The Magical Lives of Kumar Pallana
It took perfecting death-defying stunts, a chance encounter, and seven decades before Hollywood took notice of the inevitable star.
There is more to the JFK airport janitor than meets the eye. At first, he appears to be a curmudgeonly old man who takes particular delight in watching passengers slip on his recently mopped floors. Eventually, seated on red airport chairs, Gupta (Kumar Pallana) confides his secret to Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks). When Viktor asks him if he’s afraid the U.S. will deport him to India, Gupta shakes his head.
“They have no reason to notice a man like me,” he says. Yet this couldn’t be further from the truth. Time and again, Kumar Pallana as Gupta manages to pull focus from The Terminal’s biggest stars, whether he’s speaking about his hatred of Tuesdays or juggling multicolored rings and spinning plates.
Steven Spielberg called him a blessing. Owen Wilson sang his praises on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wes Anderson described him as “a natural performer.” But perhaps the most fitting description of Kumar Pallana — a man who performed in Vegas nightclubs, defied death more than once, and taught yoga to Texans during his 94-year-long life — came from his son, Dipak: “He was the most unconventional person I’ve known.” Kumar Pallana’s life was filled with magic.