Nikhita Gandhi, who recently enjoyed an afternoon hike around Rabindra Sarobar with us over a chilled bhaanr of lassi, also wanted to spend some time with the friendly strays in the lake’s vicinity. But every single one of them seemed to be cooling off in some shaded corner, away from the scorching sun. We too settled down in a cool, breezy spot to have a candid chat about her three dogs and the unconditional love they offer every day, and why she feels that adopting Indies is important.

Nikhita revealed that her journey as a pet parent began with a rescue dog, who she co-parented with friends in Mumbai. For someone constantly on the move, the Qafirana singer admits that being a pet parent comes with its own challenges.

“It’s a huge responsibility. I practically live in airports, but I make sure there are people to take care of them at home. We make sure that they’re never alone,” she says, adding, “Spending time with them feels therapeutic, especially when you have a bad day. They can sense it. There’s so much love in the house because of them.”

A strong advocate for adoption, she hates the bias against Indies. “All three of my dogs are Indies. Please rescue and adopt them. I believe in giving them a home. They bring immense love, comfort, and healing that changes your life,” she adds.

Nikhita calls herself a Benjabi (Bengali + Punjabi) and swears by how the city continues to play an important role in her journey.

“Kolkata is an artistic city. There’s an ease here, a cultural acceptance of the arts that allows you to dream freely. That will always mould the artist I continuously evolve into,” she said.

From learning Odissi as a child to training in Hindustani classical music, her foundation is unmistakably rooted in the city. The singer never misses her bhar-er chaa, even though she is a coffee person, the city somehow manages to break that habit. Growing up in Lake Gardens, her ritual was to take a stroll by the lake. She also acknowledged the strong presence of Bengalis in the music industry and said she never felt disconnected from the city.

“I have bumped into so many Bengalis in the music industry. We have been singing and dancing since childhood. So it’s a very natural course to enter the arts and to enter the music industry.”

Nikhita’s latest track with Arijit Singh is trending, and that too after he decided to step away from playback singing.

Speaking about her association with the singer, she says, “My first song with Arijit was Raabta from Agent Vinod, and since then, we’ve been part of so many popular tracks such as Ullu Ka Pattha from Jagga Jasoos, Aavan Jaavan from War 2, and more. With him, it’s only about the art – not about the clothes you wear, or your branding – just the art. It’s a very beautiful thing for me – that I get to be a part of his legacy, and that he’s such an important part of mine.”

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As Dhurandhar completes a month in theatres, actor Krystle DSouza — who features in the song Shararat — is basking in the film’s success, calling the outpouring of appreciation “overwhelming”.

She shares, “Dance is something I enjoy, but I had never done a full-fledged dance number before, especially on such a large platform and for a film of this scale. It tested me as a performer.”

Ask why she chose to do the song despite having limited screen time, and the 35-year-old says, “After spending several years in the industry, it becomes important to constantly challenge yourself and step out of your comfort zone. That’s when I felt this was something I should take up as an actor. Even if it wasn’t much screen time, I knew it would leave a mark.”

Talking about working with actor Ranveer Singh, she says the experience was elevated by his energy: “Ranveer brings a very different, positive energy and makes everyone around him feel comfortable. Shaking a leg with him on stage will always be one of my favourite moments.”

While the song has been a major hit, it has also sparked comparisons, with many viewers praising her co-star Ayesha Khan for her moves on the song. On this, Krystle says, “Whenever two performers are part of the same song, comparisons are bound to happen. For me, I genuinely enjoyed performing, and the feedback has been encouraging.”

She adds, “Some viewers even compared my performance to actor Kareena Kapoor Khan in Dil Mera Muft Ka (Agent Vinod, 2012), which is extremely humbling. I take that as motivation.”

We have seen filmmakers create a whole universe with action, cops, comedy, even superheroes. But in our cinema and in today’s times, creating a horror comedy universe is rare, and let’s say, not a job for the weak-hearted. There in comes Dinesh Vijan, who leads Maddock Films, a place which he says, ‘Is a home for anyone who wants to tell a story, no matter where you come from’. After Stree and Roohi, he’s all set to release Bhediya in theatres on November 25 — a creature comedy starring Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon, directed by Amar Kaushik that is also backed by Jio Studios. Dinesh passionately talks to us about what drives him, how we need to unearth great stories from within us, and what made him pave new roads, and sometimes take the forests less travelled. Read on...

