Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; November 1, 2022)

During the pandemic, when several movie projects were put on hold, producer Boney Kapoor was neckdeep managing over half-a-dozen films. In 2019, he produced the Tamil film Nerkonda Paarvai, which was followed by Telugu drama Vakeel Saab with Pawan Kalyan in 2021 and since then, he has been actively working on multiple South movies between 2020 and 2021. His Tamil film Valimai starring Ajith Kumar that released this year enjoyed massive success. He also bankrolled the South remakes of successful Hindi films like Article 15 and Badhaai Ho this year. Now that he has wholeheartedly plunged into producing South movies, Boney has been winning a lot of appreciation from industry folks and the audience. At the moment, he is extremely excited about his upcoming production Mili (a remake of the Malayalam film Helen), starring Janhvi Kapoor in the lead. In a chat with Bombay Times, he talks about collaborating with his daughter for the first time, aiming to hit a century by producing 100 films and more. Excerpts:

You are collaborating with your daughter Janhvi for the first time with Mili. The premise of the film, where her character gets trapped inside a freezer, seems to be a solid performance-driven role. Is this what prompted you to cast Janhvi in this survival thriller?
I was approached by a producer to make this film and he wanted Janhvi for the part. Yeh film ek-do mahine se unke (Janhvi) manager ke paas thi. I had already been recommended to watch the original. When I saw it, I couldn’t control my tears and I jumped into this subject wholeheartedly. I chose director Mathukutty Xavier of the original film, who won the National Award for it. Even before the director was signed, I approached Manoj Pahwa, who saw the original and said yes. My daughter is an enthusiastic and hardworking actor. She insisted on shooting in an actual freezer where the temperature was as low as -8 to -12 degrees. In the second half of the film, she hardly has dialogues, and it is only through her expressions that everything is conveyed. I was sure she could pull off this part well, especially after seeing the kind of varied characters she has played in her previous films. The audience should wait and watch her in a full-fledged comedy film because that is her forte. She has fantastic comic timing and a sense of humour like her mother (Sridevi).

Through the pandemic, where there was uncertainty and work came to a halt, you were actively involved with several projects. In the last three years, you have worked on as many as eight movies in different languages. What has kept you going?
With Ajay Devgn-starrer Maidaan (which now releases on February 17, 2023) I would have had eight films released between 2019 and 2022. And then there are four-five films in the pipeline in different languages — Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam, including my third film with Ajith, which will release during Pongal in January next year. I just wanted to remain busy throughout. I have lost count, but I think I have done almost 50 films till now and I want to score a century! I want to be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Virat Kohli (laughs!). Talking about uncertainty in the business, I made Mr. India (1987) at a budget of Rs 3.8 crore, at a time when films were made on the budget of Rs 50 to 70 lakhs. People went to my father and said that your son has gone mad and they told my brother Anil that I was ruining his career as he would be invisible in a major part of the film. They also told him that through this movie, I only wanted to highlight Sridevi (as an actor). I poured in so much money into the project that at the time of the release, I was broke. But today, each and every character in the film has become iconic. I had faith in the project and I told Anil that you will be remembered as Mr. India till your last breath.

Everyone in the industry is aware of your generosity as a producer. But in today’s times, producers are focusing on tighter budgets and cutting costs. Have you also changed the way you approach a project?
Of course, I am a little more realistic now. I was madly passionate to the extent that I used to get indulgent at times. I am no more indulgent, but the passion is still there. Earlier, I would produce films independently, but today I have partners on board, so I am the custodian of their investment. All the films I have done in recent times have given good returns and this is how I want to continue. For Mili, I am happy that Zee Studios showed faith in me and trusted me. It has been a great partnership with them so far.

You have entertained the audience with original films as well as remakes. You introduced a South hit like Pokiri to the Hindi audience by making Wanted and gave the South audience the taste of Hindi cinema with remakes of films like Pink, Article 15 and Badhaai Ho. As someone who understands what goes into remaking a film, how do you look at the current scenario, where people are saying that remakes are not working at the box office anymore?
It’s a myth that the era of remakes is over. Well, that’s utter rubbish. Remakes have always been there. Back in the day, Aurat was made into Mother India and The Departed was the remake of Infernal Affairs. Likewise, Indecent Proposal was made into Judaai. Talking about the remakes of recent times, Vikram Vedha in Tamil was also called Vikram Vedha. It was dubbed in various languages as Vikram Vedha. It was available across all platforms for the audience to consume. So, when people sitting at home have consumed it already, then why would they go to a theatre to watch the film? Yeh same Jersey aur HIT: The First Case ke saath bhi hua. When I made Wanted, we worked on Prakash Raj’s character. The actor was new to the Hindi audience, so we shot again with him and added a few of his introduction shots... ki as a villain woh kaisa cruel aur sharp hai. After all, jab tak mera villain strong nahi hoga, my hero will not work! I am not saying I am the authority when it comes to remakes, as I have also gone wrong, but people cannot just make a statement that remakes don’t work anymore. As a filmmaker, I will continue to do remakes and I am looking forward to Mili.

Lately, several South films have worked wonders at the box office, while most Hindi films are struggling to draw the audience to the theatres. As a filmmaker, where do you think Bollywood is falling short?
It is happening because most of our filmmakers are driven and inspired by Hollywood. Today, filmmakers from the South are making films that our Hindi filmmakers like Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra once made — full-blooded commercial cinema. At that time packaging itni achchi nahi hoti thi, ab yeh log achchi packaging karke, achcha VFX daal ke bana rahe hai. In filmon mein taali maarne ki situation hai, seeti maarne ki situation hai, gaane, action, dialoguebaazi... sab kuch hai. Initially, South filmmakers were looking up to Bollywood, but today, our filmmakers are in awe of them. In that case, I think I made the right move of heading down South and making movies there at the right time.

While in Bollywood, stars enjoy massive fan-following, the superstars down South are also worshipped by their fans. Recently, there was a video doing the rounds where fans showed their love by pouring milk on your car. Did you expect such kind of love?
(Laughs!) I was surprised to see that reaction. As much as I have enjoyed working with actors here (Bollywood), I have loved working with actors down South, too. They are so professional and concerned about the film and the way their character is shaping up. It is my experience, sincerity, honesty and dedication towards my work that people are seeing and hence, they want to work with me.