Film director Rahul Rawail (‘Betaab’, ‘Arjun’) worked as an assistant to Raj Kapoor in ‘Mera Naam Joker’ and ‘Bobby’. In a conversation with Avijit Ghosh, Rawail talks about his book, ‘Raj Kapoor: The Master At Work’, which offers a first-hand view of the art and craft of the filmmaker who regaled millions in India and the world with his conscientious social dramas and passionate romances. Edited excerpts:

The way he organised everything, the way he paid attention to all the departments. He was like a music director conducting a symphony.

The circus scene in Mera Naam Joker. He was working with a unit of 300 people, 5,000 junior artistes, 100 Russian circus artistes. Indian circus artistes. Animal trainers. And there was this one man controlling everything like clockwork, like he knew everything that he was doing.

His attention to detail. And also his thinking about the film all the time. That process never ended. The driving force was to deliver the best possible film that he could. That’s what he aimed for and wanted to achieve.

Normally in a party scene, you have people who are supposed to be drinking alcohol. You mixed Thums Up with water to make it look like whiskey. To the viewer, it was normal; to the unit it was inexpensive. In Bobby, he wanted champagne to be served for the scene. So we mixed Limca with soda. He said: “This is a billionaire’s party. It has to be real champagne.” I said that would be very expensive. He said: “I don’t care. The look of the man drinking champagne would be different from the look he would have when drinking Limca with soda.”

It was just the passion with which he made films. It was all a master plan in his mind which he executed piece by piece.

He believed that his films should definitely carry a social message. He did what he believed in. That’s why the films worked and in a big way. His last film, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, was the biggest hit R K Films ever had. Starting from Aag in 1948, we can see flashes of a genius. The progression was huge. Technology was changing but he didn’t pay much attention to it. He said: “What I say is from my heart. That doesn’t change. There may be a different way to shoot it. But I shoot a film, the way I see it.” He never went for any kind of gimmickry.

Pay attention to your film, think about it all the time. Don’t let your mind waver from the film. Do what your heart says. Almost 95%, it will be the right thing. Maybe 5% it will not. But it doesn’t matter. And if it doesn’t work, don’t give up hope.

He was a complete foodie. His life revolved around films and food. He used to drive from Chembur to the town, then an hour’s drive, to take the Deccan Queen to Pune for the food it served. I think even when he was eating, his mind was working on the film. Suddenly, he would say, I am thinking about this and let us do it like this in the shooting tomorrow. I think those were just tools which he used for his mind to be working.

Absolutely. We were all given the same food to eat. There was never any differentiation. We would have chicken, fish, mutton, prawns or crabs. It was a huge spread. The food was laid on one table together. Everybody had to come there to eat. During a film’s final editing, he would first sit and work out the menu. Somebody would say, the dal is very good, or the chicken there is very good. He would say write it down. Then 2-3 cars would go in various directions to pick up the food. That’s the way he worked. Somewhere that not only made him happy but also made people working for him happy.