Honestly, I have never looked at any film that I have made as a risk. When I made Hindi Medium, some people told me it was a risk, and before that, it was Badlapur. When you hear a concept from a director or writer, your first thought has to be, ‘I can’t not make this film’, and that’s what drives me to make it. Instinct is everything for me. If there is a voice from inside that tells me that I should make a film, I do it. After being in the business for 18 years, our strength is that we don’t take ourselves seriously. We don’t think we know it all. We believe that we have to constantly learn and evolve.

Agent Vinod taught me how to make Badlapur. I learnt what went wrong and how to correct it with director Sriram Raghvan (who directed both). Agent Vinod and Raabta (directed by me) have taught me more than all my films. If you are willing to learn, failure teaches you much more. In fact, Raabta taught me that trends had changed. Through the making of Love Aaj Kal, I was learning how to be a producer. I think that Saif (Ali Khan) and I made a pretty good debut production. Sometimes, it takes about ten years to find your voice and understand what satisfies you. Hindi Medium was a game changer for us. Badlapur and Hindi Medium made me realise that if you have a pure story, strong writing, the right man to direct the film (it’s not necessary that he has to be the best in the business) and good actors — you will hit home.

A while back, we were aspiring to make films that were more like the West and I feel that around 2015 that changed. With Badlapur and Hindi Medium, even I realised that the power has moved as much to small towns, as the people there are actually going to the theatres a lot more. I looked inwardly and found a treasure. There are so many stories buried in these towns and cities. My dad always made me travel a lot and would tell me that, ‘You must know your country’. I owe a lot to him. Most people in the cities don’t know what the rest of India is. Your instinct as a filmmaker also comes with the life that you have lived. Amar Kaushik happens to be a Forest Ranger’s son, so like I said, it is about getting the right man to direct your film.

I think that’s when they are at their best. I have been telling Varun that this is his 2.0 version. He has given his blood and sweat to this film. Now when I see the film, I can’t imagine any one other than him in this part.

It’s the best film I have produced. With Bhediya, our instinct said yes, but we also knew that if we didn’t create a wolf that is of international standard, this film won’t work. And I can tell you that if you look at the animals in The Jungle Book and ours, you will say that ours is as good. When you see the film, you will feel like we have not used VFX, it looks real. We went to one of the best VFX companies in the world and made the film in a record time of about 18-20 months. And also, it’s about what the film leaves you with at the end. There are few films that talk about conservation. This is a film that you would want your kids and young adults to watch. I think what Indians now want are films emerging from their culture, but made at par with international standards. And they want it to be affordable in the theatres. If we can achieve that, we are home.

The world is gravitating towards the first statement you made. Do I completely believe in it? Maybe we will have more clarity in the next twelve months, but as we are talking about it, we have made one (spectacle film). However, we also have a variety of other kinds of films coming up. We have to accept that the digital medium is a reality because most people are in relationships with their phones. We need to understand the screen size, as your film will get consumed on all mediums, so we have to make films keeping that in mind. My first love is theatricals, and we make films for the big screen, but we can’t ignore other mediums. The West is largely in the spectacle kind of cinema space. I feel we need to pull up our socks and deliver high quality films. The film has to completely engage you, which most our films haven’t been doing lately. You need to have an experience — whatever that might be. Today, if you ask me whether a Hindi Medium would still do well, I would say, yes, it would. If I give you a really good comedy with a high concept, will you watch it in the theatre? I think you will. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 wasn’t a spectacle film, but it’s done such good numbers.

Even pre-COVID, I was telling my friends that there is going to be a huge change in our cinema. I am happy that we instinctively made Bhediya, which will hopefully keep us relevant. Today, we have to fight to be relevant and win back the audience’s confidence. We have to achieve these two things. We are competing with the West, but we have to look at what we have. If we look deep inside, look at our culture and find those stories, we are going to be able to create that experience for them. And that is their own experience; it’s not America saving the world. It’s none of that. And it begins with writing. We have to reward our writers. My writers are empowered, they have a say and I believe in them. And we (Maddock Films) are a home for anyone who wants to tell a story, no matter where you come from. I was like that, as I don’t come from a film family. I am the first-generation coming into this industry, and all my directors are too. I want my directors to feel that they have got the best wingman in me and that I completely have their back.

