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.

Richa Shukla (BOMBAY TIMES; December 11, 2019)

Vidya Balan, who was recently in Jaipur to speak at an event, talked at length about issues related to gender, body shaming, Indian cinema, and her choice of roles.

Over the years, the national award-winning actress has come to be known for breaking stereotypes and experimenting with roles. When asked about her experience in the Hindi film industry, considered by many as male-dominated, she replied, “I don’t care whether it’s a male-dominated industry or world. I believe the world is my oyster and I have the power to achieve my dreams. That’s the faith and belief that my family has instilled in me.”

She continued, “Honestly, I didn’t set out to change or break any rules or challenge stereotypes. I followed my gut feeling. In the second or third year of my career, I knew I did not want to do the kind of work I was doing. The moment I decided that, the kind of work I like doing began to show up. The universe literally responded to my desire. I took up those roles and those films, they worked out well, and one step led to the next.”

‘AFTER HEYY BABY AND KISMAT KONNECTION, I REALISED I’M NOT A TYPICAL HEROINE’
Vidya faced a lot of criticism for her choice of films in the early years of her career. But she has no regrets. “I keep referring to Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection. While the films did very well, I faced a lot of criticism. But I still think, if not for these films, I would not be here today, because that’s how I realised that I don’t fit into the mould of a typical heroine. I had to be true to myself and be authentic. What began to happen (after these films) is that roles started getting written for me, which I am very grateful for,” she said.

‘I GOT OBSESSED WITH ELEPHANTS WHILE ON A SHOOT... EVEN WANTED TO BUY ONE’
Narrating a funny anecdote, Vidya recalled how during the shoot of Bhool Bhulaiyaa, she became obsessed with elephants and even wanted to buy one. “I got obsessed with elephants. I was shooting at a heritage property near Jaipur for Bhool Bhulaiyaa. I would pass by the Amber Fort every day and feed the elephants walking by. Then one day I called up my parents and asked them, ‘Can we buy an elephant?’ And they jokingly said, ‘Ek kaafi nahi hai kya?’,” she said, adding, “But I was so adamant. Every day I would call my parents and ask them, ‘So what do you think?’ So they stopped taking my calls for a few days. Obviously, one cannot keep an elephant in an apartment in Mumbai.”

Then the actress shared another incident involving her sister. “My elder sister Priya has always been like a mother to me. I remember I had a crush on Priya’s first boyfriend. When I got to know about their relationship, I thought I will be the sacrificial goat and I will give up my love. I felt like I have done something big.”

‘WHEN I HEARD ABOUT THE RECENT RAPE CASES, I FELT LIKE CRYING’
Vidya also talked about the issue of body shaming. Advising the women attending the event to be happy in their skin, she said, “I keep saying that The Dirty Picture was life defining for me. I had to feel sexy in it. If I did not feel it, the audience won’t feel it. I ended up getting told that I looked the sexiest in that film. The Dirty Picture helped me realise that size has nothing to do with the way you feel about yourself. No one else has anything to do with the way you feel about yourself.”

Commenting on women facing sexual atrocities in this country, Vidya said, “Let’s not behave as if it is happening for the first time. It’s just that very few cases were reported a decade ago. When I heard about the recent rape cases, there was anger and hatred. I felt like crying. We need to make our law enforcement agencies more accountable, though it’s easier said than done.”

Vidya Balan is never afraid to display her vulnerable side – a reason why she’s a top notch actor
Anuradha Choudhary (TIMES LIFE; December 10, 2017)

From a one BHK in Chembur to a sprawling sea-facing apartment in Juhu. Does it seem surreal?
We recently sold our Chembur house and that was heartbreaking. I went there and cried. For the longest time we had kept that house. But the redevelopment seems to be taking forever. Unfortunately, the building is falling apart. I used to take a bus from Chembur to come to Prithvi theatre in Juhu for my summer workshop. I was 15 then. Looking back it seems symbolic. I’d get off at the bus stop, which is right outside my present house because the Prithvi workshops were conducted in a school in Juhu Koliwada, where Asha Parekh lives. Not once did it occur to me then that I should be living here. I was happy. I know people wish for bigger houses and better cars. I’m not one of those. Which is why until seven years ago, we lived in Chembur.

