Showing posts with label Hamari Adhuri Kahani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hamari Adhuri Kahani. Show all posts
"There can be no music without Arijit Singh": Bollywood responds to singer’s retirement
10:46 AM
For more than a decade, one voice soundtracked Bollywood’s biggest emotions. Now, as Arijit Singh steps away from playback singing, composers, collaborators, and labels reckon with a future without their safest musical bet
Mohar Basu, Priyanka Sharma, Upala KBR (MID-DAY; February 1, 2026)
“There can be no music without Arijit Singh," an emotional Mohit Suri told mid-day, reacting to news that sent Indian music lovers into collective shock. On Tuesday night, in an Instagram post, the two-time National Award-winning singer announced his retirement from playback singing. "There is not one reason behind this. I have been trying to do this since a long time. Finally, I have gathered the right courage. One of the reasons were simple, I get bored pretty quick, that’s why I keep changing arrangements of the same songs and perform them on stage," he wrote.
The voice that became an era
For more than a decade, Arijit was Bollywood's go-to guy for any track in any genre. When a film needed longing, his voice delivered it. When a love story or heartbreak had to feel intimate, his timbre did the work before the lyrics even began. By the mid-2010s, Bollywood leaned heavily on Arijit. Across Hindi and multiple regional industries — including Bengali, Marathi and Telugu — he has recorded over 800 songs, including alternate versions and live-session recordings. Few playback singers in recent decades have occupied that much sonic space.
His dominance carried serious commercial weight. Industry experts estimate his net worth in the range of Rs. 414 crore (roughly $50 million), built on recording fees, tours, streaming royalties and brand associations. Annual earnings reportedly touched Rs. 70 crore in recent years.
Days before announcing his exit, Arijit released Maatrubhumi for Salman Khan’s Battle Of Galwan. A stunned Himesh Reshammiya, who composed the song, told mid-day, "I have always said that Arijit Singh understands the soul of the music composer and the melody; he is fabulous. I wish he changes his stand on not singing for films, love him both as an artiste and a human being."
While he may not take up fresh playback gigs, Arijit still has a few recorded songs lined up for 2026. One of them is Hum Toh Tere Hi Liye The from O'Romeo, composed by Vishal Bhardwaj with lyrics by Gulzar. Another is Sunhari Kirne from Gandhi Talks, composed by AR Rahman.
While he might not be taking up any fresh playback gigs, Singh still has a few recorded songs set to release in 2026. One of them is Hum Toh Tere Hi Liye The from O’Romeo, composed by Vishal Bhardwaj with lyrics by Gulzar, a romantic track filmed on Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri. Another is “Sunhari Kirne” from Gandhi Talks, composed by A.R. Rahman, which is one of the year’s most musically anticipated soundtracks.
Industry confronts a void
A top suit at Sony Music, tells mid-day, on condition of anonymity, “This changes the ground beneath us more than people realize. For years, when a film album came in and there was one song, the one the trailer would lean on the one streaming platforms would push and the first question in the room was always, ‘Can we get Arijit?’ I speak for producers and insiders when I say there was built-in trust. People outside think this is just about replacing one voice with another. It’s not that simple because that's a once-in-a-generation artist. He became the sound of modern Hindi film. When that disappears, you’re filling a big void. And that’s scary when crores are riding on streaming numbers. There’s also habit to undo. Directors, actors, even lyricists were subconsciously writing for how his voice would feel. Without that anchor, the room will be quieter. Everyone second-guesses more. We’ll discover new singers, of course. But it will be hard to replace that voice.”
Industry veterans understand Singh's decision. Mahesh Bhatt, with whom Singh did a large volume of his early work, told mid-day, "I remember the first time I saw Arijit Singh very clearly. It was at the music launch of Aashiqui 2 at Super Sound in Khar—the old place, full of dust, wires, and hope. His name was announced and he was called to the stage to sing Tum Hi Ho. A shy, self-effacing young man walked up, almost apologetically, with no sense of entitlement. He didn’t claim the song; he offered it. And in that moment, something entered the bloodstream of the nation. That song didn’t just become popular, it became personal. What made Arijit Arijit was never just his voice. It was his refusal to perform himself. His singing carried no ego, no demand to be noticed. He stepped aside and let emotion speak. So when someone asks me if I would miss his voice, life has taught me to answer this way: I have learned to say goodbye to people I love without removing them from my heart. Chaplin once said something to that effect, and it has stayed with me. Even if Arijit chooses silence, his voice will not leave us. And I don’t believe he is turning away from music—only from noise. If he sings only for himself now, that is not withdrawal. That is an artist exercising his deepest privilege. Voices like his don’t vanish. They remain long after the song ends."
Inside the mind of a restless artist
Aashiqui 2 director Suri, with whose words we started, gave us an insight into his long-time collaborator's psyche. Singh first fame with the film he made and even in his last hit Saiyaara, Singh had a large role to play Suri tells us.
"I don't remember a time when he wasn't creating something. Before playback, he was an assistant. In some early music sessions of my career, I remember Arijit clicking pictures of Pritam and me at the studio. He would spend a lot of money buying a expensive camera and then tell us, these pictures are for us to remember history. Of course, I am going to miss him a lot but that said, I also understand his decision.
We all evolve as creative people in our journey and step up to find the next phase of our lives and careers. This isn't a man who will be content with himself. He has the itch of an artist. Anyone who has worked with him tell you he would give different iterations, will sit and understand the story of the film and fit his voice to suit the story. I remember during Hamari Adhuri Kahani, we did three versions of the title track. He asked me how does it end and I told him, it ends tragically. He said there needs to be defeat in the voice then. He was such an important collaborator for any director or music composer. But even at that, he was still working on someone else's vision.
May be he wants to create his own vision for himself. He is also such an immensely secure artist, pure artist as they say. There have been times he has been called in to sing a song, he has heard the scratch and said, 'Please retain what you have, I can't do what they've done'. We did Saiyaara's songs across timezones - I was in Japan and he was in Murshidabad. But after the film, his response for the movie was such an honest take. He loved the film more than Aashiqui 2 which gave him his big break. He has evolved into an artist who values the art more than himself. Wherever he goes from here and whatever he does, he will create music because for the close to two decades I have known him, I have never known him without music. That bond will be inseparable."
Not an ending, but a reset
Of course, rumours are rife that Singh has moved to filmmaking and is currently shooting a movie in Shantiniketan that he and his wife Koel have written. The jungle-adventure project features Shora Siddiqui and Arijit’s son, with Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Lyricists Siddharth-Garima, who have collaborated with Singh on several hit numbers, are working on his upcoming directorial. Garima tells mid day that they weren’t shocked by Singh’s decision.
“We met him multiple times in the last one year. We saw it coming because there is a very different kind of burnout that an artist can suffer from in the Hindi film industry,” Garima says, adding that when an artiste is made to repeat his or her previous work, it takes a toll.
“When people repetitively ask you to do the same things or sing similar things, it could get to you. We were seeing that point somewhere. He sings with a lot of sincerity even now. We've seen him record and he would take 100 takes for a line in a song. His process is something else. I'm sure that process tires him out. A burnout is very easy in this industry because you have to work tirelessly and endlessly.”
To Garima, there’s also an expectation from the industry that every song should be sung by Singh. He has enjoyed a monopoly of sorts in Bollywood playback singing for over 15 years now. But it’s not something that the sits right with the singer himself, “When Alia Bhatt just came in, everyone was thinking of scripts in which Alia would play the lead. That's how it is here. Everyone makes songs here, mostly thinking, ‘Arijit gaayega’. The first time you make a really melodious number, you are already imagining how it would sound in Arijit's voice? But the kind of person that he is, he comes from a very just background. He's not the kind of person who will think, ‘Sirf main hi main hoon.’ He thinks this shouldn’t happen and there should be more people who should get a chance,” Garima says, to which Siddharth adds that Singh is “a very secure artiste”.
“People talking about him creating a monopoly has never bothered him. In fact, that is a fuel. He's enabling diversity with this decision. We have that equation with him where we make him listen to every song that we record,” the lyricist says.
Singh has lent his voice to several songs written by Siddharth-Garima, including the chartbusters Yeh Laal Ishq (Goliyon Ki Raas Leela: Ram Leela) and Satranga (Animal). Naturally, it’s a huge loss for them as collaborators.
“Sanjay Leela Bhansali always says that he values a written word and believes a singer's job is to communicate to the listener the voice in those words. that voice. When I say, ‘Yeh laal ishq, yeh malaal ishq,’ how does that line reach you? It's a singer's job entirely. And more often than not, we notice in recording rooms, singers are not really singing, not feeling the line enough. Arijit will take it to that point. That's what his contribution has been. He brings his own imagination to the song.”
So, what does Hindi film music look like without his voice, we ask the duo. “The songs that he's already sung are there as his legacy. But the music scene in Bollywood would change. And it would be a huge change. Of course, it comes as a shock to many people. But I feel this is a natural progression. There’s always space for new people. There won’t be another Arijit but there will be more people, who will get a chance. People will start thinking imaginatively,” she says. And this is something even Singh wants from the industry, shares the lyricist.
“What really irritates him is the fact that people are not thinking imaginatively enough. They are just relying on a set pattern that if we have Arijit, we will get X number of listeners. I think that has put him off from the entire scenario that oh, you want a guarantee hit song, you want him to sing that song. What about experimenting? What about thinking outside the box? It’s great for an artiste to take a step back and take into account that what’s happening around him is not okay. There was no reason for him to say that I'm not going to sing Bollywood songs anymore, but he's an extremely honest and honest person to have taken that step,” Garima shares.
But even as fans express their disappointment over the singer’s decision, Garima is sure Singh will make a comeback sometime in future. “I feel there will at some point be a comeback, like how Sonu (Nigam) ji was ruling the charts in the 90s. And then of course, there was a phase in which he faded out and then now he's back fully. So I feel before that would happen, Arijit has taken the wise call of saying, ‘Okay. Let me not create a monotony with my voice right now.’ Let people yearn for it and then probably he'll make a comeback. I'm hoping he would someday,” she smiles.
But there won’t be dearth of Singh’s music, as he is set to launch his own label. “He is going to keep making independent music. So we are going to hear him a lot more on, his own label and all of that. And not many people know but he is a very m good composer. We've written to some of his compositions. You will see him in a different light,” Siddharth says.
Broken, I once walked in the scorching heat from Nariman Point to Bandra-Vidya Balan
8:44 AM
Ballsy Vidya Balan on Bollywood and the walk longer than Chembur to Juhu, or Nariman Point to Bandra!
Mayank Shekhar (MID-DAY; August 29, 2020)
There's Sahir's 'Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai' kinda quality to the last time actor Vidya Balan felt her thoughts on her professional life totally turn around. On the Sunday after the release of her film Hamari Adhuri Kahani (2015), directed by Mohit Suri — who she says she couldn't "gel with, in an actor-director relationship" — producer Mahesh Bhatt called to say that the film had pretty much tanked in theatres.This, after a series of back-to-back commercial duds — Bobby Jasoos (2014), the outcome of which had disappointed her the most; Shaadi Ke Side Effects (2014); Ghanchakkar (2013). Unsure of what to do, Balan's husband, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur — a non-believer himself — simply drove her down to the Sai Baba temple in Chembur. Where she just wailed non-stop, totally out of breath. She knew something needed to change about her life.
The penny dropped. "I realised I'd begun to focus too much on numbers. That stress had taken the joy away from what I do — that I like, and enjoy so much!" I didn't ask the exact lane the said Sai Baba temple is in. Which Balan says she used to visit every day of her growing up in Mumbai's eastern suburb.
Glad she brought up Chembur though. For that's where I'm chatting with her (on video) from. She's at her husband's office in Khar, which is also the neighbourhood her parents moved to, while she lives in Juhu. These are heartwarming coordinates for Bombayites, among whom she remains still the 'Chembur girl'.
The now popular term 'outsider' refers to first-generation professionals in the film industry. And they're in huge numbers — lead actors aren't all there is to the movies. Still, there are in fact far fewer 'insiders' of Bombay, who are but outsiders to Bollywood, than you'd imagine. Despite the unmatchable geographical/real-estate head-start.
Especially among heroes, if you may. Even Govinda, the 'Virar ka chokra', is a producer's son. Off-hand one mainstream Bollywood hero from Bombay, but with no family connections to films, I can think of, is Balan's super-hit Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) co-star, Akshay Kumar, who grew up in Sion, quite close to Chembur: "Shilpa [Shetty] was three years my senior in school [St Anthony's], although I didn't know her personally then," Balan points out.