He has made various kinds of cinema - dark comedy, spy thriller, cute romances and complex relationships. His cinematic sensibility is cut from a different cloth, often not tailored for the usual Bollywood design. Yet, he makes the cut with subjects that are spiked with a heady mix of characters. Producer Dinesh Vijan, who has backed films like Being Cyrus, Finding Fanny, Love Aaj Kal, Cocktail and Badlapur, turns director with the upcoming Raabta, starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon. In a chat with BT, he tells us about his school of cinema, pushing boundaries and how his mistakes made him a better filmmaker. Read on...

For years you have donned the producer's hat with success, but it took you long the take on the director's baton...
In the time that I directed Raabta, I could have produced two-three films, but for some reason, this story wasn't leaving me. I don't know if I was creative 15 years ago or if I am creative now. All I know is that you need something to drive you and this story did that. It chose me. I never believed that I know it all and all these years have been a learning process. The day I think I know it all, I will stop learning. If I look back at myself 10 years ago and feel that I was a big idiot, that's fine. But if I think of myself the same way even today, it means that I haven't grown up.

Earlier, Homi Adajania was supposed to direct Raabta with you. You seem to prefer working with a few chosen directors like Homi and Sriram Raghavan. Do similar creative sensibilities keep you all together?
When we were developing the content and writing it, there was no director on board. Halfway through it, I had this feeling that I didn't want to let it go. Homi was the first person to tell me, 'You should tell this story'. I think that while making films, you should have only one perspective, you can't have a shared perspective. I believe that there are two kinds of filmmakers; one, who studies cinema, like Quentin Tarantino and Sriram Raghavan. Their knowledge is so deep that they can give you a reference of a film that released 30 years ago. Then, there are filmmakers like Imtiaz Ali and Homi who study life, take experiences from it and capture it on screen. I am more from the second school of cinema. I don't come with any pre-set notion that films are supposed to be a certain type; otherwise, I wouldn't have backed films like Finding Fanny, Cocktail and Badlapur. I like to have four-five strong equations in my life; I don't think that we have the capacity for more than that. With Homi and Sriram, I have that and there is a common keenness to be productive together. I don't hobnob much with people from the industry, and in the last two years, I haven't watched too many movies. I feel that if I see something too beautiful, I will get too inspired; I want my stories to be more or less original. Like we say, there are only eight stories but a million moments. The moments in every film should be original.

When you are producing films like Go Goa Gone, Finding Fanny and Being Cyrus, which are in a very different zone and un-Bollywood like, right at the onset you are aware that the risks are high. How do you still take the plunge in an industry that usually tends to play it painfully safe?
As a filmmaker, you have to understand how many people the story will appeal to. If Badlapur was made at a colossal budget, it wouldn't have made money. Today, the actors have also become sensible. Finding Fanny had such a stellar cast, and it fetched us decent numbers, quite surprising for an English film made here. If I had made it at the price of Cocktail, we would have been screwed. I believe that the story should choose the budget and not the actors. Ultimately, your partners (co-producers) need to be commercially safe; otherwise there will be no studios. Agar aap roz bank lootenge toh kuch bachega nahin. Sometimes, the films that look the safest on the table are the riskiest. I have seen a lot of people in this business getting ahead of themselves. As a producer, I have always given my directors a lot of confidence, as they are like children who need to be nurtured. So, while directing Raabta, I missed myself. If I had me, I would have been more confident (laughs!). We take producers lightly; in fact, they are the ones who keep the ship intact. If the film goes down, it is the producer's fault; after all, it is their decision to invest so much money into a story.

Well, it is interesting you said this, because generally, people don't remember who produced the film, but they damn well remember who directed it. In that way, the onus of the film largely rests on the director's shoulders, doesn't it?
As a producer, the onus of the failure is mine, because the decision to greenlight a film is also mine. A director gets totally consumed while making a film and is not capable of disconnecting from it. So maybe, for a director, the heartache is more. My dad taught me one thing: When you put your head on the pillow, you should get good sleep. Lot of us give that up, but for what? We are constantly looking at other people to tell us how good we are. But how good is that at the end of the day? I take responsibility for all my films, but I don't want my life to be just about films. If I am constantly looking for validation, then what's the point of it all? If I am telling you that I am making films about experiences, then I have to go get the experiences, right? If I stop doing that, I won't have anything to say. I like to go home by 9 pm, and I need to take time off and disconnect. After Cocktail, everyone said that I should quickly make two-three films, but I tuned off and went traveling, and that's when the story of Raabta came to me.

