From Chandni Bar to Satta was the diversity in choice of subject deliberate?
In a way yes, to avoid repetition. When I was shooting the final schedule of Chandni Bar, during a passionate discussion with a friend we wondered how life would alter for a middle-class girl if she were to get married into a political family. Satta is about the turn of events that transforms a common house-wife into a power generating person. It is a small budget film approximately two and half crores which is how realistic cinema should be shot. My strength as a director is that I’m able to experiment. This wouldn’t be possible if I had a lot of money riding on me.
Was Raveena Tandon always the first choice?
Yes and it’s because Raveena does not look oppressed. She has a certain spark about her. The subject called for a person who is a survivor. Just as Chandni Bar called for a person who is diffident. Not because she lacks inner strength but because her circumstances are compelling. In Chandni Bar, no matter how hard she tries to fight her destiny the protagonist is defeated by misfortunes.
Was it necessary to make the film so morbid?
Everyone asks me that. The fact is that reality is worse than what I have portrayed. I researched on the film for six months, spoke to a number of bar girls and hung around the pubs night after night. I hoped against hope that one at least out of the many women I met would have a happy ending but there was none! Every girl working in the bar was depressed. Showing a alternative ending would not have been untruthful.
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Satta |
So it wasn’t done to lure the box-office?
On the contrary the distributors wanted a positive end. They tried their best to persuade me to change my mind and to be honest I did consider it. But my heart didn’t agree and I retained the original. It is my sincere belief that certain plots work only because the traversity triumphs over the protagonist. Irrespective of how they fared at the box-office one cannot imagine Pyaasa, Anand or Ek Duje Ke Liye with a happy ending. I told the distributors that they were free to leave the film but I had to follow my convictions.
Have you always been so confident
Now you are pulling my leg. I’m only confident about my work, not life. I feel passionately about Hindi cinema and am addicted to it. Till as long as I live I want to make films and more films.
To what extent are you interested in politics or you are making a film on the subject because it brings you bigger clout?
I didn’t know making films about politicians brings clout. I’ve always been interested in politics. Not for the power equations but a study of human behaviour. I like drama. Writers like Vijay Tendulkar and directors like Jabbar Patel have been a strong influence on my growing years. You will recognise their contribution in Satta. As a director I’m drawn to the condemned. The dancing girl, the politician and now the police It is a trilogy of sorts.
What are your childhood experiences?
I grew up in a traditional Maharashtrian family settled in a modest home in Khar. Ever since I can remember I saw a film every Friday. Money was never in excess at home but somehow, somebody paid for the ticket and the obsession continued. I couldn’t wait for the auditorium to plunge into darkness and getting transported into a dream world. I must be in the eight standard when I started a video library beginning with 50 cassettes. By the time I was in college the library comprised of 1700 VHS prints of all kinds of films. Not many know this but our library was a regular supplier to a number of film personalities.
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You mean to say you were working and studying simultaneously?
It was more complicated than that. I was studying, working and simultaneously pursuing my dreams. When VCR first came to India the year was ’82. We couldn’t afford a video because it cost around 35,000. However, since I carried the cassettes to the customers I would on the excuse of checking the copy, sit with them and watch the entire film. They were complete strangers but it didn’t matter.
That’s very adventurous.
When there is a burning passion for something, you find the courage. My father worked as an electrical contractor so I had a natural aptitude for gadgets. I figured out that the trick was to look authoritative. In the manner I handled the equipment the customers preferred that I watched the film with them rather than the film conking out half-way. And that’s what I wanted.
Did you always want to be a filmmaker?
Never. I was just following my instinct. While I was still in school I had purchased a defunct film projector from somewhere for Rs 100. When I realised that one needed reels for the projector I travelled to FTII and purchased rolls of NG negatives for Rs 5. The building children waited for the school exams to get over so that we could begin our own film festival in the chawl.
Who taught you the mechanics?
We discovered on our own. We stuck the reels with ordinary gum or tape but were confused when the clapper sound kept reappearing. The children were irritated with the sound and demanded refund. So I cut the clapper frame with ordinary scissors. You can say I was doing my own editing without knowing the craft.
And how did your family react to your obsession?
Fortunately they were neither critical nor indulgent. I was pulled up whenever I went out of hand but that seldom happened. For even though I loved watching shooting and Khar was surrounded by hotels where shootings were held frequently, I made sure I never bunked school to attend them.
What do you remember of these shootings?
I remember dance director PL Raj furiously blowing a whistle and showing dance movements to Mithun Chakraborty who danced like a God. I remember Amitabh Bachchan shooting a highly charged scene for Khuddar. I remember Dev Anand wearing a cap on the sets of Swami Dada. Even at that tender age, I was full of admiration for the director because he seemed the most powerful person on the set.
Is that why you wore the captain mantle. For power?
If power was what I was looking for I had several opportunities after Chandni Bar. I’m not greedy after money. I still live in the same one-bedroom flat I lived in before joining films. I still move with the same friends. Of course, I enjoy my success but I’m not swayed by it. Money can come from anywhere, at anytime but my ideas are my own and they are not for sale.
Some people think you have turned arrogant.
If saying no to people and speaking one’s mind is arrogance then so be it.
They also say that you are getting married to one of your heroine. So who is it, Tabu or Raveena?
I’m friends with both but it is not fair to link me with them just because I’m spotted having dinner with them. I did so in the past as well but the perceptions have altered now, after my film became succesful. Tomorrow, if my film doesn’t fare well, the rumours will stop on their own.