"But it's such a valid observation, I wonder why," she asks, as an answer. "There are various levels of being an insider-outsider, in any case. This debate has left me confused. It's different for different people, right? Also family/financial support makes it easier, if you are not operating from a space of survival. Think it's about how hard you're willing to work, once you get that break. And even how much you're willing to wait out for that break!"Speaking of which, one of the instant inspirations/reasons to invite Balan over for this edition of Sit with Hitlist was in fact music composer Shantanu Moitra, who recently spoke at length on the reality show Times Of Music, about how Balan had auditioned 75 times for her debut film Parineeta (2005). It was while she was in the front row of a Bryan Adams concert that producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra finally called to say she was on.
Hearing it from the horse's mouth, Bryan Adams has turned into Enrique Iglesias. The number 75, Balan feels, is way off the mark. But yes, Iglesias was playing her favourite track Hero. Chopra insisted she step out of the venue to take her call. She heard the sweetest music to her ears, "You're my Parineeta." Up until then, Chopra had wanted Aishwarya Rai for the part: "He was putting in a lot of money, I was a newcomer, and the film was called Parineeta [after the female protagonist] for God's sake!"
She only has to thank, first, the persistence of her ad filmmaker-mentor Pradeep Sarkar (Dada), who had written the role, based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel, keeping Balan in mind. She'd performed in a series of Sarkar's ad films, plus music videos, starting with Euphoria's Kabhi aana tu meri gully.
She had even assisted him on a Fanta commercial, with Rani Mukerji in it, and where she "learnt nothing on the set". Because the crew, knowing that she was Sarkar's future leading-lady, was too busy taking care of her instead!
"Before my last test for Parineeta, I went to Dada, and said whatever happens, this is also your first [feature] film —just make it with or without me. His wife was there. He looked at her and said, 'Tell her something, tu kya keh rahi hai?' He had more belief in me than I had in myself." Evidently, beyond talent, you need somebody to appreciate it, and offer you a job, basically —just as it takes a village to make both a film, and a star.
Having not formally trained in acting per se, Balan credits Naseeruddin Shah, for instance, for texting her during the shoot of Milan Luthria's The Dirty Picture (2011) that she learn to leave behind her character on set, before heading home. The film remains still her most iconic, and that took everything out of her. Kahaani (2012), in comparison, she suggests, was a breeze, because she had all along been part of the writing process as a sounding-board for director Sujoy Ghosh.
The Dirty Picture, inspired by the life of south siren Silk Smitha, is also iconic because of the line, 'Filmein sirf teen cheezon ki wajah se chalti hain: Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment. Aur main entertainment hoon!" It's an obvious take on hotelier Conrad Hilton's famous quote about three things you need to run a successful hotel: Location, location, location!
"Now, it is my introduction at every event I go to. I had no idea it would become so popular. There were other lines that I thought would. It's all in Rajat Arora's [dialogue] writing." The one I love from one of her films the most though, while not her dialogue, is the tag-line, "Tumhara ishq, ishq; aur hamara ishq, sex?"
Apparently actor Shiney Ahuja had responded with these words after being narrated Ishqiya's script by director Abhishek Chaubey. It stuck. Arshad Warsi finally played the part — vying with uncle (Naseer) for Balan's attention: "I was just amazed by how Arshad mouths a lot of throwaway lines, like it just came out of his head! That's the beauty of his delivery."
Yet, so far as shock value of a film is concerned, towering over The Dirty Picture might well be Paa (2009), with Balan playing Amitabh Bachchan's mom: "[Before shoot] I kept chewing [director] Balki's brains to set up a reading with Mr Bachchan. Mother and son have a very physically comfortable relationship. I just can't hit him on the head, or instinctively pull his cheeks. You normally do that with a child. He is Amitabh Bachchan! We were shooting from Monday. Balki called me to Mr Bachchan's house for a look-test on Friday — to be [finally] followed by a reading. Abhishek [Bachchan, who plays the husband] and I were ready with our costumes, waiting for Mr Bachchan to emerge from the make-up room. When he came out, I told Balki, I don't need a reading. I saw a 13-year-old Auro. Something happened. I'm getting that same feeling [recalling the moment]!"
And these are generally the instinctive/immersive moments that Balan has managed to create, movie after movie. The last time we saw her on screen was as the math wiz Shakuntala Devi. The film had to drop online — instead of releasing in theatres — due to the pandemic. Her film before that Mission Mangal (2019), with a female ensemble cast, plus Akshay Kumar, had her headlining the act — surpassing Rs 200 crore, touching Rs 300 crore, at the box-office.
By all accounts, Shakuntala Devi was equally well-received on Amazon Prime, although nobody knows its viewership figure. Personally, what's the difference that she's discovered between success online, and in theatres?
She says, "The reactions come staggered — well after the date [the film drops]. With movies in theatres, after the first weekend, all conversations are centred on numbers. Also, unlike with Mission Mangal, where my character was fictionalised, Shakuntala Devi was a real person. And so, people read more and more about her, and kept getting back with responses."
To pick a few, I cite mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, who argued in his mid-day column that Shakuntala Devi's husband actually being gay was conveniently/unfortunately touted as hoax in the film. Balan gently counters, "Shakuntala Devi's daughter [from whose perspective the film has been written, and who partnered on the project] has been very transparent talking about her mother. Why wouldn't she do the same with her father?"
Some people who'd actually met Shakuntala Devi had found her to be reserved, even if witty; rather than boisterous as Balan played the part in the picture: "Maybe they met her at a time when she was not very boisterous for whatever reasons. Maybe she was going through something, I don't know."
Also, there was a phony element of contestable astrology/numerology mixed with her skill with numbers that the film hardly touched upon — let alone debated — from Shakuntala Devi's life: "It is a two-hour film. We wanted to definitely focus on the maths, which is what got her worldwide recognition. The politics, astrology and all of that came much later in her life."
To be fair to Balan, who's not the film's writer, but as she puts it, "People will have various opinions, especially because it is a real person that we're talking about. And I respect that. But then, it would have been a different film. This is the film we chose to make!" Point taken. Possibly applies to a lot of arguments around biopics, actually.
Where Shakuntala Devi does follow a seamless narrative — a natural extension of sorts — is actually in Balan's own current filmography — if you also consider Tumhari Sulu (2017), right before Mission Mangal. What's common to these films — besides feminist subjects — are the roles of almost impossibly secure and sweet men by her side. Whether it's Shakuntala's husband Paritosh (Jisshu Sengupta), Tara's Sunil (Sanjay Kapoor) or Sulu's Ashok (Manav Kaul). There seems to be a feminist film in the Balan mould, developing into a sub-genre of its own. Or too soon to tell? "I think that is my world view. The men in my life have been the same. They have just accepted me and the women around for who they are. I feel that's where it comes from."
Really? No jerk boyfriends, ever? "Yeah, well, it's literally a rite of passage. Unless you go through… I'm trying not to use harsh rude words here. But you know, you have to sift through life to get the real deal!"
Maybe I'm just trying to locate/shame some douches of Chembur she grew up with! Or let's go back to my current Auro-like obsession: Why aren't there so many Bombay-born/bred superstars from outside Bollywood families? Could it be that Bambaiya Hindi is no good? Compare, say, Cyrus Broacha to Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a Hindi picture, if you may (no knock; just kidding Cyrus!).Balan laughs. In her case, because she was clear she wanted to be an actor from a young age, she made sure her Hindi was perfect: "My parents have an accent, I don't." Besides, she can speak fluent Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, English… What language does she think in? "In English. But on the set, at work, it's weird — only Hindi. I recently did a Telugu film (the NTR biopic), and I had to keep translating Telugu into Hindi in my head first."
If it wasn't for a string of bad luck, which ironically led her thereafter to be considered jinxed — having debuted opposite Mohanlal, and with around multiple Malayalam films signed up, on that account alone, Balan was once all set to kick off her career, between 2000-03, as a South Indian star. The Mohanlal movie, after being extensively shot, got shelved. All other producers backed off.
In the Tamil industry, Balan had been signed up by veteran K Balachander for two films. Subsequently, dropped from both. There were two other films that she got replaced from, after having shot for their first schedules. She also walked out of another, realising on the set, that it was a sex-comedy: "I got sued at 22!"
It reached a point that her parents landed up in Chennai at the office of one of the producers who had fired her. He simply remarked: "Just look at her; does she look like a heroine?" "For six months, I didn't look into the mirror. Broken, I once walked in the scorching heat from Nariman Point to Bandra, like a [revelatory] scene in a film — just to clear my head." That's 18 kilometres straight.
She did travel a much further distance, only few years later though. After Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), she bumped into the same 'look at her face' producer at the airport, who right away offered her a film [opposite Kamal Haasan]. "I said sure, speak to my manager!" Kamal Haasan called later. She couldn't do the film: "My father felt a great sense of vindication. They've brought us up to feel the world's fair."
It rarely is. It also depends on how you look at it. Behind all the 'Miss Congeniality' exterior, if you observe her 15 years as a movie star, Balan comes across as one of the ballsiest in Bollywood. And yet never making a lamenting event of herself — almost disarmingly turning on its head the simplistic grammar/binary of victim and oppressor.
She's had a fair share of trolling — mainly body-shaming, style-policing online, and in the mainline press — a reason, I'm told, she rarely reads anything about herself. Whether any of this targeting has to do with groupism/favouritism, it's essential that this bullying aspect of the profession is being brought to light. As it has been, lately.
That's one of the reasons an old video-clip of her at a film-award show, being called out by hosts Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, for her tacky costume in the film Heyy Babyy (2007), started doing the rounds online. She looks visibly pissed in that moment. Such shows are typically scripted with celebs in the audience told in advance about what to expect for an impromptu engagement/act. Not the case?
"I'm a sport, and I was fine with it actually. But when I went there, I realised there were a couple of other contenders [for the worst dressed] award as well. They said they couldn't give it to them, because so-and-so, and the people around them, will get upset. I felt cheated and angry. I thought, now, that is a clear case of — and it didn't occur to me then, because I don't look at the world through that prism… I don't know, what is it called, nepotism?" Balan laughs.
Emraan Hashmi shoots a sad number, 'Khuda Hafiz' and then wraps up The Body
7:51 AM
Actor recently wrapped up his upcoming crime thriller with a song about heartbreak
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 22, 2019)
Emraan Hashmi, who had been shooting for the last leg of debutant director Jeethu Joseph’s crime-thriller, The Body, earlier this month in Mumbai, wrapped it up with a song, titled “Khuda Hafiz”. Composed and penned by Arko Pravo Mukherjee, it features playback by Arijit Singh. According to a source from the sets, the song punctuates the ultimate conflict faced by Emraan’s protagonist in the story. While he is married—debutant South actress Vedhika Kumar (right) plays his wife in the film—he is in love with Sobhita Dhulipala’s (below) character.
“The song arrives at a crucial point, when he must make a decision about who he wants to be with. It was recorded late last year. The majority of the sequence was shot in Mauritius and the team is putting the final touches in Mumbai,” the source added.
Arko confirmed the news, saying, “Yes, it is a goodbye song sung by Arijit, who has a big fan-following, so we were very excited about it. It’s a heartbreak song that I had written three years ago for another film, but it has ended up in The Body. This is the first time I’m working with Emraan. We were to collaborate on Mohit Suri’s Hamari Adhuri Kahani but that didn’t work out.”
Mirror had earlier reported (February 8) that besides fronting the film, Emraan has been attending music sittings and Jeethu, who is not too familiar with Bollywood songs, is said to be glad to have his input. The Body also features Rishi Kapoor as a cop investigating a murder case. The body is missing.
Whether it is my career or love, I am an extremist. I go all out-Rajkummar Rao
10:29 AM
Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; February 27, 2018)
He is not the dreamy-eyed ‘Raj’ of Hindi cinema, who promises fantasy-filled romances in the Alps and on sun-kissed beaches. He’s the Raj who is closer to home; one you won’t find in dream sequences, but in reality. Yes, reality that is inescapable and unforgettable, just like his performances. The intensity of his acts can fire up the screen, and irrespective of the part he plays, he leads the show. And the year 2017 was his show all the way. He was the toast of the town, winning awards for all his performances, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Bareilly Ki Barfi. In a heart-to-heart chat with Bombay Times, he tells us his gripping story, which is marked by trials, triumphs, scars and sweet success. Read on...
