CHANDRACHUR SINGH

READY FOR FEBRUARY’S WINDFALL
What goes up comes down, did you say? Sure, but they could soon go up again. Chandrachur Singh, for instance, agrees his career may have touched rock bottom after a sensational start, but insists there’s only one way he could possibly be headed now: Up..

AFTER the success of Maachis and Tere Mere Sapne, he was filmdom’s new blue-eyed boy. Expectations were sky-high. And even habitual pessimists predicted great things were in store for him. After all, they argued, hadn’t he turned in such polished performances in his first couple of films? But the scriptwriter has had different plans for Chandrachur Singh. Attribute it to the glorious uncertainties of the profession, if you like. For the see-saw took a sudden plunge. And yesterday’s promising, saleable hero is today spoken off as a has-been, almost a spent force, especially after the debacle of Betaabi and Sham Ghansham. Almost overnight, as it were, Chandrachur Singh was a hero who was a liability on every project. Sadly, the phase isn’t over yet. But before you write him off as a two-film wonder, you’d do well to remember the script isn’t finished, yet.

THE SILVER LINING

Chandrachur isn’t one to give up that easily, though he did feel below the weather for a time. “Yes, it’s true I was nearly done in by the dismal performances of my two previous films. After all, in this industry you’re judged by your last release, and no matter how good your own performance has been, you’re only rated as highly as the film is. It was the poor showing of Sham Ghansham that disappointed me the most. I’d given too many of my dates to Sham Ghansham, most of them were under-utilised. On several days, both Arbaaz Khan and I were reduced to doing nothing on the sets. In a way, I’d wasted a whole year on the film. To make matters worse, in the last two years, I did not have too many releases. I was doing very few films and not much work was happening. So for some time, I was thoroughly shaken. I’d be lying if I said I did not feel down in the dumps. But I knew there had to be a silver lining to every cloud,” he says.

The silver lining he reckoned he’d seen, however, turned out to be a mere mirage, as it were. Just when he thought he’d reached the lowest ebb of his career, another blow saw him plummeting further — he was summarily dropped from Tips Films’ Friends.

DATES, WHAT DATES?

The reasons given for the sacking were the obvious: date problems. However, Chandrachur thinks otherwise. “I was dropped because I was no longer saleable. It’s a buyers’ market out there, and it’s the distributors who call the shots. When an actor’s market is down, they coerce the producers into dropping him, or take a cut in the promised sum. At the end of the arm-twisting, the producer always complies. The producer has the upper hand only when a saleable star’s involved. I wasn’t one any longer, so I was dropped,” he argues.

Apart from Chandrachur, Friends also starred Saif Ali Khan in the film, whose career isn’t going any great shakes at the moment either. In fact, he’s had a lot more flops than Chandrachur has. Yet, the Pataudi Jr was spared, and Chandrachur wasn’t. How come?

IT PAYS TO CURRY FAVOURS

“Actually, a lot of portions with Saif had already been shot before the distributors threw a fit. On the other hand, very few scenes were shot with me, so the I was more expendable. Eventually, it all boils down to the rapport you share with the production house. Saif was also working in Tips’ Kachche Dhaage, he’d also worked previously with director Kundan Shah in Loveria. So he had more sympathisers than I did. The incident has left a bitter taste in my mouth, but don’t get me wrong, I hold no grudges. I believe everything happens for the best. I still think Friends is a good film, and Saif’s come up with a tremendous performance. He’s a vastly improved performer, today. I’m told he’s done well in Kachche Dhaage, too!”

NO SMOOTH SAILING

Now, Chandrachur seems to have come to terms with destiny. And far from moping over the irrevocable past, he’s looking forward to his forthcoming releases.“I’ve realised there never is any smooth sailing in life. Ups and downs will always abound. Sometimes you run, at other times you stumble. The idea is to get up, shake the dust off you, and try to run again,” he philosophises.

Singh has some very good films lined up for release, which he feels are his saving graces. “I have NN Sippy’s Silsila Hai Pyar Ka, Mansoor Khan’s Josh and Raj Kanwar’s Daag — The Fire. These have shaped up well and I dare say they’re bound to do well at the b-o. Come February, and I’m certain a new phase in my career begins,” he predicts.

A GREAT FEBRUARY

His career may be in the doldrums at the moment, but he takes consolation in the fact that he has signed three big and new projects. “I’ve been signed to play major roles in Vikram Bhatt’s Mulaquat, Ajay Devgan’s Dil Kya Kare and Shravani Deodhar’s next. I have very good roles in all of them. Indeed, it’s heartening that these people signed me at such a juncture in my career, that they had faith in my potential and weren’t unduly bothered about the temporary downs in my life. I’m grateful to them and I am grateful to God, who’s been kind to me. I have learnt from my mistakes and am a wiser guy now. I’m sure, I’ll make the best of this new phase in my career,” he says.

THE DAAG ATTRACTIONS

Daag — The Fire is Chandrachur’s most immediate release, and perhaps, his biggest February attraction. Says Chandrachur, “I’m confident about its success. It’s pacy, has a strong script, music to set your foot tapping, and to top them all, good publicity and innovative promos. Suddenly, it seems to have become among the most important films of 1999. So it’s raised the level of expectations, too.”

Singh plays a guy with grey, negative shades to his character in Daag. The challenge, he tells you, is to make the negative element believable, to carry off the role with finesse. “If I do that, I should be a contented man,” he says.

Of his co-stars, he says, “Mahima’s easygoing and relaxed, with a tomboy streak in her. She’s great fun to work with. And so’s Sanju (Sanjay Dutt). I don’t have too many scenes with him in the film, but I found him a cool customer, devoted to his work. Incidentally, it’s from him that I got my pet name Rocky, you know. I was 12 when his film Rocky was released, and my friends thought I looked a bit like him then!” And about director Raj Kanwar, he says, “He’s a great actor himself, and the kind of director who believes in showing you what he wants from you with each shot. That helps immensely, you know!”