Lahore is a city beyond compare. Once, in undivided India, it was the birthplace of art, literature, and music. The gems that once adorned its narrow streets included poets, writers, lyricists, singers, and actors, a whole constellation that made Lahore’s sky glow with brilliance. Among those very lanes lived Baba Pyare Lal Singh Bedi, a man unlike any other. He had a deep love for philosophy and a romantic attachment to leftist politics. One day, the flow of time took him to Oxford University for higher studies.
It was around 1930, when very few Indian students were seen at Oxford. Among his classmates was a Christian girl named Freda. She quickly fell under the spell of Bedi’s magnetic personality, and before long, the two decided to marry. Bedi came from a Punjabi Sikh family where marriage outside one’s community was considered unthinkable, yet their strong resolve made all obstacles disappear.
He still remembered the day Gandhi visited Oxford, and how he stood among those welcoming him. Later, he earned a scholarship to a German university. After completing his studies, Bedi and Freda returned to Lahore and settled in Model Town. The house they lived in had mud walls. It was there that Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah often stayed, bound by friendship with Baba Bedi.
The Second World War had begun, and India’s freedom movement was gaining force. Both Bedi and Freda threw themselves wholeheartedly into the struggle for independence. Bedi was arrested several times, and once, even Freda had to face imprisonment. Their first son, Ranga, was born in this house. In 1946, another son arrived; they named him Kabir Bedi, who would one day make his name in film, television, and theatre.
When India was partitioned in 1947, the Bedis moved to Kashmir. Part of Kabir’s childhood was spent there before the family eventually shifted from Kashmir to India. Kabir was admitted to Aunty Gauba School, where he became friends with Indira Gandhi’s sons, Rajiv and Sanjay. For a while, he studied at DPS, then at Nainital’s renowned Sherwood College, and finally at St Stephen’s College, all among the most prestigious institutions of the time. For a short period, he also studied at Tagore’s Shantiniketan.
From his college days, Kabir showed a deep interest in literature and acting. He served as secretary of his college Shakespeare Society. During his student years, he wrote a short story, Rambling on a Beach, later included by the celebrated writer Khushwant Singh among the best short stories of the time. One of his school poems, When I Was Small, won first prize in a competition. Kabir began his professional life with radio. One memory from that period stayed with him forever: the day he interviewed the world-famous band The Beatles.
In 1983 came another milestone: an offer to appear in the James Bond film Octopussy
It was a rare privilege, for reaching them was never easy. A week after the broadcast, when Kabir went to collect the recording, he was told that the tape had been erased and another programme recorded over it. That incident disheartened him, and he left the radio to try his luck in films. Moving from Delhi to Bombay, he began making documentary films in advertising.
Then one day came an offer to act in a film called Hulchul. That marked the start of his cinematic journey. Many other films followed: Seema, Anokha Daan, Rakhi Aur Hathkari, Sazaa, Kachay Dhaage, Do Raaste, and Manzilen Aur Bhi Hain. Yet a major turning point still awaited him.
It was 1974. A group of Italian filmmakers visiting India were looking for an actor for a television series called Sandokan. The role was of an Asian hero who fought against British colonial power. Kabir Bedi, tall, handsome, with a dignified voice, seemed to embody their imagined Sandokan. He flew to Italy for the audition, won the part, and soon the series made him a household name. He became one of Italy’s most beloved actors. In 1975, he appeared in Vijay Tendulkar’s play Vultures.
That was the era when James Bond films ruled the world, thrilling tales of espionage and adventure. In 1978, Kabir acted in The Thief of Baghdad, and in 1979, in Ashanti, alongside renowned actors Michael Caine and Omar Sharif.
In 1983 came another milestone: an offer to appear in the James Bond film Octopussy. It was a proud moment in his career, sharing the screen with Hollywood star Roger Moore. In London, he was also cast in The Far Pavilions. After earning fame in Hollywood, Italy, and England, Kabir Bedi received a major Bollywood offer, Khoon Bhari Maang. The film broke box-office records, and Kabir’s role as an anti-hero became iconic. Over his career, he acted in more than thirty Hindi films. In Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story, he portrayed Shah Jahan with grace and intensity. Thus, Kabir Bedi became one of the few actors who earned acclaim in Bollywood, Hollywood, Italy, and England alike.
Kabir Bedi had wealth, fame, and the boundless love of people, but his personal life saw many ups and downs. In his autobiography, Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life of an Actor, he candidly described his four marriages. He also shared part of his life with Parveen Babi, though they never married.
Now retired from the world of film, Kabir often sits on his terrace at dusk. As twilight deepens, his gaze drifts toward the past, scenes of a life lived in many worlds. Among those memories is the small hut in Lahore’s Model Town, the one his father often spoke about, a home with mud walls and the glow of lanterns instead of electricity, a home without luxury but full of love. It was there that Kabir Bedi first opened his eyes, in Lahore, a city among cities, where his life’s journey began, and whose sky his eyes still long to see.