From films like Love Sex Aur Dhokha, Kai Po Che and Queen to Aligarh, Bareilly Ki Barfi and Newton, your journey has been fascinating, even a revelation. There has been a huge change in the way filmmakers perceive you today. Has there been a shift in the way you see your place in the industry?
While growing up in Gurgaon (now known as Gurugram), for me, the industry was a different planet that was orbiting around us. I always wanted to do movies, but it was such a faraway dream that I didn’t know if I could ever achieve it. I was madly in love with cinema and actors. Now, I am a part of it and some of the actors are my colleagues, but I continue to remain a fan of some of them. From the outside, the industry looks glamorous and rich and people think that actors live fancy, dream lives. It’s not like that; it is a lot of hard work.
You have seen your share of struggles, moving from Gurugram to Mumbai, without friends and family in showbiz. A city like Mumbai can be hard on you, but then it is accepting too, right?
Mumbai is home to me now and with the kind of freedom and independence that I enjoy here, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. When I first moved here, I was shocked by how expensive the city is. With the rent that I was paying for a small flat, I could afford a bungalow in Gurugram. And of course, there is chaos and traffic, but I wouldn’t give up Mumbai for anything. I came here when I was 16, to audition for a dance show for two days. I was fascinated by films and Shah Rukh Khan, so I would stand outside Mannat (SRK’s bungalow) for hours and look at it with wonder. I haven’t told SRK that, but he knows about my love for him. I was a crazy fan and I still am. I adore him as a human being, too. I guess I can connect with his journey, because he came from nowhere and became one of the biggest superstars of our country.
For a middle-class boy, pursuing acting without having a plan or a back-up plan in place is quite a leap of faith. Didn’t you worry about how you would keep the kitchen fires burning?
Honestly, I have never thought that acting se mujhe ghar chalana hai. I just knew that mujhe actor banna hai. Of course, I knew that I would eventually earn money, but that’s not what motivated me. I come from a typical middle-class family, and it wasn’t like they could swing things for me. They said that they would support me as far as they could and they have always been there for me, especially my mother. She had a strong belief that I would make it. Whether it is my career or love, I am an extremist. I go all out. For me, there is no mid-way or half measure. When I don’t like someone, I don’t. I wouldn’t use the word hate, as it is a very strong word, but when I get negative vibes from a person, I tend to keep away.
Your first film Love Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD) wasn’t the usual Bollywood fare. If at all, the content was ballsy and quite a shocker. How did your family react to it?
I wasn’t there when my family was watching LSD. It was my first film, and there I was… butt naked and humping a girl. I have always lived in a joint family, so 20 of my family members watched my first film together. I had forewarned them about the naked scene. I don’t know if it’s good or bad that the Censor Board had blurred it out (laughs). I am sure that my family felt slightly awkward about it, but I don’t think that they have ever talked about the scene with each other. They were just so thrilled that their son has done something that he wanted to do all his life.
You have spoken about rejections in the past; is there still a fear lurking inside you — what if it happens again? And every time you were rejected, what did you tell yourself?
If I have to face rejection again, I am ready for it. Even if I don’t have work for the next two years, I know that I have enough to sustain myself. But like I said, for me, acting was never about the money. If I am not working in films, I will do something in a similar zone — like short films, or theatre... as long as I don’t stop acting. In the beginning of my career, I have faced rejection and I have heard strange excuses from people. I’ve been told that I am not muscular, not fair enough and that my eyebrows look different in close-ups. That was the most bizarre thing that I have ever heard. I have read a lot of biographies of personalities like Mr Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan and I know that most of them have faced rejection. I always knew that no one would be waiting for me in the industry with open arms, saying, ‘Raj, we were waiting to cast you in our film’. I was sure I had to struggle for work, but irrespective of whether it would take two or 10 years, I had made up my mind that I won’t leave Mumbai.
When the same people approach you now, how do you react? Is there a sense of victory?
I won’t say that there is a sense of victory, but if they approach me, with due respect, I will politely tell them that I won’t be able to do it. It is not because I have a personal problem with them, but I have a problem with their mindset. They couldn’t see any potential in me back then, but there were others who took a leap of faith and I will always respect them.
Are you now getting attached to fame and your newfound stardom? Has it changed you at all?
I am still the same guy that I used to be, and I am fully aware that stardom can fade away any time. We have often seen stars suddenly losing their stardom. I don’t have love for fame, selfies or money. I feel happy when someone sees me and wants to click a picture, but when someone messages me and tells me that they could connect with my character, it’s a different high. When I go abroad and people come up to me and thank me for doing the kind of films that I am doing, it’s a great feeling. To me, stardom means that I get to do the work that I believe in and I have the power to choose the films that I want to do. Stardom is having the power to say ‘Yes’ when you want to say ‘Yes’, and ‘No’ when you want to say ‘No’.
Today, the audience doesn’t care about who is the lead, supporting actor or villain. They like the actors, or they don’t; they like the film, or they don’t. Does it make it easier for actors like you, who can slip into the lead, supporting role or any other character role without thinking what it would do to your image or star power?
For me, a movie is about the whole experience, not just one actor or one role. There are some actors like Aamir Khan, whose film I can go to with a sense of surety that I will enjoy the whole film. He has achieved that kind of confidence from people, wherein they believe that if it is an Aamir Khan film, it will be worth their time. Someday, I would love to be in that space, where people say that it is a Rajkummar Rao film, so it’ll be worth our time. My first two films were as leads and both did very well, and then I did small parts in films like Shaitan, Gangs Of Wasseypur 2 and Talaash: The Answer Lies Within. Then somewhere, I thought that I didn’t want to keep doing small parts. We are all hungry actors and we all want to be on screen for longer. Luckily, during Gangs Of Wasseypur, I met Hansal (Mehta) sir, and my journey with the film Shahid started. It was my first big lead role, so in a way, that was a turning point for me. Hansal sir had met a lot of big actors and he was desperate to make the film. He could see that hunger in my eyes and I guess that convinced him to cast me.
Are you very critical about your work?
Yes. I wasn’t happy with my performances in Dolly Ki Doli and Hamari Adhuri Kahaani. I didn’t like myself in those films. Whenever I talk or think about it, I feel that I should have worked harder on it. It’s like a scar and I feel horrible about it. Well, with acting, you can’t change it once you are out there on the screen, that’s the problem. At that point, I wanted to sit back and rethink what I was doing. After that, Aligarh happened and I started shooting for Trapped, Newton and Omerta, so I moved on.
You are working in a horror comedy with Shraddha Kapoor. This genre has not been explored much in Bollywood. There are ample genres we can still dabble in, like we see in Hollywood, but here, we generally play it safe. It is changing, but we need to do much more beyond love stories and romcoms. Your views?
Now is the time to experiment and it is great to see that people are backing such stories. We can’t just play around with conventional ideas and say, ‘This is what sells, so let’s keep making it’. I would request everyone to experiment with their stories, writing and acting. It’s so exciting to witness this phase, not just as an actor, but as a movie lover. I think we can also make good sex comedies, but we are not doing that. I guess, somewhere, we are scared of the Censor Board, and people’s reaction to such subjects. I think sex comedies can be mature and intelligently made; Delhi Belly is one such example.
On a lighter note, Patralekhaa and you have been frank about your relationship. Any plans of settling down?
It will happen eventually, but we haven’t fixed a date. We are not getting married anytime soon. Right now, we are focusing on our careers.
Do you believe in marriage?
That is a tough one to answer. More than marriage, I think a relationship is about two people being genuinely happy and comfortable with each other. It’s a great institution, and I am sure it works for many people. Patralekhaa and I have been together for more than six years now, and we are very happy with each other. Even if we get married, we will be happy. I know so many people who are not married, but they are living together and they are happy. So, it’s not like both of us don’t think about marriage, but we don’t stress about it. I know that eventually it will happen as our families would want us to get married, though they have never pressurised us.
My real self bleeds into my films and I find closure after that-Mohit Suri
8:06 AM
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; May 13, 2017)
Filmmaker Mohit Suri may
have the heart of a wanderer, but it doesn't overpower the quiet
certainty of his mind. His
confidence in desi stories and his craft doesn't necessarily roar, but
he knows its worth. In many ways, he exudes the vulnerable and
headstrong side of Madhav Jha, the lead character of his upcoming film
Half Girlfriend (HG), which is based on Chetan Bhagat's bestseller.
Mohit lets BT in on his innate vagabond sensibility that subconsciously
inspires his intense emotional dramas...
It's common to bash Chetan Bhagat's books, but they continue to sell and inspire filmmakers...
There are not just literature students who write books, there are also storytellers who tell stories. For example, Buddha didn't speak in a divine language. He spoke Pali, which was the common man's tongue. It's not as if Chetan doesn't know what he is doing. I have read almost all his books and I could relate to them. Half our literary experts are inspired by foreign literature, so their stories are rarely about us. Even Indian filmmakers are inspired by Hollywood. We often aspire to be someone we are not, but Chetan has no such pretences. You can agree or disagree with his story, but you can't ignore it.
What made you adapt this book into a film?
I wanted to make a movie on Five Point Someone, but Chetan had already sold the rights to Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots, 2009). After Aashiqui 2 (2013), he suggested that we work together, and he felt that HG was the kind of story that I'll be able to do justice to.
HG is relevant to our times when English language has become a yardstick that defines class...
Even in Bollywood, actors who cannot speak Hindi are popular, but those who cannot speak English are considered low grade. You readily accept an NRI or a foreigner just because they are pretty, even if you need to dub their voice. If a French person speaks bad English with a French accent, you don't mind, but an Indian speaking English with a Hindi accent is unacceptable. We are still suffering from a colonial hangover. English is not just a language in India. It's amazing to see how people who have lived here all along flaunt American accent just because they've studied in the US for four years.
After 2 States, this is the second film based on Chetan Bhagat's book starring Arjun Kapoor. What made you choose him?
I have an emotional connect with Arjun. I don't look at him as the son of a popular Bollywood producer, but as someone who has been brought up by an independent single mother. I have seen his hardships - his battle to lose weight and doing things that people said he could never do. Madhav Jha, his character in the film, is a lot like that, too. Speak to Arjun about his past relationships and he'll say, 'Dude, do you see how I used to look? Do you think I got any girls, ever?' He doesn't say it with bitterness, but humour. All these things added up to who Madhav is. Also, I cast Shraddha in Aashiqui 2 because I remember seeing her with oil in her hair, talking to her bai in Marathi. I like people who are not Bollywoodised.
Your films are deeply emotional and often have an underlying tragedy...
I wonder how some people are always so happy. As much as happiness is a part of life, love is not just about being with someone at happy times. You love a person for his/her imperfections too and that's what Aashiqui 2 was for me. Awarapan (2007) was me questioning the existence of God. I let my thoughts reflect in my films.
So, you find them therapeutic?
Yes. However, in the case of Aashiqui 2, the film turned out to be a huge success, but I lost my father around that time. The one person I wanted to share my success with was not there, so it didn't matter to me anymore. I felt incomplete. So, even if I make a thriller now, it will be about a man in search of something.
Have Udita (wife) and your daughter changed your outlook towards life?
After having a daughter, I started respecting and valuing women more. Not that I didn't respect women before, but I couldn't express in words their contribution in my life. Madhav's character helped me change that. My real self bleeds into my films and I find closure after that. I lost my mother when I was really young. To see what Udita does for our child makes me fall in love with her all over again. It's heartwrenching to see what a mother does for her child and a daughter's love for her father.
Were you commitment phobic? Did you have any half girlfriends before marriage?
I was never commitment phobic, my problem was different. I was always in a relationship, I always had a woman in my life. Maybe it was my way of trying to compensate for not having a mother.
What do you like the most about Udita?
Udita lets me be. I am not an easy person to live with. I am obsessive about my work. The reason we have sustained this far is because of her. I have always felt that she is my soulmate despite the two of us having nothing in common. She is not passionate about films the way I am. While she is extremely family oriented, I am not since I didn't grow up with one. I didn't know what it's like to be surrounded by people with whom you are supposed to share a bond. My father was 35 and I was eight when my mother died; we were more like roommates. There were times when he had a girlfriend and I was also in love with someone and we'd share stories. There was a bond, but not the father-son kind. And, I used to work with my other family members (uncles Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt). So, that was also a professional relationship.
