SUBHASH GHAI GETS TOUGH

The thespian’s prophecy did come true. Today, Subhash Ghai is a name to reckon with... with a string of blockbusters behind him and mired in controversies. Much admired and at the same time much maligned. “That’s because I don’t let anyone walk over me, kick me around. If they do they get hurt. Of course, till today I have never intentionally harmed anyone. But I’m no diplomat. I call a spade a spade and that bruises egoes,” he points out matter-of-factly. Subhash Ghai, he insists, is a good man. “But goodness should not be misunderstood as weakness. If someone slaps me, I am not going to sit quietly. I’ll hit back,” he promises.

The real problem, he maintains, is that people find it hard not to envy his success. Since Karz he’s had an impeccable track record. For 18 years he’s given a string of hits barring one debacle, Trimurti, which he reminds you was not directed by him. He only produced it! “It hurts a lot of people to see how much love and respect I get from the common man, from politicians, from industrialists. But tell me, can I help it if people like my film, like me?” he asks. The people who hate him, hit out at him, he states firmly, don’t really hate him, they hate his success. “The day my films start to flop they will embrace me like a long lost brother, sympathise with me, shower me with love,” he smiles ironically. “And the day I die they’ll decide I’m a great director, a great man. None of the legends have been given their due during their lifetime so who am I?”

The barbs aimed at him with such unerring accuracy, he asserts, don’t hurt. “I am a strong man, a spiritual man,” he smiles. “I remember my mother telling me to forgive all those who want to hurt me because they know not what they are doing. And that’s something I’ve never forgotten. I know only God can make or mar a man, no one else.”

Subhash Ghai has been acknowledged as a star maker but surprisingly all his proteges seem to have some problem or the other with their mentor. Why? “Duniya jaadoo ka khilona hai, mil jaaye to mitti hai, kho jaaye to sona hai,” Ghai says philosophically. “When you get something valuable you stop caring for it. But the day you lose it, you realise its importance. That is the case with most newcomers. Once they get Subhash Ghai they feel that they don’t need him any longer. It’s only after they lose him that they repent and return. It is human nature, I don’t hold it against them.”

Not even Mahima who he’s dragged to court? “No, I have nothing against Mahima. She is a part of Mukta Arts, our discovery. I am very proud of her,” he says magnanimously. However, it is obvious that he’s very upset with Mahima. This is the first time he’s filed a case against one of his discoveries. And he says that he’s justified in doing so. “Whenever, I sign any newcomer there’s a clause in the contract that for five years he or she will have to give 35 per cent of the money he or she makes from ads, films, tele shows and stage shows to the Mukta Arts Workers Charitable Trust. I think it is only right that they help the people who worked so hard to make them stars, because of whom they’re earning millions,” he reasons. He informs that earlier his discoveries had to give away all that they made to the trust but then the clause was amended to 70 per cent and now 35 per cent which he thinks should not put too much of a burden on them. “Mahima had praised me for my benevolence, for the consideration I showed to my staff. But when it was time for her to donate to the trust she backed out,” Ghai says bitterly.

He admits that he had heard that she was going for these shows from other sources and was waiting for her to inform him. When she didn’t he approached the organisers who he claims told Mahima to talk things over with him. “He is a nice man. He may not take money from you. He may even free you from that contract,” they reportedly told her. But she adamantly refused to discuss the issue with her and when called for a Rotary function she failed to turn up though according to another clause in her contract it was obligatory for Ghai’s discoveries to attend such functions. “She was even rude to my people whom I sent over to meet her. Tell me, how much more could I take from a girl I’d made a star?” he complains.

But she says that when she tried to speak to him he banged the phone? “She called up only after we had filed the case. She was scared. But it was too late,” he frowns. He however asserts that he never intended their altercation to reach the court. “Even on the day I was filing the case, I waited till the last moment for her call,” he sighs.

Mahima alleges that he wants to ruin her career. That he’s telling others not to sign her. True? “Why would I want to ruin my creation? A girl I marketed in such a big way. What would I gain from that?” he quirks an eyebrow. “You may not see eye to eye with your family at times but that doesn’t mean that you’ll finish them off. It would be below my dignity to tell producers to stay clear of her. If anything I’ve told them to sign her.”

Another allegation she levelled against her godfather was that he was too possessive. “Hey, I’m not possessive about my movies so how can I be possessive about her?” he protests. “If a teacher tells his student to concentrate on his studies and not to fool around, is that possessiveness? If he disciplines his student because he wants her to go places is that possessiveness? I may be a hard taskmaster but I am not possessive. I have gone to Mahima’s house only once for ten minutes and I’ve not taken more than a glass of water. Is that possessiveness?”

Perhaps Mahima is upset because despite their contract of three films he didn’t cast her in Taal. “How could I when she did not suit the role? In fact, if somebody should have been unhappy it should have been Manisha Koirala. It was her turn this time,” he says.

Ghai claims that till today Madhuri Dixit is his only protege who has honoured her contract. She normally doesn’t work in ad films but she did for Mukta Arts and donated the earning to the workers welfare trust. “After Ram Lakhan I did not cast her in Saudagar because she did not suit the role. But she did not take it to heart. In fact, when I told her that I was looking for a new girl for the role, after some days she called me up to say, ‘Subhashji I have seen a new girl. Meet her. You may like her.’ I met the girl. She was Manisha Koirala. Madhuri is very concerned about the welfare of Mukta Arts. She wanted Mukta Arts to go far,” he beams.

The smile stays in place when after a while we return to the subject of Mahima. He insists he doesn’t hold any grudge against her. He’s taken this drastic step not to harm her but to teach her a lesson. “She will always be a part of Mukta Arts. I’ll always be proud of her. I want her to go places. I want that better sense prevails and she realises what she is doing. I am sure, after 2-3 years she will come back to me and say, ‘I am sorry Subhashji, for what I did. I was immature then. Please forgive me.’ This has happened several times in the past. Many of my discoveries have left me only to come back. She will too,” he says with complete conviction. And will he forgive her? “May be...” And forget? “I may not,” he says.

Mahima Chaudhary, he admits, has harmed the chances of a lot of star aspirants. All those who want to start their careers with a Subhash Ghai. She’s the last heroine from Mukta Arts with a name which starts with M. Subhash Ghai will continue to promote new faces but now the shraddha bhav has gone. Now when he decides to sign a newcomer two solicitors will sit across the table and decide on terms and conditions before drawing up a fool proof contract. The experience has made him bitter but also better. “If there are the Mahimas in the world there are also the Madhuris who have proved that there’s still some good left. But now I’m going to be very careful to clear the technicalities before I turn star maker again,” he says in conclusion.