What happens when a dream project like Agent Vinod fails to hit the bull's eye? Does it make you rethink your choices or regret them?
You can never predict if a film will work or not, we can only focus on trying to achieve what we have set out to. I have never worked harder on a logistical level than I worked on Agent Vinod. It was Saif's (Ali Khan) dream and I haven't met a more honest filmmaker than Sriram Raghavan. I guess sometimes, you can't analyze a film while it happens, you will know only once the dust has settled. So, you can never blame anyone for it. What do you gain by blaming anyone, anyway?

My point of view on that film was that as producers, we wanted to make something like James Bond, and as a director, Sriram's strength was Jason Bourne (the Bourne franchise). And we felt that the most unique thing was that we got both worlds into one. I think if we had made it tighter, without songs in the Bourne-zone, it would have been ahead of its times. As a producer, by making Agent Vinod, I learnt how to make Badlapur. Even for the latter, I told Sriram, 'I'll make it, but you can't hold back your punches, you have to go all out'. He did that and it worked. Well, I'm not that lucky, because if I make a so-so film, it's never done well. There are times when dishonest films work, but in my case, they don't work. At the same time, I think that if I had made no mistakes in the last 10 years, I would have learnt nothing.

As a filmmaker, while you are pushing boundaries, our actors need to follow suit, too, right? They often get caught in the loop - like how much screen time they have, what age they are playing, et al...
I think the attitude among the younger lot is changing. Deepika (Padukone) drove Finding Fanny; in fact, she called up and told me that she wanted to do the film. In Badlapur, Varun (Dhawan) who was two films old, played a father. In Go Goa Gone, Saif did a small part. The youngsters are picking films that are edgy and different. Cinema has been changing for the last 10 years, and since a few years, even our audience has changed, but we were not willing to accept it. Now, we are accepting it. The audience is ahead of us. We need to make cinema that will resonate with them years from now. A really good film might not work today, but in five years, it will not lose value. Films like Johnny Gaddaar and Ek Hasina Thi might not have been blockbusters, but they are films that we talk about way more than other films. Of course, there are those Rs  200-300 crore spectacles which you also need, but I want to make films that survive time, and films that build value.

It's a globally-wanted terrorist wanting Phantom to be banned today, it was a government agency which didn't like Agent Vinod yesterday, it, it could be an outraged TV host wanting to stop Indian movies altogether, or a pressure group demanding a ban on another Bollywood release tomorrow. Whichever the aggrieved party be, there is bound to be 'something' in every other Bollywood film that has a Pakistan context which will irk someone in that country. And perhaps that can't be helped. Think of the most high visibility points which a filmmaker will have for reference if he wants a real life peg in Indo-Pak relations, and you think of Partition, the Kashmir conflict, the 1965 war, the 1971 war, the 1999 Kargil conflict, and then the 26/11 terror attacks. While the past few years have seen a far higher proportion of cinema which does away with the anti-Pakistan pitch, portrays the people (if not the government) in a friendly light, and doesn't pander to hysteria or jingoism, there's an interesting footnote: Almost all the films with a nicer, sweeter storyline to them are based on fictitious stories, while almost all the ones that have an edgier, likely-to-be-banned storyline are based in one way or another on the half-a-dozen flashpoints in the not-so-friendly history that India and Pakistan share. Since Phantom is, post-ban, part of the latter group, here's a quick recap of how that script has played out in Bollywood over the years:

THE JINGOISTIC POST-WAR YEARS, AND THE FULL-TIME BAN
Anti-Pakistan sentiment ran high after the wars of 1947-48, 1965 and 1971, and the prevailing distrust between the two countries in those years was mirrored by cinema. Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973), which was based on Operation Cactus Lily in the 1971 war, opens with the Pakistan Air Force raiding an IAF airbase and Raj Kumar swearing on the body of a dead crewman, “Jawaab dene aaunga, is jawan ki kasam, Hindustan ki kasam“.