Did the failure of Hamari Adhuri Kahani (2015) affect you a lot?
Failure affects me a lot, but I cannot be the person I am today without it. I don't mull over what went wrong. I blame myself as a director if a film doesn't do well. While I don't share my success with anyone, I don't share my failure either. Success doesn't feel really great, but lows feel really low. That's why I run away to the US for a month after my film's release. I live with my best friend in Chicago, as school friends don't let failure bog you down or success go to your head. Sometimes, if people love your film, they talk to you assuming that you are a good person (smiles). They judge you by your work, my friends don't.
It's common to bash Chetan Bhagat's books, but they continue to sell and inspire filmmakers...
There are not just literature students who write books, there are also storytellers who tell stories. For example, Buddha didn't speak in a divine language. He spoke Pali, which was the common man's tongue. It's not as if Chetan doesn't know what he is doing. I have read almost all his books and I could relate to them. Half our literary experts are inspired by foreign literature, so their stories are rarely about us. Even Indian filmmakers are inspired by Hollywood. We often aspire to be someone we are not, but Chetan has no such pretences. You can agree or disagree with his story, but you can't ignore it.
What made you adapt this book into a film?
I wanted to make a movie on Five Point Someone, but Chetan had already sold the rights to Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots, 2009). After Aashiqui 2 (2013), he suggested that we work together, and he felt that HG was the kind of story that I'll be able to do justice to.
HG is relevant to our times when English language has become a yardstick that defines class...
Even in Bollywood, actors who cannot speak Hindi are popular, but those who cannot speak English are considered low grade. You readily accept an NRI or a foreigner just because they are pretty, even if you need to dub their voice. If a French person speaks bad English with a French accent, you don't mind, but an Indian speaking English with a Hindi accent is unacceptable. We are still suffering from a colonial hangover. English is not just a language in India. It's amazing to see how people who have lived here all along flaunt American accent just because they've studied in the US for four years.
After 2 States, this is the second film based on Chetan Bhagat's book starring Arjun Kapoor. What made you choose him?
I have an emotional connect with Arjun. I don't look at him as the son of a popular Bollywood producer, but as someone who has been brought up by an independent single mother. I have seen his hardships - his battle to lose weight and doing things that people said he could never do. Madhav Jha, his character in the film, is a lot like that, too. Speak to Arjun about his past relationships and he'll say, 'Dude, do you see how I used to look? Do you think I got any girls, ever?' He doesn't say it with bitterness, but humour. All these things added up to who Madhav is. Also, I cast Shraddha in Aashiqui 2 because I remember seeing her with oil in her hair, talking to her bai in Marathi. I like people who are not Bollywoodised.
Your films are deeply emotional and often have an underlying tragedy...
I wonder how some people are always so happy. As much as happiness is a part of life, love is not just about being with someone at happy times. You love a person for his/her imperfections too and that's what Aashiqui 2 was for me. Awarapan (2007) was me questioning the existence of God. I let my thoughts reflect in my films.
So, you find them therapeutic?
Yes. However, in the case of Aashiqui 2, the film turned out to be a huge success, but I lost my father around that time. The one person I wanted to share my success with was not there, so it didn't matter to me anymore. I felt incomplete. So, even if I make a thriller now, it will be about a man in search of something.
Have Udita (wife) and your daughter changed your outlook towards life?
After having a daughter, I started respecting and valuing women more. Not that I didn't respect women before, but I couldn't express in words their contribution in my life. Madhav's character helped me change that. My real self bleeds into my films and I find closure after that. I lost my mother when I was really young. To see what Udita does for our child makes me fall in love with her all over again. It's heartwrenching to see what a mother does for her child and a daughter's love for her father.
Were you commitment phobic? Did you have any half girlfriends before marriage?
I was never commitment phobic, my problem was different. I was always in a relationship, I always had a woman in my life. Maybe it was my way of trying to compensate for not having a mother.
What do you like the most about Udita?
Udita lets me be. I am not an easy person to live with. I am obsessive about my work. The reason we have sustained this far is because of her. I have always felt that she is my soulmate despite the two of us having nothing in common. She is not passionate about films the way I am. While she is extremely family oriented, I am not since I didn't grow up with one. I didn't know what it's like to be surrounded by people with whom you are supposed to share a bond. My father was 35 and I was eight when my mother died; we were more like roommates. There were times when he had a girlfriend and I was also in love with someone and we'd share stories. There was a bond, but not the father-son kind. And, I used to work with my other family members (uncles Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt). So, that was also a professional relationship.
Did the failure of Hamari Adhuri Kahani (2015) affect you a lot?
Failure affects me a lot, but I cannot be the person I am today without it. I don't mull over what went wrong. I blame myself as a director if a film doesn't do well. While I don't share my success with anyone, I don't share my failure either. Success doesn't feel really great, but lows feel really low. That's why I run away to the US for a month after my film's release. I live with my best friend in Chicago, as school friends don't let failure bog you down or success go to your head. Sometimes, if people love your film, they talk to you assuming that you are a good person (smiles). They judge you by your work, my friends don't.
A lot of people equate feminism with man-hating and that's very disturbing-Vidya Balan
8:18 AM
Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; April 12, 2017)
After an unforgettable debut
in Bollywood with Parineeta (2005), Vidya Balan established herself as
an actor par excellence with roles in films like Paa, Ishqiya, The Dirty
Picture, Kahaani and Kahaani 2. While critics have not stopped raving
about this National Award-winning actor's ability to deliver one
knock-out performance after another, her films in the past five years
haven't worked their magic at the box office. Vidya, who will be seen
essaying the role of a brothel madam in Srijit Mukherji's period and
Partition drama, Begum Jaan, spoke to BT about her latest labour of
love, dealing with box-office failures and why feminism doesn't mean
being a man-hater. Excerpts...
When you started out, did you think that eventually, you would be in a position where roles will be written for you?
That always sounded fancy, but I didn't know what kind of roles people would write for me. However, I love the fact that people write roles for me; I feel humbled. You keep hearing that a particular role was written keeping Amitabh Bachchan in mind and wonder how that works... and suddenly, it happens to you. But consciously, I never worked towards it or even desired it.
You have always played hard-hitting roles, but your character Begum Jaan is different from what you have done so far. So, how did you go about fleshing out your character?
I saw the Bengali film (Rajkahini) and it struck me as extremely powerful and moving. But then, I consciously blanked out my memory of the film. Today, if you ask me how a particular scene was done in the Bengali film, the answer is, I don't know. That's the only way I could have brought in my interpretation of the character. For me to understand that it is about power, I had to have conversations with Srijit. It's a well-written script, so all I had to do was read it and enact the scenes. But the fun is when you flesh it out a bit - get into details people don't necessarily watch on screen, but nevertheless lend life to those moments. Begum Jaan rules the space she lives in, so her body language is very chauda. When we asked ourselves why she would not set up her kotha somewhere else, we realised that each one of us is trying to establish our roots somewhere or the other. And just because Begum Jaan belongs to the fringe section of the society, it doesn't mean that she doesn't feel the need to do that. She doesn't care if you decide to partition the country. She says that's irrelevant to her whether you are calling it India or Pakistan; it is her house and she will deal with it the way she wants to. She doesn't seek approval. These might have been mere words when Srijit and I were discussing the story, but thanks to those conversations, I could bring her alive.
You have often said that the first day of shoot sets the tone of the film for you. What was day one like on the set of Begum Jaan?
On day one, my shoot was with Naseer saab (Naseeruddin Shah). The scene portrayed Begum Jaan's feminine and charming side - she negotiates with the Raja, almost seducing him with her charm. I looked at Srijit and said, 'After all those conversations about her fearless, aggressive nature, you are making me do this'. But sometimes, it's the best way to start. The most unexpected thing happens on the first day and you nosedive into it; there is no other way to go.
You are critics' darling. However, your last five films have not worked at the box office. How did it affect you?
At times, it saddened me and at times, it broke my heart. At times, it destroyed me and at times, it didn't affect me. I invest a lot in the films that I do. So, there is always a part of me that wants love, acceptance and approval and it gets measured in terms of box-office success. After a spate of successful films, Ghanchakkar didn't work and I didn't know how to deal with it. When Shaadi Ke Side Effects didn't work, I was angry. When Bobby Jasoos didn't work, I felt like a victim. When Hamari Adhuri Kahani didn't work, I was devastated. And then, when Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh didn't work, I disconnected from the numbers game. And maybe that's why I had to go through this; so that I could go back to focusing on what I enjoy doing - the process of moviemaking and even the promotions. Today, I am very glad that I went through that phase, though when I went through it, I am not sure I felt the same way. I feel maybe there was a lesson in store for me.
Actors are considered to be vain, but you have never let that come in the way of portraying a character...
I feel I am vain because I like to do whatever I can to make a character come alive. On screen, I have to think about what the character would like to wear. Her economic or social background also needs to be taken into account. So, those things dictate how I look in a film. If I am looking true to the part, it satisfies and excites me. I am not Vidya Balan, the star on screen, and that distinction is very clear in my head. Of course, there is a part of me because I am playing the role, but I am not playing myself.
The word 'feminism' is dropped very often these days. Do you think it's misconstrued? What's your take on feminism?
If by feminist, you mean somebody who values herself, her body, her space, her choices or the right to her choices, yes I am a feminist. But I am definitely not a man-hater. A lot of people equate feminism with that and that's very disturbing. Yes, you are challenging the status quo by wanting to assert yourself, your individuality and your individual space. I am at the centre of my universe and I happen to be a woman. I don't feel any lesser than anyone else and I won't settle for anything less. I won't settle for anything but the best.
When you started out, did you think that eventually, you would be in a position where roles will be written for you?
That always sounded fancy, but I didn't know what kind of roles people would write for me. However, I love the fact that people write roles for me; I feel humbled. You keep hearing that a particular role was written keeping Amitabh Bachchan in mind and wonder how that works... and suddenly, it happens to you. But consciously, I never worked towards it or even desired it.
You have always played hard-hitting roles, but your character Begum Jaan is different from what you have done so far. So, how did you go about fleshing out your character?
I saw the Bengali film (Rajkahini) and it struck me as extremely powerful and moving. But then, I consciously blanked out my memory of the film. Today, if you ask me how a particular scene was done in the Bengali film, the answer is, I don't know. That's the only way I could have brought in my interpretation of the character. For me to understand that it is about power, I had to have conversations with Srijit. It's a well-written script, so all I had to do was read it and enact the scenes. But the fun is when you flesh it out a bit - get into details people don't necessarily watch on screen, but nevertheless lend life to those moments. Begum Jaan rules the space she lives in, so her body language is very chauda. When we asked ourselves why she would not set up her kotha somewhere else, we realised that each one of us is trying to establish our roots somewhere or the other. And just because Begum Jaan belongs to the fringe section of the society, it doesn't mean that she doesn't feel the need to do that. She doesn't care if you decide to partition the country. She says that's irrelevant to her whether you are calling it India or Pakistan; it is her house and she will deal with it the way she wants to. She doesn't seek approval. These might have been mere words when Srijit and I were discussing the story, but thanks to those conversations, I could bring her alive.
You have often said that the first day of shoot sets the tone of the film for you. What was day one like on the set of Begum Jaan?
On day one, my shoot was with Naseer saab (Naseeruddin Shah). The scene portrayed Begum Jaan's feminine and charming side - she negotiates with the Raja, almost seducing him with her charm. I looked at Srijit and said, 'After all those conversations about her fearless, aggressive nature, you are making me do this'. But sometimes, it's the best way to start. The most unexpected thing happens on the first day and you nosedive into it; there is no other way to go.
You are critics' darling. However, your last five films have not worked at the box office. How did it affect you?
At times, it saddened me and at times, it broke my heart. At times, it destroyed me and at times, it didn't affect me. I invest a lot in the films that I do. So, there is always a part of me that wants love, acceptance and approval and it gets measured in terms of box-office success. After a spate of successful films, Ghanchakkar didn't work and I didn't know how to deal with it. When Shaadi Ke Side Effects didn't work, I was angry. When Bobby Jasoos didn't work, I felt like a victim. When Hamari Adhuri Kahani didn't work, I was devastated. And then, when Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh didn't work, I disconnected from the numbers game. And maybe that's why I had to go through this; so that I could go back to focusing on what I enjoy doing - the process of moviemaking and even the promotions. Today, I am very glad that I went through that phase, though when I went through it, I am not sure I felt the same way. I feel maybe there was a lesson in store for me.
