THE MAVANI BROTHERS

Nitin Mavani’s modest office building in a neighbourhood of imposing highrises at Versova, Mumbai. An apt metaphor, perhaps, for the Mavani brothers, filmmakers on the rise in tinsel town, though hemmed in by banners with towering reputations. The producer is quietly at work, clinching deals for his forthcoming film. And catching up on the debates in Parliament, and the India-Australia humdinger at Kochi. Meanwhile, his tough-talking director brother, Raju, seems to have switched over to other projects already, thrashing out the details of a multi-starrer to be directed by A Muthu, and finalising plans for a trip to the UK. The Mavani brothers talk to Screen about Iski Topi Uske Sar which hits the screen next week...

You signed Sharad Kapoor and Mukul Dev when the pair was hot. Do you have any regrets on that score now, that they’re no longer as hot as they were then?

Nitin: Well, when we first signed them, they were not really hot. By the time their Dastak was released, our film was nearly half complete. So we weren’t really cashing in on their popularity when we signed them. We just thought they’d hit it off together, and suit the roles we had for them.

Raju: Take all the heroes who made their debut in 1996-97, Samrat, Manek, Chandrachur Singh, Arshad Warsi, Sharad Kapoor and Mukul Dev — none of them was what you would call hot property. So we weren’t trying to eat the fruits of somebody else’s labour when we signed Mukul and Sharad.

What about Manek and Samrat? Didn’t you sign them for Ram Aur Shyam when they were hot?

Nitin: Not really. I’d say they too became widely noticed only after we had signed them for Ram Aur Shyam.

Tell us about Iski Top Uske Sar. Are you excited or nervous now that the film is ready for release?

Nitin: Both, actually. It feels like examination time again. The film will be released on April 17. Raju will not be here when it hits the screen, though. He’s going abroad and will return only after the initial results start coming in.

Raju: Mukul and Sharad play heroes on the run. They’ve looted a bank van because the bank manager (Prem Chopra), the arch villain in the story, has been demanding that they pay Rs 40 lakh to him or vacate the land they’re staying on. They take Rs 50 lakh from the van and pay the villain 40 lakh. And after the deed’s done, they run for their lives to Punjab, Rajasthan and Goa to escape the long arm of the law.

So the heroes have negative shades to them, do they?

Nitin: No, in fact they’re taporis, loveable guys who only loot the bank van to get even with the bank manager. They merely wish to pull a fast one on the villain — not to loot the van and get rich quick.

But the story-line as you describe it, sounds quite grim, while the title suggests it’s a comedy...

Raju: Who said it isn’t? It is a fun film, a hilarious caper from start to finish.

Nitin: The audience won’t be bored with this one. It’s well-made, though I say so myself. The sequence of events isn’t illogical. There’s nothing in it that will challenge your credulity, though we packed in elements of situational comedy. For instance, the villain in the film is a bit of a bungler and keeps digging his own grave. No matter what he does, he gets hurt himself. In fact, in the last scene, he emerges bandaged all over.

What about the element of romance? How does it fit in?

Nitin: The heroes, like I said, are on the run. And they meet Divya Dutta while they’re living under cover in Punjab. She rescues them in a crisis. And as for the other heroine, Tina, they run into her in Rajasthan.

Talking of Divya Dutta, she seems to be a fixture of sorts in your films...

Nitin: That’s not true. It just happens that the heroines haven’t had much of a role so far in our films. None of our films are what you’d call heroine-oriented. So none of the established heroines would be willing to act in such a film. Besides, Divya’s very professional. She does her bit competently, and without any fuss. Whereas, with the heroines in demand, we’d have problems getting the dates to match ours and those of our other artistes.

Viewers complain they’ve been seeing the trailers of the film for too long on TV. Don’t you think all this publicity could have an adverse effect on the film?

Nitin: I don’t think so. This is examination time all over the country. So it’s unlikely that the youth have seen too much of the ad promos. Besides, we brought in Sunny Deol as a guest star rather late. And once he agreed to put in an appearance, we had to shoot the promos all over again. Or most people wouldn’t have known he was in the film.

Sunny Deol was an afterthought in the film’s cast. Were you worried your two younger heroes wouldn’t pull it off on their own?

Raju: No again. We needed a Punjabi hero for the part, someone the audience would readily identify as Punjab da puttar. He only appears in a song. So we sent the audiocassette of the song to Sunny in London. He listened to it and readily agreed to put in an appearance.

Sunny’s guest appearance in the film must have made it a lot easier for you to sell it?

Nitin: It definitely has. Sunny’s presence attracts the audience. Star value does help, not only in selling the film, but also in fetching a good initial, you know. Only if the audience comes to the theatre will they realise it’s a good film.

So what after Iski Topi...? What will the Mavanis do next?

Nitin: We’ll make more films, what else? We have some ambitious plans, including a big starcast film to be directed by editor A Muthu. We’ll announce it when everything’s been finalised.. There are also our teleserials to think of. Our Bullet may go off air soon, but we have two more serials in the pipeline, both are 52-episode serials for DD-1 — Raja Bartari and Rani Chennamma.

What made you venture into small screen territory?

Nitin: Well, if we continued making only films, we wouldn’t have had work daily. For Bullet, we only had to shoot ten days a month. So with more serials, we would have more regular work. Our staff too would be occupied.

What’s happened to your chemicals and dyes business? Who looks after it in your absence?

Nitin: Our dad does. We have factories at Navi Mumbai, Surat and Ankleshwar. My son looks after one business and a younger brother looks after another.