter, Hugh Laurie is Doctor House… And Sandokan? Who is Sandokan?
And the Indian actor Kabir Bedi, perhaps unknown by this name to many, is undoubtedly “The Malaysian Tiger”, Sandokán, the character that gave the series its name, which in 1976 revolutionized countries like Italy with its adventures and in only six chapters. and Spain, amazed by the plots of the novel by the Italian author Emilio Salgari.
But Sandokan is not Kabir Bedi. In his book “Stories I must tell. The emotional life of an actor”, recently published in Spain by Amok Ediciones, gets rid of the character to discover another that, in this world of endless platforms and audiovisual productions, perhaps also deserves a series, for which it has already received offers.
Someone who is a direct descendant of the founder of Sikhism, a childhood friend of the children of Indira Gandhi, author of the only interview given by The Beatles on their tour of India in the 1960s when he worked on the radio and who has managed to become a knight of the Italian Republic, perhaps he has a place in the carousel of series and documentaries.
It can certainly help that it ‘is’ Sandokan. In an interview with EFE, just before presenting his book at the Jaipur Literature Festival that closes this Sunday in Valladolid, Kabir Bedi has acknowledged that his character ate it in Spain, but comments that the same thing happened to him in his country and in the United States with other characters.
He feels that he has had an “extraordinary life on three continents” thanks in part to characters like Sandokán, who changed his existence and “opened the doors to the West”: “Sandokán touched the lives of millions of people in Spain, Italy and all of Europe”, he recalled.
Tired of being Sandokan?
“Never”, he answers emphatically when asked if he is tired of ‘being’ The Malaysian Tiger.
“Every actor has at least one unforgettable role that identifies him and Sandokan has been that role for me in Europe. When I see the effect it causes, it generates a lot of energy. So I never get tired of being one, the love and respect of so many people is the greatest reward an actor can receive”.
“I am many people: for some I am the wicked Govilda from the Bond movie “Octopussy”, for others I am Prince Omar from “The Bold and the Beauty”, for many I am Sandokan or Sanjay Verma for the Indians”, assuming that “multiple identification on three continents”, which he sees as “wonderful”.
Regarding the possibility of his life being reflected in a series based on the book, Bedi explained that he has several offers and will decide “towards the end of summer”: “Obviously it has the potential to be a series today about the life of a boy middle-class man from New Delhi who became an international star.
“It has been a life full of extraordinary adventures, terrible tragedies, great mistakes, great loves, extraordinary women and tremendous losses,” he reflected, convinced that in his years of life he has experienced “ecstasy and agony in a very uncertain as is the movie business.”
From his time in Spain in the midst of Sandokan fever, he remembers that he went to sign books in a shopping center that was packed with people, which he initially refused, but the director of the establishment explained to him that the building was not designed to hold the presence of so many people, so he took an elevator and when he left he found more followers who had not been able to access: “I jumped over the roof of the cars, I was jumping from one car to another and people tried to grab my hands.” legs”.
stories with happy ending
The end of that story was initially happy for him, since he found a proud man who took him in his car to the hotel, where he was able to recover calmly from the stress experienced. But the film hadn’t finished because the Police showed up there due to the complaint from the owners of the cars that he had trampled on.
“In the end I went to the Police station with the director of the shopping center, we explained the situation that my life was in danger,” he added before indicating that it was finally the shopping center that assumed the cost of the damage caused.
Back in the present, Bedi believes that in this current world Sandokan would “fight for justice wherever he saw injustice and would fight for the right to love the person you love,” among other battles.
Despite his 77 years, Bedi has his gaze set on youth, that youth typical of a ‘sandokan’ of life and this is reflected in the dedication of his book: “To all young technicians like my son Siddhartha and to all the young people who want to change the world for the better. I hope you make your dreams come true!” EFE