Actors are considered to be vain, but you have never let that come in the way of portraying a character...
I feel I am vain because I like to do whatever I can to make a character come alive. On screen, I have to think about what the character would like to wear. Her economic or social background also needs to be taken into account. So, those things dictate how I look in a film. If I am looking true to the part, it satisfies and excites me. I am not Vidya Balan, the star on screen, and that distinction is very clear in my head. Of course, there is a part of me because I am playing the role, but I am not playing myself.
The word 'feminism' is dropped very often these days. Do you think it's misconstrued? What's your take on feminism?
If by feminist, you mean somebody who values herself, her body, her space, her choices or the right to her choices, yes I am a feminist. But I am definitely not a man-hater. A lot of people equate feminism with that and that's very disturbing. Yes, you are challenging the status quo by wanting to assert yourself, your individuality and your individual space. I am at the centre of my universe and I happen to be a woman. I don't feel any lesser than anyone else and I won't settle for anything less. I won't settle for anything but the best.
I feel desirable, but if there's a standard of desirability I don't fit into, I can't help it-Vidya Balan
7:50 AM
Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; November 30, 2016)
She takes you to places
where other Sometimes artistes deep, unknown corners. Bringing every
moment on screen to life - with her curious eyes and chortled laughter.
If her stark strokes in cinema stun you, a heartfelt conversation with
her leaves you gaping in awe. She bares her fears and scars. No
cover-up, no charades. Just the Real Picture. She's broken stereotypes,
made new rules. She's been crowned and criticised. She knew this ride
wasn't going to be easy. It got rough, and she got tough.
Days before the release of Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, directed by
Sujoy Ghosh, Vidya Balan, sits pretty (with no make-up), looking out at
the sea in her lovely apartment and demystifies some doubts, some myths,
some secrets. Like I said...nothing fake, all raw and real.
You've said that you get drawn towards women-centric films? Do you feel such roles attract you?
I think it's a two-way street. I have been offered such roles since Parineeta (2005), and then Ishqiya came along (2010). With these films I was taking baby steps and it peaked with The Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani (2012). Though even in typical, commercial Hindi films, my roles always had substance. Also, I think it's a function of the times that we are living in. We were at a point where we were ready to tell these stories, so it opened up more doors for writers who had written such stories, but kept them away thinking that they will never be made. Suddenly, there was new hope, I was doing these films and they were successful. After that, some of these films didn't work, but it was not that my choices had changed.
The 50's and 60's had some impactful films driven by women. We often tend to forget that because of the dearth of such subjects that followed...
Yes, that's why it is called the Golden Era of cinema. Though often in those films, you still revered the sacrificial role of women. In that sense, there has been a change; there is no glorification or vilification anymore. In today's movies, you see women as humans who have flaws, limitations and ambitions. Earlier, there were few like that, but the rest largely derived their identity from the men around them. Now, we have identities of our own and that is getting translated on screen.
You broke down while working in Kahaani 2. Do the characters you play affect you very deeply?
I have come to accept that I am intense and I don't know film. I need to do other things like travel, read, watch films and laze around. I only do films that I am completely convinced about. So whether the film works or not, I don't regret it later.
Five hits in a row, and you were the toast of Bollywood. Then it came crashing down with a series of flops. Given how intense you are, is failure also much harder to deal with?
Yes, the heartbreak is so much more, especially after seeing such a high. After a string of successful films people told me, 'You have the midas touch. How do you choose such scripts?' I have done lengthy talks and sessions on that...and then these films started failing (laughs!). I thought to myself...I hope I didn't give these talks too early in my life. It was devastating. I went through a roller coaster, also because I was going through health issues. Generally, when you are physically low, everything else gets magnified. When Ghanchakkar failed, I felt that I had personally failed my husband Siddharth (Roy Kapur) as his company had produced it and it was our first film post marriage. Initially, I didn't accept it, I kept saying...kal collections accha ho jayega. Then Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Bobby Jasoos followed. People told me that the audience wanted to see more of me in women-centric films, but Bobby Jasoos was that.
Did this phase compel you to rethink your choices?
Before Hamari Adhuri Kahani (HAK), (Mahesh) Bhatt saab called me and said, 'I have some concerns that your films haven't worked post marriage'. I told him there is nothing I can do about that, and I have no qualms if he chose to cast someone else. Incidentally, I had gone to speak to him about leaving the film because of my health issues, and when he expressed his concern, I thought it was universe's way of saying this isn't working out. That was a tough day for me, as I came home and opted out of Sujoy's film, too. I told Bhatt saab, 'I don't regret being married, and I don't know why the films haven't worked. To me, it is not because I am a married woman, but because the films failed. If that's the perception, I don't want you to carry that baggage.' I am so glad that he was blatantly honest. It made me question if there was some truth to this myth of married actresses in Bollywood. When I looked around me, I saw that Kareena (Kapoor Khan) had just delivered a hit in a typically commercial film. Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan) had also been signed on for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, so this couldn't be a measure. Sometimes you feel that it doesn't matter how much you have achieved, one failure and you are back to square one.
But you went ahead and did HAK...
Bhatt saab told me that he had written the script for me and he wouldn't do the film with anybody else. He also told me, 'Keep the script. Even at 50 if you want, you can get some director to make this'. However, he had another concern - he wanted me to lose weight. I said I couldn't promise that as I was going through a health issue. I am someone who enjoys exercising and eating right, but my body had changed. For three-and-a-half years I was being medicated for a condition which had messed with my system completely. When I went off the medication, it was like a boomerang. I told him that I would walk out of his office with as much respect, but I couldn't take the pressure of him wanting his leading lady to look lighter. I was sure that I wasn't going to go under the knife, or do liposuction. After having achieved so much, you are eventually judged on the basis of your body. And poor body of mine...how much judgement and criticism it has gone through. And I am not talking in respect to my conversation with Bhatt saab, but the general perception of people. I had reached a stage where I said that I don't want to be judged anymore, so if it means not doing a role, it is okay. I feel desirable, but if there is a certain standard of desirability I don't fit into, I can't help it. HAK got delayed due to Emraan Hashmi's son's health and I ended up doing the film. I will always appreciate that Bhatt saab was brutally honest with me - that's Mahesh Bhatt for you. Even today, I can't bear to see Bobby Jasoos, as I was at my lowest point. It reminds me of a time in my life when I was not feeling good about myself. And today, it's not like my situation has changed, my attitude has. I'm back to accepting and loving myself.
So after HAK, you decided to take a break...
I took a break to think if I wanted to continue doing what I was doing. Since I was 11, I only wanted to act, and suddenly I felt that I was losing my dream. I was unsure about the one passion I lived for. On the last day of HAK shoot (and no one knows this) I told my family that I was not going to get back to work for a while. I started refusing offers. Siddharth was confused, and my family patiently listened to me. They let me vent, cry and even bore the brunt of it. I would write my thoughts down, sometimes shred it to pieces, too. I was just purging all the angst and anger (there was a lot of it) out of my system, it was difficult. I wasn't convinced about the perception of married actresses in our industry, but I guess, Bhatt saab actually vocalised it for me. It's like your worst fear coming true. I went through a process of extricating all these thoughts out of my system. Slowly, I realised my value as an individual, woman and actor. When you get rid of all the excess baggage, you begin to accept yourself again. I am still reeling under the effect of medication that has wrecked my system. My body has changed dramatically.
During The Dirty Picture, it was a revelation to see everyone applaud you for putting on weight and flaunting it with such abandon for a role. Then quickly people started bodyshaming and criticising you for the same weight...
That's right! If you put on weight for a role, everyone says... 'Arre wah, what an actor!' Then they bring you down for the same thing. After The Dirty Picture, I thought that if there were any issues that I had with my body and weight...I had let myself go. But then, the universe came knocking at my door and said, 'Hello, I am still here and there are things about yourself that you still need to accept'. It is not easy to be told by everyone...'OMG! You have lost weight, or you have put on weight, why don't you exercise'. The comment is, after all, always about weight loss or gain. I feel it's none of your business. Now, it doesn't bother me, I am feeling good and happy in my space. I am back to work with a vengeance. I had to go through all this to understand what my passion means to me. Looking back, I can't imagine that I had reached a stage where I thought I would give it all up. These cycles happen and I am happy admitting that I have gone through it and I have come out stronger and happier. I was meant to go through it to accept more of myself.
You've said that you get drawn towards women-centric films? Do you feel such roles attract you?
I think it's a two-way street. I have been offered such roles since Parineeta (2005), and then Ishqiya came along (2010). With these films I was taking baby steps and it peaked with The Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani (2012). Though even in typical, commercial Hindi films, my roles always had substance. Also, I think it's a function of the times that we are living in. We were at a point where we were ready to tell these stories, so it opened up more doors for writers who had written such stories, but kept them away thinking that they will never be made. Suddenly, there was new hope, I was doing these films and they were successful. After that, some of these films didn't work, but it was not that my choices had changed.
The 50's and 60's had some impactful films driven by women. We often tend to forget that because of the dearth of such subjects that followed...
Yes, that's why it is called the Golden Era of cinema. Though often in those films, you still revered the sacrificial role of women. In that sense, there has been a change; there is no glorification or vilification anymore. In today's movies, you see women as humans who have flaws, limitations and ambitions. Earlier, there were few like that, but the rest largely derived their identity from the men around them. Now, we have identities of our own and that is getting translated on screen.
You broke down while working in Kahaani 2. Do the characters you play affect you very deeply?
I have come to accept that I am intense and I don't know film. I need to do other things like travel, read, watch films and laze around. I only do films that I am completely convinced about. So whether the film works or not, I don't regret it later.
Five hits in a row, and you were the toast of Bollywood. Then it came crashing down with a series of flops. Given how intense you are, is failure also much harder to deal with?
Yes, the heartbreak is so much more, especially after seeing such a high. After a string of successful films people told me, 'You have the midas touch. How do you choose such scripts?' I have done lengthy talks and sessions on that...and then these films started failing (laughs!). I thought to myself...I hope I didn't give these talks too early in my life. It was devastating. I went through a roller coaster, also because I was going through health issues. Generally, when you are physically low, everything else gets magnified. When Ghanchakkar failed, I felt that I had personally failed my husband Siddharth (Roy Kapur) as his company had produced it and it was our first film post marriage. Initially, I didn't accept it, I kept saying...kal collections accha ho jayega. Then Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Bobby Jasoos followed. People told me that the audience wanted to see more of me in women-centric films, but Bobby Jasoos was that.
Did this phase compel you to rethink your choices?
Before Hamari Adhuri Kahani (HAK), (Mahesh) Bhatt saab called me and said, 'I have some concerns that your films haven't worked post marriage'. I told him there is nothing I can do about that, and I have no qualms if he chose to cast someone else. Incidentally, I had gone to speak to him about leaving the film because of my health issues, and when he expressed his concern, I thought it was universe's way of saying this isn't working out. That was a tough day for me, as I came home and opted out of Sujoy's film, too. I told Bhatt saab, 'I don't regret being married, and I don't know why the films haven't worked. To me, it is not because I am a married woman, but because the films failed. If that's the perception, I don't want you to carry that baggage.' I am so glad that he was blatantly honest. It made me question if there was some truth to this myth of married actresses in Bollywood. When I looked around me, I saw that Kareena (Kapoor Khan) had just delivered a hit in a typically commercial film. Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan) had also been signed on for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, so this couldn't be a measure. Sometimes you feel that it doesn't matter how much you have achieved, one failure and you are back to square one.
But you went ahead and did HAK...
Bhatt saab told me that he had written the script for me and he wouldn't do the film with anybody else. He also told me, 'Keep the script. Even at 50 if you want, you can get some director to make this'. However, he had another concern - he wanted me to lose weight. I said I couldn't promise that as I was going through a health issue. I am someone who enjoys exercising and eating right, but my body had changed. For three-and-a-half years I was being medicated for a condition which had messed with my system completely. When I went off the medication, it was like a boomerang. I told him that I would walk out of his office with as much respect, but I couldn't take the pressure of him wanting his leading lady to look lighter. I was sure that I wasn't going to go under the knife, or do liposuction. After having achieved so much, you are eventually judged on the basis of your body. And poor body of mine...how much judgement and criticism it has gone through. And I am not talking in respect to my conversation with Bhatt saab, but the general perception of people. I had reached a stage where I said that I don't want to be judged anymore, so if it means not doing a role, it is okay. I feel desirable, but if there is a certain standard of desirability I don't fit into, I can't help it. HAK got delayed due to Emraan Hashmi's son's health and I ended up doing the film. I will always appreciate that Bhatt saab was brutally honest with me - that's Mahesh Bhatt for you. Even today, I can't bear to see Bobby Jasoos, as I was at my lowest point. It reminds me of a time in my life when I was not feeling good about myself. And today, it's not like my situation has changed, my attitude has. I'm back to accepting and loving myself.
