Anil Kapoor

My first encounter with Tom Alter was 40 years ago at Roshan Taneja's acting institute. The first time Tom came to take a class, we wondered what he’d teach us about Hindi cinema. My batchmates were Gulshan Grover and Mazhar Khan. We thought he’d tell us about English films, but he spoke shuddh Hindi, we were dumbstruck. Then, he spoke chaste Urdu. Surprise turned into awe. I consider Tom my teacher, and I can say with confidence, I was his favourite student. In 1989, we found ourselves as co-actors in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Parinda. Tom played gangster Musa bhai, and his dialogue delivery bowled everyone over. It was a treat to watch him in action.