The 'we will show them' sentiment continued through films like Aakraman (1975) and later in films like Vijeta (1982) and Border (1997). The multi-starrer Border which did pretty well at the box office, zoomed in on the Battle of Longewala, from the romantic back-stories of its leading officers to their detailed, gory deaths, to the final moments leading to India's victory. The Indian Army itself questioned some of the specifics, but for the public, the emotion was enough. And given that Pakistan had banned the screening of 'all' Indian movies after the 1965 war, no filmmaker had an incentive to paint a wider canvas that could appeal to audiences on both sides of the border. Even if you had a Pakistan-friendly tone to your movie, the neighbouring country wasn't going to let you screen it there anyway.


POST KARGIL: SUNNY PAAJI'S HANDPUMP AND THE L.O.C
India's first modern war, fought in the 24-hour news cycle, “rejuvenated nationalism“ in the words of one news anchor, and spawned several films on the war itself and on the Indo-Pak relationship - or, rather, the lack of one. Pictures and tales of bravery of young, martyred war heroes fired collective passions (who can forget Captain Vikram Batra and his war cry of 'yeh dil maange more'?), and also gave Bollywood a fail-safe formula. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) came when war wounds were fresh and though it was based not on Kargil but on the painful subject of the Partition, Sunny Deol single-handedly pummeling those Pakistanis who tried to keep away his wife from him and her from their son was irresistible, and a massive hit. LOC Kargil (2003) had a multi-star cast playing the real men who led the Kargil effort, bringing the dashing and the daredevilry of the likes of Captain Batra, Captain Vijayant Thapar, Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey, and Captain Anuj Nayyar alive to tug at thousands of heartstrings. It played wholeheartedly to the post-war gallery with its detailed scenes of major battles and main characters' deaths, copious exchanges of insults between the two sides during gunbattles, and showing Pakistani troops as complete villains - remember the apparently-true tale of one enemy soldier asking for Madhuri Dixit to end the war, and Abhishek Bachchan dousing the lot of them in bullets before responding with, 'from Madhuri, with love'?

It didn't end there. There was much Pak-bashing that followed the theme of Pakistan as a terrorist factory. Gadar director Anil Sharma's Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo (2004) was a mishmash of everything wrong that Pakistan could do, from war to capturing and torturing Indian soldiers to sponsoring a terror plot to bomb Amarnath, but perhaps as a sign of the gradually changing times, the film did an abrupt U-turn in the end as India and Pakistan shake hands and agree to fight terrorism together. Deewaar: Lets Bring Our Heroes Home (2004) was about a bunch of Indian POWs forgotten in a Pak jail for 33 years and their bid to escape, as was 1971, the movie for which Manoj Bajpayee got a National Award as best actor, but apparently, no one other than the jury actually watched the film. Zameen (2003) was based on the attack on the Indian Parliament and the IC 814 hijack. Neither Deewaar nor Zameen was exactly praised for being true-to-life, but both rode the jingoistic horse high. Sunny Deol's roaring act continued with Maa Tujhe Salaam (2002), and the film ended up being banned even in Britain as it offended the Pakistani diaspora.

BEYOND THE WAR ZONE, THE BAN REVERSAL, AND THE AGENTS
In more recent years, two things happened. One, the blanket ban on the screening of Indian movies in theatres was lifted by Pervez Musharraf in 2006, and so Indian filmmakers began to find a new market to tap, one that would perhaps subtly influence how films were structured. It may be a coincidence, but no further movies around an Indo-Pak military conflict have been made since then. Two, as the battle itself shifted from the borders to the more rarified world of intelligence and covert operations, we had a shift of scene: Instead of posters of soldiers with guns at the border, we now had a surplus of movies about intelligence agents. Now, while the RAW vs ISI game was ­ as 'real' as Kargil, we don't really have live TV coverage of intelligence operations, and so the line between fact and fiction is difficult to place, giving filmmakers far greater creative licence than earlier movies on the more visible conflicts had. Given the popularity that the RAW enjoys in Pakistan, though, it is little surprise that movies like Agent Vinod and Ek Tha Tiger did not find a loving welcome and the Pakistani regime ­ predictably ­ opted to not have tales of flamboyant Indian agents getting the better of Pak intelligence played out on cinema screens. And so, given that tradition, Phantom now joins the illustrious list of movies that Pakistani authorities feel are better off not crossing the border, even though it's made by the same director who recently made Bajrangi Bhaijaan, a movie that some felt was the most Pakistan-friendly mainstream production to come out of India in decades.

