Cyrus Dastur took over the reigns from Anurag Kashyap and directed Tom Alter

Back in 2004, Anurag (Kashyap) got busy with 'Black Friday', and approached me to take on the mantle for 'When God Said Cheers'. I asked him if Tom saab would act in a play directed by an amateur, and he said it didn't matter to him. We completed nearly 300 shows of the play and his presence of mind was remarkable: there was a time, I recall, when the mics went off on stage during a performance in Pune. As the technical team worked at fixing them, Tom saab incorporated that scene in the play! From him I learnt punctuality (he was always the first to arrive for rehearsals) and discipline. Now that he's up there, I bet he is saying cheers to God.

As told to Fiona Fernandez