Three decades on, filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra recounts how a tight budget ended up lending authenticity to the iconic multi-starrer
Monika Rawal Kukreja (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 3, 2019)

For filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, it seems like “yesterday” when his film, Parinda, which completes 30 years today, released. The iconic film not only proved to be a milestone in his filmmaking journey but also changed the fate of actors Madhuri Dixit Nene, Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff who starred in it. Chopra recalls memories of those bygone years and why Parinda remains one of his most special directorial ventures. Excerpts:

Looking back at the journey of making Parinda, what all memories are you reminded of?
The most striking aspect for me would be that we created the entire movie in a budget of ₹12 lakh, which was too less for a film of that scale. But what it did was it lent an even greater authenticity to the film, because we couldn’t go beyond our budget but wouldn’t compromise the integrity of the story, so the locations, the crowds screaming — they were all real. It helped the film stay true to the city that we were portraying. So our weakness became our strength.

We heard your mother had come down from Kashmir to attend the film’s premiere. Do you remember her reaction?
When she first saw the film, I still remember her turning towards me in utter surprise and asking me,‘You have made it? Really, you?’ (laughs). She was staying in Kashmir then, and when I first planned on calling her to Mumbai, her main concern was if I could afford the fare! I managed to send her an air ticket though, and she came with very little baggage. But sadly, after this visit, she could never return to Kashmir as disturbances broke out in the valley.

At a time when ensemble cast films weren’t the norm, you made Parinda. Was it tough back then to bring together, and direct so many actors?
At that time, Madhuri was unknown. She even did a screen test for the role. It was one of her first films and she was yet to achieve stardom. Nana Patekar was known in the theatre circuit. It was his first major film role. So, it wasn’t difficult as there were two newcomers and the only two stars were Jackie and Anil, who were like brothers to me. So, I never felt I was doing a big star cast film. It was more like a family coming together.

One of the cult films today, in what sense would you say that Parinda is still relevant?
Parinda, at the heart of it, is a film about the relationship between two brothers. The reason why the film cannot age, is that it deals with two brothers and the affection between them, and that bond is valid even today. I dedicated the film to my brother Vir. Like ours, the bond between brothers is timeless and so is Parinda.

Parinda won two National Film Awards besides being India’s official selection for the Oscars. Did awards matter as much as they do in today’s time?
Before Parinda, I was actually nominated for the Oscars in 1979 for my short film An Encounter With Faces, and I did attend the ceremony in Los Angeles that year. But not many know about this as there was no social media in those days, and the noise levels around it were less. And therefore I guess the perception of an award was much muted as compared to today’s time.