Not that it means these 'banned' films have not been 'watched' in Pakistan, or that Phantom won't be. As the judge hearing the case filed by Hafiz Saeed in the Lahore High Court asked the counsel for the government, even if the movie is banned in cinemas, what can the government do to stop its CDs from being available in the market? What, indeed? Now that's one form of cross-border infiltration nobody's been able to check in all these years.

FOR DOSTI, THERE'S ALWAYS FICTION
"How could I make Bajrangi Bhaijaan if I was anti-Pakistan?“ was Kabir Khan's aggrieved response after Phantom got banned there. Perhaps he thought Bajrangi's saccharine-loaded tale was enough to buy him the trust of handling everything Pak-related with 'sensitivity' (this is the same guy who made Bajrangi, so this too must be coming from the same place. Never mind that it brands Pakistan as the brains behind a real-life terror plot and sends Indian agents on an assassin's quest). Umm, no. Sensitivity got nothing to do with it.

Bajrangi's goodwill isn't enough to make Phantom accepted in Pakistan, simply because its basic plot is the single most acrimonious point (okay, maybe not single) of difference between the two nations. So, it can be completely based on facts and not cooked-up lies about Pakistan, and may not demonise its entire population, but if the subject is enough to derail high-level talks between the neighbours several times, what chance does a mere film stand? Khan places too much faith in the power of reason.

If most Bollywood films based on the flashpoints of the Indo-Pak relationship aren't too loved by 'sarhad paar' headquarters no matter how nuanced, it's because those flashpoints are all of conflict. So what's a film got to do when it wants to be all about 'mulk, mohabbat and and dosti', aka Bajrangi? It needs to not draw inspiration from fact and reality (well, lots of Munnis emerged after BB so we don't know about that now). But an Indian smuggling a 'human' into Pakistan with no documents and at the mercy of strangers, and emerging not just in one piece but also much-loved - just how many planets would have to align to make even a fraction of this true? Fiction, when it comes to us and Pakistan, is what makes us realise how much we can love each other, because the newspapers can't. And makes us cry buckets at the cinema.

Whether it was Refugee's stateless baby born at (on?) the border that gave the message of peace, or Welcome 2 Karachi's bumbling idiots inadvertently exposing the futility of terrorism and war, Bollywood has had to be pretty creative to push its 'two-nations-ek-jaan' theory , because reality is no help at all. We exchange plenty of fire, insults and allegations but get equally misty-eyed when a Hindu Qaidi No 786 in Veer-Zaara asks, “Woh kehta hai yeh tera des nahi, phir kyun mere des jaisa lagta hai. Woh kehta hai main uss jaisa nahin, phir kyun mujh jaisa woh lagta hai?“ or when a Pakistani lawyer fights tooth and nail to reunite him with his long-lost Pakistani lover who has made India her home in his memory. We might watch most of Ek Tha Tiger's 'sleeping with the enemy' saga with bemusement, but still root for the agents-turned-lovers as their secret services try to gun them down. Tere Bin Laden satirises the mess that became America's war on terror in Pakistan and then gifts a happy ending to the protagonist who faked Osama's interview and precipitated an international crisis.

Fake or real, slowly, taali and seeti moments in cinema about Pakistan-bashing have been replaced by equivalent taali and seeti moments of loving thy neighbour. For the paisa-vasool brand of films, uprooting hand pumps and shouting death to Pakistan stopped being a formula for cheers years ago, only, whenever a film has to shout 'we love you Pakistan', it needs to create a story from scratch. But in this genre at least, masala Bollywood has shown it is capable of nuance ­ Pakistan isn't the devil, people both sides of the border are, and aren't. And finally , who can hate such pretty faces as Katrina's and Munni's?





Saif Ali Khan has teamed up with director Kabir Khan for the first time in Phantom. Though the two never worked with each other before, their respective films on similar topics, which coincidentally released around the same time, pretty much made them seem like competitors. For instance, Kabir's New York and Saif starrer Kurbaan, released in 2009, both delved on how the 9/11 terror attacks in the US changed the lives of migrants, while Agent Vinod (2012) and Ek Tha Tiger (2012) were both spy thrillers about spies from rival countries (India and a Pakistan) falling in love. Speaking about this unique relationship, Kabir stated, “Yes, for some strange reason, we were pitted against each other as our films were similar. We talked about it. I always wanted to work with him. Saif is an exciting actor. He is a perfect blend of 'star and actor'. I wanted someone for Phantom, whose actor persona doesn't overshadow the character. Saif was perfect for the role.“





Maddock Films' Dinesh Vijan has produced films that include Being Cyrus, Love Aaj Kal, Cocktail, Go Goa Gone and Finding Fanny. Reserved, unless he's promoting a film, we caught Vijan celebrating the audience's overwhelming appreciation of his latest outing, Badlapur, and managed to get some insights into the man and his process.

