What is amazing about Sachin Tendulkar is that for 20 years he has been able to maintain a level. There has been no dip in his abilities, his application
or his passion for the game. I would say very few people could last this long. I've played cricket and believe me, you can't get out of bed for one week after one gruelling match.
I saw him for the first time in 1988 when I was shooting at the Brabourne Stadium and he wasn't playing for the Indian team yet. The team was practising at the nets and I was chatting with Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar and a few others. At a distance I could see this kid batting. I was surprised to see that he was middling the ball; he looked so small, and so young. I was zapped. I wondered who this little boy was, who was being allowed to practise at the nets with the Indian cricket team. So I asked Kapil and Vengsarkar, “Who's he? How come I don't know?” They told me he was a new guy called Sachin Tendulkar, who was being seriously considered for the Indian team. So I had the good fortune of seeing Sachin tendulkar play even before he walked into the team.
The first time I met him was in 1990 when he came to the sets of Raj Kumar Santoshi's Andaz Apna Apna. I don't know how many people will recall this but it was sachin tendulkar who gave the clap for the mahurat shot at Mehboob Studios in Bandra. We met briefly and over the years we have been meeting off and on. We have been to each other's homes.
I have shown him all my movies, even Andaz Apna Apna which took three years to make. He came along with members of the Mumbai Ranji team to Bandra's Gem theatre in the G-7 complex where I had organised a preview for them.
Whenever we meet, we talked about both cricket and films. He saw Ghajini at the test screening in my Khar office. He saw Taare Zameen Par also at the test screening. We stay in touch through SMS and when he plays really well, I promptly send him a text congratulating him — like when he smashed 175 in Hyderabad.
What's so attractive about Sachin Tendulkar's game is the joy and passion with which he approaches the game. There is a lot of intensity in his game whether he is batting, bowling or fielding. For me, everything he does is perfect. I like to watch him open the innings in the ODIs. It gives me a high.
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