So after HAK, you decided to take a break...
I took a break to think if I wanted to continue doing what I was doing. Since I was 11, I only wanted to act, and suddenly I felt that I was losing my dream. I was unsure about the one passion I lived for. On the last day of HAK shoot (and no one knows this) I told my family that I was not going to get back to work for a while. I started refusing offers. Siddharth was confused, and my family patiently listened to me. They let me vent, cry and even bore the brunt of it. I would write my thoughts down, sometimes shred it to pieces, too. I was just purging all the angst and anger (there was a lot of it) out of my system, it was difficult. I wasn't convinced about the perception of married actresses in our industry, but I guess, Bhatt saab actually vocalised it for me. It's like your worst fear coming true. I went through a process of extricating all these thoughts out of my system. Slowly, I realised my value as an individual, woman and actor. When you get rid of all the excess baggage, you begin to accept yourself again. I am still reeling under the effect of medication that has wrecked my system. My body has changed dramatically.
During The Dirty Picture, it was a revelation to see everyone applaud you for putting on weight and flaunting it with such abandon for a role. Then quickly people started bodyshaming and criticising you for the same weight...
That's right! If you put on weight for a role, everyone says... 'Arre wah, what an actor!' Then they bring you down for the same thing. After The Dirty Picture, I thought that if there were any issues that I had with my body and weight...I had let myself go. But then, the universe came knocking at my door and said, 'Hello, I am still here and there are things about yourself that you still need to accept'. It is not easy to be told by everyone...'OMG! You have lost weight, or you have put on weight, why don't you exercise'. The comment is, after all, always about weight loss or gain. I feel it's none of your business. Now, it doesn't bother me, I am feeling good and happy in my space. I am back to work with a vengeance. I had to go through all this to understand what my passion means to me. Looking back, I can't imagine that I had reached a stage where I thought I would give it all up. These cycles happen and I am happy admitting that I have gone through it and I have come out stronger and happier. I was meant to go through it to accept more of myself.
We don't like talking about Partition and how freedom came through-Vidya Balan
8:00 AM
Vidya Balan on why we like to celebrate Independence but skip the painful memories of 1947, the gender politics of power play, and how even the madame of a brothel the role she's playing in her next, set during the Partition can be a feminist
Anshul Chaturvedi (BOMBAY TIMES; August 15, 2016)
Did you know that the team
of your next film was recently shooting on the very highway in
Bulandshahar where the infamous gangrape happened?
I wasn't part of that shoot but that's eerie.
The campaign you are doing for the government - building toilets in each home in rural India - is in a sense a women's rights issue. Half the crimes in villages happen when the girl is a mile away from her home.
Absolutely. From whatever I have read, a lot of rapes happen when girls go out to defecate in the open - early mornings, late nights. It's so depraved, even the thought of it. It's just sick. That's why the government is focusing on getting the message across. And in my experience, I think the awareness has really spread. Everyone is talking about building toilets. But I get conflicting reports from people, and I think mindsets have not changed and there are infrastructural issues.
I was tying three things together - the shoot on the Bulandshahar highway, the cause you have taken up, and the role you are playing in your next film, which is of the madame of a brothel. The police says that 90 per cent of crimes against women are within the house. So, while we look at brothels as this exploited area, sometimes you might think that the girls there are safer than some in their homes. But the middle-class India is so moralistic about what happens in an 'immoral' place like that, and so quick to cover up what happens inside homes.
Absolutely, which is why most child sex abuse perpetrators are within the family. Most of the times, within the family, it is so difficult to believe that this is even possible. The debate of legalisation of prostitution has been going on for centuries. Having said that, none of those prostitutes are doing it out of choice. They are doing it out of lack of choice. Yes it is transactional, but I don't think it is a fair deal. What comes to them is very miniscule. So, in that sense it is exploitative, but it is not either or. I don't think one is a lesser evil than the other. It (prostitution) is more open so there is no pretense about it. Finally, whether war or rape, it is all about appropriating another person's space. The physical, bodily space that you occupy is your space. And even that gets invaded, someone's mindspace. Yes, evils are happening within homes and people probably find it more difficult to talk about because the perpetrator is a family member. I read about this girl from Dubai, who was being abused by her father and the mother didn't know at all. When she got to know, she made sure that the father didn't know that she knew about it, and she managed to get her daughter to Mumbai, and filed a case. But she knew that would mean that she was also alienating her side of the family. Ki apne pati ke baare mein chup bhi toh baith sakti thi, ya talaq le sakti thi, case karne ki kya zaroorat thi.
From Meena Kumari to Rekha onwards, we have innumerable movies on the tawaif and the kotha. But we will never make a movie on incest. Is it because the 'it's all about the family' track breaks when you do movies like that?
I think these are the truths that everybody wants to run away from. Our films are not as aspirational as they used to be, up to the 90s or early 2000s. It is less escapist now, but you still don't want to be confronted with that reality in those two hours. Things that make you really uncomfortable. I had this friend in college, who I felt was being abused by her father. But I couldn't get myself to ask her that directly. Because you also feel like you are crossing a line. What if it is a figment of your imagination, because it is so blasphemous. The very idea of it is so indigestible. Much later, when I spoke to some other friend, she also said that she always felt the same. Because the way she spoke about her father was very, very strange. God knows where she is and I hope she is okay.
Neither television, nor cinema, not even documentaries, nothing takes up this topic at all.
So, you know, all sorts of things are happening. Gender politics is very complicated. Someone was telling me about this case in the corporate world. There is so much awareness about sexual harassment, but there is also a very thin line. You can say anything, and it can be held against you. There was this person who got thrown out of a job because he said 'I want to jump into bed now.' And he meant that he is really sleepy. And the girl had a bone to pick with him. Now, I don't know what the truth is, but I have known this person for a really long time. And you can sense things in people. You know instinctively how a person is. Though in the case of child sex abuse, a lot of times you can't even believe how a person can do something like this.
While on one hand, women's legislation has come to quite strong levels where men are often held to be guilty until proved innocent, on the other hand, what happens inside closed doors, no matter how gross it is, there is a certain degree of social immunity. In the corporate domain, you put a finger on somebody, to push someone away in a crowd, and suddenly it becomes molestation. Two very different lines being followed.
I might sound absolutely politically incorrect when I say this, even if it is tilted in the favour of women, finally it is tilted in the favour of women! There will be times when it is misused, but at least that voice is being heard. Unfairly sometimes, but it is high time. It is high, high, high time.
Sometimes when people say that Delhi is the rape capital, that there are so many rapes happening in India, and pehle toh aisa nahi tha, and I'm like, don't kid yourselves. That's always been the case. Today, because of the infiltration of media, and social media, it is being reported more. When in France that guy drove that truck on the pavement over people, there were people taking videos. The reality becomes that much more immediate for you. Now, it is not just the written words, that can be interpreted in any way, but those images are constantly on social media. Then you feel like ki pehle toh aisa nahi hota tha, aaj kal kya kya hone laga hai. Aaj kal kya kya hone laga hai nahi, aaj kal at least woh baatein ho rahi hai. The big advantage is that people know that they are not alone anymore. And that gives them the strength to come out.
How much is the film industry equal today? Because Bollywood is always pitched as a structure where the heroine is priority B and the hero runs the system. We are beginning to talk about how much a heroine is being paid as a sort of an index, but is that a true reflection?
While I definitely think that equal pay is something that needs to be arrived at across the board, I don't think that that is the only measure. Look at the kind of films that are being made these days. I feel that, again, out of a 100 films - and I am not saying male-centric or women-centric, that's not the point - at least there are 10 films where the woman has something substantial to do, from a time where you could take the woman out but the story would still go on.While we have had the golden period and we have had women playing strong roles, but I believe that in those times you still eulogised the sacrificial woman. I love Mother India, but it was a mother who sacrificed her son. The pain and suffering were the definitive characteristics of the women.
Now you can't have songs like Na Jao Saiyyan... They won't work.
Correct. Today, that dependence on the man to derive your identity has lessened in films.
So maybe The Dirty Picture and Queen are the two templates?
Yeah, definitely. Even, Piku, for example. She just decided that she didn't want to be married. So what if the only man in her life, who she focused all her energies on, had passed on? That didn't mean that she will hold on to the man she next saw. I think the grammar, the idiom is changing. And even there are some apologetic attempts at the so-called women-centric films, but at least that is happening. Do gaali bak diye, chaar thappad laga diye, toh lagata hai ki empowerment ho gaya hai. But if that is the symbol of empowerment, even if not at a deeper level, it is okay. When I did Hamari Adhuri Kahani, I didn't want to limit myself to a certain belief system. My work isn't an extension of my beliefs. I actually had to grapple with it. If I was in her place, I would have kicked the man back where it hurt the most and said, 'Dare you raise your hand on me. Who do you think you are?' But it is not Vidya Balan that I am playing in the film. So, that's when I have to sometimes step back and say that the character is not me. And not everyone does bagawat. I cannot define what it should be for another woman.
So there is Hamari Adhuri Kahani and there is Gone Girl!
Exactly! They are two ends of the spectrum, but they are both realities, especially in our country.
Would you have wanted to play the role in Gone Girl?
Oh, I would have loved to! I saw it and I was like 'Oh My God!'
Is that closer to Vidya?
(Laughs) I don't think I am very violent, but yes, that sort a woman excites me. As a person, I don't think I would give into so much manipulation. I would say it as it is. Though I loved the film. And someone fed me the thought that it could be Kahaani 2. When I did Ishqiya, I remember even today the number of women who told me that they loved the fact that she manipulated these two men to get where she wanted.
That's a popular sentiment today the girl playing the guy back, beating him via the mind.
Yes! I had lots of people saying (in the context of Ishqiya), 'Achha hua jala diya usko. Wahi hona tha uske saath. Dekho kaise daga diya'.
If you go back to Mirch Masala and that moment of mirchi jhonk, that sort of empowerment...
That's the thing. We can't decide for ourselves what is empowerment. Empowerment is also relative. Coming from the background that I do, where I was brought up to believe that I am an individual first and nothing can hold me back if I wanted to do something, I look at things very differently from a girl who has had to stand up every time an elderly male in the family came in or who was said ki tumhara bhai school ja sakta hai, tum nahi, or when she was made to eat after all the male members were finished, even if she was dying of hunger. So I can't decide that she has to react the same way that I do.
Given the kind of role you are currently working on, a question - would somebody who runs a brothel be a feminist?
Actually, someone who runs a brothel could very well be a feminist. We see the woman in the terms of a body, probably not even so much as a prostitute, but as the madame of a brothel, you understand that it is beyond the body. So you are not just defining the person in the terms of the body anymore. It's not just merely exploitative. She is not just picking up girls to sell them. I think she is someone who knows that I have the right over my body and these girls have the right over their bodies, and they have landed up here because of some majboori, but now that I am here, I am going to call the shots. What brought you there is unfortunate, but now that you are here, you call the shots. So, she is someone who sees it as just business, there is no moral judgement to it. It is very interesting because it is set during the Partition, and it is juxtaposed against the partition of the body. Because you are saying that half the brothel belongs to Hindustan and half to Pakistan. But this is my house! So are you going to cut half of me? To my mind, she is what we could call, for lack of a better word, an extremely evolved human being. Who comes, who goes, how much they pay, whether the house will finally belong to Hindustan or Pakistan - all of this is something that she decides. She says that my body is my space, you don't have a right over it. Similarly, my house is my space, and you can't run a line through it. So there are lots of semi-political undercurrents and gender politics. She will also manipulate. She knows how to use and manipulate men. She knows how to charm them, how to control them.
When I saw the original Bengali film (Rajkahini), there were lots of things that I hadn't thought about actively and forget articulating, but suddenly I said, 'Oh my God! It is about space being appropriated.' You process all this and it comes to you later, but at the feeling level, I was just so moved by the fact that she would just not let anyone else decide for her.