How do you choose your projects?

I have to be emotional about them. We generally don't seem to accept that the audience will accept atypical content. This is a misconception. I choose stories that resonate and don't initially look at figures. This keeps the film pure. After it's canned is when my insecurities surface. I wonder what mad dog bit me to make stuff that is considered risky or niche and I analyse how to pitch it to the right audience.

But your choices have no pattern and seem like such a mixed bag.
Maddock Films enjoys the loyalty of talented directors like Sriram Raghavan, Homi Adajania, and with Illuminati Films, I've had the fortune of working with Imtiaz Ali and Raj & DK as well. Now, if my directors are a mixed bag of nuts, then what will our films be?

Director Homi Adajania told us that you were largely responsible for the unforgettable music of Cocktail and director Sriram Raghavan echoed the same about Badlapur's music.
That's generous of them. Music is a very important part of my life and my films. The process of collaborating to create music has taught me the value of harmony and helped me grow as a person. I enjoy a very special association with Pritam and Sachin-Jigar as well. Both relationships are unique, though they share the same ideology to explore and achieve some thing special.

Isn't a large part of producing about people management?
I'd be highly stupid to think that I know everything and only used technicians to execute things rather than apply their individual creativity. The energy on a project is very important. My main job is to bring out the best in people and make sure my team is happy. I'll risk sounding clichéd, but I have no doubt that the actual joy of the experience reflects on the screen.

How do you deal with failure?
Agent Vinod, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil and Happy Ending didn't end happily, to say the least. I truly believe that failure teaches you so much more than success ever can. How I see it is if a film goes down, it is my mistake and if it succeeds, it's everyone's victory. If that sounds like a lonely place to be, so be it, but I truly believe this.

What is next on your plate?
I have a story that Homi (Adajania) is co-directing with me because we have a blast working together. It's a long-haul shoot, so we decided to have an extended holiday. On a serious note, experiences are what make us grow. I feel it'll make me a stronger producer once I've gone through this experience.

Saif Ali Khan and his business partner, Dinesh Vijan, have parted ways. They will now produce films together only if they are on the same page on a given subject.

Says the actor-producer, “From now on, Illuminati Films will be only Saif Ali Khan's company. Dinesh will head his company, Maddock. Our joint ventures will be produced under another banner which has yet to be named.“

For almost four years, the two have had creative differences and had planned to end their partnership after Agent Vinod. That decision was finally taken a week after their last co-production, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, opened in the theatres.

Was the lukewarm response to the new-age love story marking begum Kareena's cousin, Armaan Jain's Bollywood debut, the reason for the split? “Not really, though I was clueless of what was going on. As far as I'm concerned, Go Goa Gone was technically our last film together,“ says Saif, admitting that Dinesha and he had been thinking of working independently for quite some time now.

He admits that though it's sad parting ways with a friend more than a partner, he is happy that finally he can produce films he believes in. “Isn't it better this way? We don't have to share the control. Now, I can produce the films I believe in and Dinesh can also go ahead with subjects he feels strongly about. It can get annoying when you have to do things you don't want to,“ Saif reasons.

The Nawab of Pataudi insists that the parting was amicable. And makes it clear that he will not star in every film he greenlights. “In fact, I don't think I will star in any of my productions initially. Later, I will,“ he informs, adding that he may now collaborate with other like-minded producers. “But what I make will be my decision solely and not anyone else's,“ he asserted.

Saif and Dinesh, who floated their production house in 2007, first met during the making of Homi Adajania's 2005 film Being Cyrus. At that point they were on the same wavelengths as far as filmmaking goes. But that obviously has changed now.

Dinesh didn't respond to our calls and texts.

MEANWHILE...
Saif is not going ahead with the biopic on his father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi for now. “It's a difficult film to make and the person who directs it will have to do justice to the subject,“ he points out.“Also, it isn't easy bringing out every detail about somebody else's life. I might go ahead with it in future, but as of now, I am not sure.“