She could be a mother sometimes, yes, she could be a seductress, could be exploitative, she is a businesswoman sometimes, she is manipulative sometime, she is cajoling sometimes, she is charming sometimes. She is all of that. But she is what she decided she wants to be.
When we celebrate the anniversary of our Independence, we tend to conveniently forget that it is also the anniversary of our Partition, of massive bloodshed. And when there is Partition, when there is war, inevitably, the women are, in greater number, the losing side. Because they are abused both ways. Even if they are not killed, it doesn't mean they will get away, they will be caught up in the power game.
I was reading The Other Side Of Silence by Urvashi Butalia and that's exactly what she said. What about those women who didn't manage to go to the other side on time and probably settled with men from other communities? Sometimes they were forcibly still taken back. For example, Muslim women were taken to Pakistan, even though their families were here, Hindu women were brought back here and their families were not accepting of them, because they had lived with Muslim men. And there was rape and abduction... It's about women who really had absolutely no voice in this. It was only the men who were deciding whether to cross over or not. So, yeah, we don't talk about all this, because freedom is something to be celebrated.
Ours is still a culture where the realities are very hard. There was a flower seller in Marine Drive, I often buy flowers from these kids, and this one girl was quoting a very high price. And I was like, 'Kyun itna bhav bol rahi ho?' And she said, 'Kyun didi, aapke picture ka ticket 200 rupaye ka hai, hum jaake dekhte hai na fir bhi? Pehle toh 150 ka tha lekin hum fir bhi jaake dekhte hai na?' I knew that for those two hours that she goes in to the theatre, she should just be able to feel. And I am not therefore saying that there should be mindless entertainment films, those are also being made extremely well and are doing well. Though I am not capable of doing those films.
So, I don't think anyone would want to remember how it came through. Partition was extremely painful for people and I don't think they want to remember the day as its anniversary.
I wasn't part of that shoot but that's eerie.
The campaign you are doing for the government - building toilets in each home in rural India - is in a sense a women's rights issue. Half the crimes in villages happen when the girl is a mile away from her home.
Absolutely. From whatever I have read, a lot of rapes happen when girls go out to defecate in the open - early mornings, late nights. It's so depraved, even the thought of it. It's just sick. That's why the government is focusing on getting the message across. And in my experience, I think the awareness has really spread. Everyone is talking about building toilets. But I get conflicting reports from people, and I think mindsets have not changed and there are infrastructural issues.
I was tying three things together - the shoot on the Bulandshahar highway, the cause you have taken up, and the role you are playing in your next film, which is of the madame of a brothel. The police says that 90 per cent of crimes against women are within the house. So, while we look at brothels as this exploited area, sometimes you might think that the girls there are safer than some in their homes. But the middle-class India is so moralistic about what happens in an 'immoral' place like that, and so quick to cover up what happens inside homes.
Absolutely, which is why most child sex abuse perpetrators are within the family. Most of the times, within the family, it is so difficult to believe that this is even possible. The debate of legalisation of prostitution has been going on for centuries. Having said that, none of those prostitutes are doing it out of choice. They are doing it out of lack of choice. Yes it is transactional, but I don't think it is a fair deal. What comes to them is very miniscule. So, in that sense it is exploitative, but it is not either or. I don't think one is a lesser evil than the other. It (prostitution) is more open so there is no pretense about it. Finally, whether war or rape, it is all about appropriating another person's space. The physical, bodily space that you occupy is your space. And even that gets invaded, someone's mindspace. Yes, evils are happening within homes and people probably find it more difficult to talk about because the perpetrator is a family member. I read about this girl from Dubai, who was being abused by her father and the mother didn't know at all. When she got to know, she made sure that the father didn't know that she knew about it, and she managed to get her daughter to Mumbai, and filed a case. But she knew that would mean that she was also alienating her side of the family. Ki apne pati ke baare mein chup bhi toh baith sakti thi, ya talaq le sakti thi, case karne ki kya zaroorat thi.
From Meena Kumari to Rekha onwards, we have innumerable movies on the tawaif and the kotha. But we will never make a movie on incest. Is it because the 'it's all about the family' track breaks when you do movies like that?
I think these are the truths that everybody wants to run away from. Our films are not as aspirational as they used to be, up to the 90s or early 2000s. It is less escapist now, but you still don't want to be confronted with that reality in those two hours. Things that make you really uncomfortable. I had this friend in college, who I felt was being abused by her father. But I couldn't get myself to ask her that directly. Because you also feel like you are crossing a line. What if it is a figment of your imagination, because it is so blasphemous. The very idea of it is so indigestible. Much later, when I spoke to some other friend, she also said that she always felt the same. Because the way she spoke about her father was very, very strange. God knows where she is and I hope she is okay.
Neither television, nor cinema, not even documentaries, nothing takes up this topic at all.
So, you know, all sorts of things are happening. Gender politics is very complicated. Someone was telling me about this case in the corporate world. There is so much awareness about sexual harassment, but there is also a very thin line. You can say anything, and it can be held against you. There was this person who got thrown out of a job because he said 'I want to jump into bed now.' And he meant that he is really sleepy. And the girl had a bone to pick with him. Now, I don't know what the truth is, but I have known this person for a really long time. And you can sense things in people. You know instinctively how a person is. Though in the case of child sex abuse, a lot of times you can't even believe how a person can do something like this.
While on one hand, women's legislation has come to quite strong levels where men are often held to be guilty until proved innocent, on the other hand, what happens inside closed doors, no matter how gross it is, there is a certain degree of social immunity. In the corporate domain, you put a finger on somebody, to push someone away in a crowd, and suddenly it becomes molestation. Two very different lines being followed.
I might sound absolutely politically incorrect when I say this, even if it is tilted in the favour of women, finally it is tilted in the favour of women! There will be times when it is misused, but at least that voice is being heard. Unfairly sometimes, but it is high time. It is high, high, high time.
Sometimes when people say that Delhi is the rape capital, that there are so many rapes happening in India, and pehle toh aisa nahi tha, and I'm like, don't kid yourselves. That's always been the case. Today, because of the infiltration of media, and social media, it is being reported more. When in France that guy drove that truck on the pavement over people, there were people taking videos. The reality becomes that much more immediate for you. Now, it is not just the written words, that can be interpreted in any way, but those images are constantly on social media. Then you feel like ki pehle toh aisa nahi hota tha, aaj kal kya kya hone laga hai. Aaj kal kya kya hone laga hai nahi, aaj kal at least woh baatein ho rahi hai. The big advantage is that people know that they are not alone anymore. And that gives them the strength to come out.
How much is the film industry equal today? Because Bollywood is always pitched as a structure where the heroine is priority B and the hero runs the system. We are beginning to talk about how much a heroine is being paid as a sort of an index, but is that a true reflection?
While I definitely think that equal pay is something that needs to be arrived at across the board, I don't think that that is the only measure. Look at the kind of films that are being made these days. I feel that, again, out of a 100 films - and I am not saying male-centric or women-centric, that's not the point - at least there are 10 films where the woman has something substantial to do, from a time where you could take the woman out but the story would still go on.While we have had the golden period and we have had women playing strong roles, but I believe that in those times you still eulogised the sacrificial woman. I love Mother India, but it was a mother who sacrificed her son. The pain and suffering were the definitive characteristics of the women.
Now you can't have songs like Na Jao Saiyyan... They won't work.
Correct. Today, that dependence on the man to derive your identity has lessened in films.
So maybe The Dirty Picture and Queen are the two templates?
Yeah, definitely. Even, Piku, for example. She just decided that she didn't want to be married. So what if the only man in her life, who she focused all her energies on, had passed on? That didn't mean that she will hold on to the man she next saw. I think the grammar, the idiom is changing. And even there are some apologetic attempts at the so-called women-centric films, but at least that is happening. Do gaali bak diye, chaar thappad laga diye, toh lagata hai ki empowerment ho gaya hai. But if that is the symbol of empowerment, even if not at a deeper level, it is okay. When I did Hamari Adhuri Kahani, I didn't want to limit myself to a certain belief system. My work isn't an extension of my beliefs. I actually had to grapple with it. If I was in her place, I would have kicked the man back where it hurt the most and said, 'Dare you raise your hand on me. Who do you think you are?' But it is not Vidya Balan that I am playing in the film. So, that's when I have to sometimes step back and say that the character is not me. And not everyone does bagawat. I cannot define what it should be for another woman.
So there is Hamari Adhuri Kahani and there is Gone Girl!
Exactly! They are two ends of the spectrum, but they are both realities, especially in our country.
Would you have wanted to play the role in Gone Girl?
Oh, I would have loved to! I saw it and I was like 'Oh My God!'
Is that closer to Vidya?
(Laughs) I don't think I am very violent, but yes, that sort a woman excites me. As a person, I don't think I would give into so much manipulation. I would say it as it is. Though I loved the film. And someone fed me the thought that it could be Kahaani 2. When I did Ishqiya, I remember even today the number of women who told me that they loved the fact that she manipulated these two men to get where she wanted.
That's a popular sentiment today the girl playing the guy back, beating him via the mind.
Yes! I had lots of people saying (in the context of Ishqiya), 'Achha hua jala diya usko. Wahi hona tha uske saath. Dekho kaise daga diya'.
If you go back to Mirch Masala and that moment of mirchi jhonk, that sort of empowerment...
That's the thing. We can't decide for ourselves what is empowerment. Empowerment is also relative. Coming from the background that I do, where I was brought up to believe that I am an individual first and nothing can hold me back if I wanted to do something, I look at things very differently from a girl who has had to stand up every time an elderly male in the family came in or who was said ki tumhara bhai school ja sakta hai, tum nahi, or when she was made to eat after all the male members were finished, even if she was dying of hunger. So I can't decide that she has to react the same way that I do.
Given the kind of role you are currently working on, a question - would somebody who runs a brothel be a feminist?
Actually, someone who runs a brothel could very well be a feminist. We see the woman in the terms of a body, probably not even so much as a prostitute, but as the madame of a brothel, you understand that it is beyond the body. So you are not just defining the person in the terms of the body anymore. It's not just merely exploitative. She is not just picking up girls to sell them. I think she is someone who knows that I have the right over my body and these girls have the right over their bodies, and they have landed up here because of some majboori, but now that I am here, I am going to call the shots. What brought you there is unfortunate, but now that you are here, you call the shots. So, she is someone who sees it as just business, there is no moral judgement to it. It is very interesting because it is set during the Partition, and it is juxtaposed against the partition of the body. Because you are saying that half the brothel belongs to Hindustan and half to Pakistan. But this is my house! So are you going to cut half of me? To my mind, she is what we could call, for lack of a better word, an extremely evolved human being. Who comes, who goes, how much they pay, whether the house will finally belong to Hindustan or Pakistan - all of this is something that she decides. She says that my body is my space, you don't have a right over it. Similarly, my house is my space, and you can't run a line through it. So there are lots of semi-political undercurrents and gender politics. She will also manipulate. She knows how to use and manipulate men. She knows how to charm them, how to control them.
When I saw the original Bengali film (Rajkahini), there were lots of things that I hadn't thought about actively and forget articulating, but suddenly I said, 'Oh my God! It is about space being appropriated.' You process all this and it comes to you later, but at the feeling level, I was just so moved by the fact that she would just not let anyone else decide for her.
She could be a mother sometimes, yes, she could be a seductress, could be exploitative, she is a businesswoman sometimes, she is manipulative sometime, she is cajoling sometimes, she is charming sometimes. She is all of that. But she is what she decided she wants to be.
When we celebrate the anniversary of our Independence, we tend to conveniently forget that it is also the anniversary of our Partition, of massive bloodshed. And when there is Partition, when there is war, inevitably, the women are, in greater number, the losing side. Because they are abused both ways. Even if they are not killed, it doesn't mean they will get away, they will be caught up in the power game.
I was reading The Other Side Of Silence by Urvashi Butalia and that's exactly what she said. What about those women who didn't manage to go to the other side on time and probably settled with men from other communities? Sometimes they were forcibly still taken back. For example, Muslim women were taken to Pakistan, even though their families were here, Hindu women were brought back here and their families were not accepting of them, because they had lived with Muslim men. And there was rape and abduction... It's about women who really had absolutely no voice in this. It was only the men who were deciding whether to cross over or not. So, yeah, we don't talk about all this, because freedom is something to be celebrated.
Ours is still a culture where the realities are very hard. There was a flower seller in Marine Drive, I often buy flowers from these kids, and this one girl was quoting a very high price. And I was like, 'Kyun itna bhav bol rahi ho?' And she said, 'Kyun didi, aapke picture ka ticket 200 rupaye ka hai, hum jaake dekhte hai na fir bhi? Pehle toh 150 ka tha lekin hum fir bhi jaake dekhte hai na?' I knew that for those two hours that she goes in to the theatre, she should just be able to feel. And I am not therefore saying that there should be mindless entertainment films, those are also being made extremely well and are doing well. Though I am not capable of doing those films.
So, I don't think anyone would want to remember how it came through. Partition was extremely painful for people and I don't think they want to remember the day as its anniversary.
Bollywood directors want release of foreign films to be limited, to save local film industry
9:12 AM
Amit Karn (MID-DAY; June 26, 2016)
Truth is stranger than fiction. Bollywood films are facing tough competition from Hollywood films on their own soil. Several filmmakers, like Mukesh Bhatt, have sounded off an alarm to save Hindi films from dwindling box office collections. It is well known that Hollywood filmmakers and studios work in a monopolistic way. They have realised the importance of the Indian market and sometimes, even release their films here first.
Big bite
The collections of Hollywood films have multiplied in India in the last five years. Initially, they would only play at 400 screens across the country, now it is over 1,500 screens. For instance, Jurassic World (2015) released in over 65 countries worldwide. In the US, it released in only 440 theatres, while overseas, it was running in over 800 theatres. In India alone, it was released in 2,300 screens across the country. No big Bollywood films released a week earlier or a week after after its release. Mohit Suri’s Hamari Adhuri Kahani, starring Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi, took the risk, but paid the price at the box office. In another instance, in 2015, Fast & Furious 7 got double the screens that Detective Byomkesh Bakshy got. While Fast and Furious 7 got 2,800 screens, Byomkesh got 1, 240.
Says Vikram Bhatt, “They have aced the genres of animation, sci-fi and action, due to which the multiplexes favour them. This is not a wrong move as they are raking in the moolah. But the biggest impact is on small budget films. During the festive season, it is difficult to procure release dates as the Khans and Kapoors dominate. During the summer months, they release animation films to target the vacation crowd. The IPL takes care of the rest as filmmakers do not want to release their films during the cricket season. So where do the small filmmakers go?”
Good run
Saurabh Saxena, COO, Carnival Cinemas says, “Our earnings from Bollywood and Hollywood are the same. But what is happening is that Hollywood films are now running successfully even in the second week. For instance, The Jungle Book did phenomenal business in the second and third week. It was a similar situation during Captain America and The X Men.”
Target audience
According to film distributors, Hollywood is making a planned effort to target India. They are releasing their films here before the US. The Jungle Book released worldwide on April 15, but in India it hit theatres on April 8. Commenting about the scenario, Amitabh Bachchan says, “I had started ABCL in 1995 and at that time I had said that we need to look after our production houses. The Americans are coming. In 1990, when I was in New York, I met a Hollywood studio head. This man, in a mere 30 minutes, told me the history of the Hindi film industry. I was shocked. He told me to look after our house as the Yankees are coming.”
Irrfan, who has seen the best of Hollywood and Bollywood, says, “Earlier, we didn’t had to worry about such a situation. If we do not make films that are inspired by our roots, we will not be able to take them on.” Adds Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star India, “It is the survival of the fittest. In the marketplace, only what is really good, sells. For example, Neerja and Kapoor And Sons were our films and ran successfully in theatres for several weeks. The audience has the right to choose what is best for them. If we enforce protective policies, we are stealing the rights of the audience to choose what they want to watch.”
Chinese model
Filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt counters Vijay Singh’s logic. The veteran says, “In China, only 35 foreign films can release in a year. This is a government directive. This is the case even though there are 50,000 screens. We have only 8,000 screens. Healthy competition will happen when there is a fight among equal talents. Their films have a budget of 500 to 1,200 crores, but our films have a meagre budget of barely 50-60 crore. How can we match their quality? Unfortunately, the government is not taking action on this.”
Cine historian Jai Prakash Chouksey says, “In Bollywood, there is no unity among filmmakers. Big stars get their dates and number of screens. The small budget filmmakers are fighting among themselves to get an audience. The late Indira Gandhi had introduced a bill to limit Hollywood releases. She had the foresight and vision even in the 1970s. But since then, no other government bothered to do anything.”
Hamari Adhuri Kahani is one of the toughest songs that I have ever sung-Arijit Singh
7:50 AM
Debarati Sen (BOMBAY TIMES; March 17, 2016)
The noticeable nuances of
his voice, his firm hold over Indian classical music and his modest
disposition has propelled Arijit Singh to the top echelon of Bollywood
playback singing. The 28-year-old, who has bagged three nominations at
The Times Of India Film Awards 2016 (TOIFA) for Chunar (ABCD2), Aayat
(Bajirao Mastani) and the title track of Hamari Adhuri Kahani tells BT
how each of these songs are different and motivated him to push his
boundaries as an artiste. Excerpts from the interview...
How do you perceive each of these tracks?
All the three songs have a melodious and emotional approach. Chunar is close to my heart because it is about Ma. I was not sure how to deliver it and it took me one week to understand how to approach this song, but composer Sachin (of Sachin-Jigar fame) pushed me and one day we cracked it.
Hamari adhuri kahani is one of the toughest songs that I have ever sung. Its melody was strong. I loved the first line - it was an epic tune and I kept playing it on the piano. It took me a lot of time to master it, but we weren't sure after we heard the recording. I even suggested that the makers should rope in a senior singer. However, producer Mukesh Bhatt and director Mohit Suri came and briefed me about it for hours. Finally, it took us two hours to record the track.
The third song Aayat is immensely memorable. When I was practising for Lal ishq (Goliyon Ki Raasleela RamLeela), Sanjay ji (Bhansali) said that he would give me something similar for his next movie. I was waiting for Aayat but I finally got it at a time when I was busy with another number. However, I did a session for five to six hours, edited it and sent it to him. He loved it. And, I would like to thank TOIFA for nominating me for these songs.
Many singers are now composers. Do you see yourself as one too?
I wanted to be a music director and started concentrating on programming. But after meeting Pritamda I realised being a composer is the toughest job in Mumbai and I would never become a composer.
You had done a Bengali video Bojhena shey bojhena. Have you ever given acting a thought?
That was a fluke. I'm bad in front of the camera. However, if someone gave me a small role in a film with two dialogues and one scene, I'd do it. (laughs)
How do you perceive each of these tracks?
All the three songs have a melodious and emotional approach. Chunar is close to my heart because it is about Ma. I was not sure how to deliver it and it took me one week to understand how to approach this song, but composer Sachin (of Sachin-Jigar fame) pushed me and one day we cracked it.
Hamari adhuri kahani is one of the toughest songs that I have ever sung. Its melody was strong. I loved the first line - it was an epic tune and I kept playing it on the piano. It took me a lot of time to master it, but we weren't sure after we heard the recording. I even suggested that the makers should rope in a senior singer. However, producer Mukesh Bhatt and director Mohit Suri came and briefed me about it for hours. Finally, it took us two hours to record the track.
The third song Aayat is immensely memorable. When I was practising for Lal ishq (Goliyon Ki Raasleela RamLeela), Sanjay ji (Bhansali) said that he would give me something similar for his next movie. I was waiting for Aayat but I finally got it at a time when I was busy with another number. However, I did a session for five to six hours, edited it and sent it to him. He loved it. And, I would like to thank TOIFA for nominating me for these songs.
Many singers are now composers. Do you see yourself as one too?
I wanted to be a music director and started concentrating on programming. But after meeting Pritamda I realised being a composer is the toughest job in Mumbai and I would never become a composer.
You had done a Bengali video Bojhena shey bojhena. Have you ever given acting a thought?
That was a fluke. I'm bad in front of the camera. However, if someone gave me a small role in a film with two dialogues and one scene, I'd do it. (laughs)
Staging a good theatre experience is not as frightening as movies can be-Mahesh Bhatt
10:23 AM
Based on his mother's life, Mahesh Bhatt has scripted a forthcoming play. The filmmaker talks about his liberating discovery of theatre
Reema Gehi (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 6, 2015)
It's no sort of a trifling exaggeration when veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt draws an analogy between him and a spider. Settling down on a massage chair, at his office in Linking Road, he explains, "When the spider creates a web, it takes out the raw material from his own gut. The objective of the spider is not to get marvellous responses from the critics, but to catch a fly. Similarly, man is memory. I have nothing but my memory. When I create a story, I write to grab an audience,"
The 67-year-old first borrowed vignettes from his life to make his 1982-film, Arth, which was a semi-autobiographical look at his extramarital relationship with actor Parveen Babi. Saaransh (1984) was influenced by his life growing up in Shivaji Park, Janam (1985) spoke about his illegitimacy, Daddy (1989) dealt with the ghost of his alcoholism, while Zakhm (1998) revolved around the relationship between his Muslim mother and Hindu father, against the backdrop of the 1992-1993 Mumbai riots. "There's nothing like a cathartic experience. Inhale life, exhale films," he breathes. "Having said, I don't have a sense of proprietorship over my ideas once I hand the script to the directors. It's not what I write; it's about what they read."
Director Mohit Suri read Hamari Adhuri Kahani and created his interpretation of what, in Bhatt's his words, "has the heartbeat of my mother". The film wasn't lauded by the critics, but has enjoyed "an unusual journey". It was first explored as a book, then as a film and now a play of the same name — dramatised and directed by Delhi-based theatre practitioner Happy Ranajit — to be staged on December 26 at the NCPA. "Mohit wanted to explore the space of what is called 'the traditional Indian woman' who has been kind of bleeped out from the radar of mainstream cinematic space," he shares. "That's when I revisited the lives of my parents — my father, my stepmother and my mother, and excavated a story from their lives."
Bhatt came across writer Suhrita Sengupta who expressed her desire to write a novel of the story, which was a precursor to the film, starring Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan. "While the crew was still working on the post production of the film, Happy adapted the book into a play," he says.
Amongst the plays he has been associated with, Bhatt counts, The Last Salute, which was staged in 2011 as the most "gratifying". The play is based on Iraqi journalist Muntadhar Al-Zaidi's book, The Last Salute to President Bush, and narrated the series of events that led the scribe to hurl shoes at former US president George W Bush. Bhatt opened the play by reading out the letter he wrote to the White House against the US intervention in Iraq. "It's a contemporary political play, which talks about things which are not recorded by the mainstream media. It locks horns with the mightiest power on this planet," he muses over Al-Zaidi's account. "This narrative is still fresh in the consciousness and even more topical than it ever was, because of the ISIS and what's going on concerning them. This play is a voice of the underdog. It marked my first foray into theatre," he says, before quickly correcting himself, "Or maybe, that wasn't my first."
Bhatt's formative years in films were shaped by Satyadev Dubey. The legendary theatre maker wrote the dialogues of Bhatt's very first film, Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain, about two fugitives and their relationship with a prostitute. "Dubeyji had a great impact on my psyche. It was because of him I understood the meaning of what you call 'minimalist art form'," he says. "He was a lonesome; a maverick who spoke Hindi, but had a great commitment to Marathi theatre."
It was through Dubey that Bhatt was introduced to the Chhabildas movement and enjoyed the privilege of meeting the other theatre iconoclast, Vijay Tendulkar. He even owes meeting his wife Soni Razdan to theatre. Recalling the time he watched Dubey's adaptation of Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit, Band Darwaze at Prithvi Theatre, Bhatt smiles, "That was the first time I set my eyes on her. Little did I know we would soon be married."
Watching his friend Kabir Bedi in Alyque Padamsee's Jesus Christ Superstar, back in 1974, "was something which mesmerised me. But I never considered it my medium," he says. Bhatt, who's currently in the midst of writing Aashiqui 3 with his daughter Shaheen, and may craft a film with the youngest superstar in the family, Alia, now considers theatre as a means of injecting subversive thought, which the idiom of popular cinema doesn't allow. That is the "dharma" of theatre, he says. "Besides, staging a good theatre experience is not as frightening as movies can be," he thinks. "I feel for a society, which is doomed to be governed under the boots of the power who rule us, theatre gives expression to those voices, and I have only just about woken up to it."
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