When was the first time you realised you wanted to act?
I keep saying it was Madhuri Dixit’s Ek do teen (Tezaab) but I guess it started before that. Those days, while I was still in school, they used to show regional language films on Doordarshan on Sunday afternoons. I remember watching Laxmi in a Tamil film, where she plays a lawyer. There was a huge scam in the South those days where because of the reservation policy, many Brahmins claimed to belong to the scheduled caste. Laxmi claims to belong to a scheduled caste in the film and gets caught. Then I remember seeing the Malayalam movie Elli Pattayam. The movie seemed slow with nothing happening. My sister Priya painstakingly explained to me the difference between art and commercial movies then. She also explained what acting was. How it’s about your ability to express feelings and how your eyes are the most important tools while acting. I soaked in all this at the age of 11. And then there was no looking back.

When was the first time you realized you were beautiful?
Thank you for saying that but while growing up a lot of people would tell me, ‘You’ve got such a pretty face, why don’t you lose weight? It always came with the caveat of ‘why don’t you lose weight?’ I was a plump child. During my teens I was fat. But at home there were no restrictions on food. My father only wanted us to eat well. But I guess, my mother was a bit worried. As a kid she would take me for walks. She’d trick me and take me to Chembur station for grocery shopping. She’d say we’ll take a rickshaw back home. But she’d make me walk both ways. And I’d sit on the road crying, refusing to walk.

But while acting and thank God for that, I realised that beauty is as beauty does. There I wouldn’t bother about profiles. But if I had to pose for a picture or if I had to do a photo shoot or an ad film, I’d tell them to shoot me from the left.

People do call you beautiful…
Now I believe it. There was this phase when things went wrong with Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection… I’ll always be grateful to all those movies because they brought that clarity. Otherwise, I’d have failed miserably. After those movies, I ended up doing Ishqiya, Paa and No One Killed Jessica. I simply responded to my instinct. The past few years have not been great professionally because my films have not worked. But I’m in a happy space. I won’t have it any other way. I feel grateful.

Go on…
I’m not saying that I didn’t go through the angst and analysis about why they didn’t work. What was I doing differently? I kept wondering about all the things that were told to me about marriage… that it hampers your professional life... I wondered, maybe, I had made a professional mistake by getting married. However, through it all, I always knew I wanted to be with this man (Siddharth Roy Kapur).

Did you share these thoughts with Siddharth?
Yeah, of course I told him. Not that marriage was a mistake but maybe it was true that married actresses don’t do well. And he’d keep telling me it’s not whether you’re married or not married; it’s about how the films turn out. I’d tell him but I’d made the right choices. Over time, I arrived at the understanding on my own that it’s not about the right choices. Sometimes you like the idea but the script doesn’t turn out as well and sometimes even a good script does not translate into a good film. So many variables go into making a film. So when it doesn’t work you can’t look just for one reason. Around that time Kareena’s (Kapoor Khan) Singham Returns released and it was a blockbuster. So I realised it was not about being married at all. Sometimes you just look for things to blame to make sense of your disappointments. But I was meant to go through this so that I don’t ever question my decision to marry or my choices again.

Historically, married actresses have always worked. There was Shobhna Samarth, Sharmila Tagore, Raakhee, Hema Malini, Kajol, Sridevi...
Yeah true. There was a time when actresses were women. So it was okay to be married. Then the heroine became a girl. When I joined I was already a woman. People kept telling me ‘your shelf life will be short; you have to do girly roles’. Which is why I attempted a movie like Kismat Konnection. But it flopped for me. Because I was never a girl. I was born a woman. But all that is behind me now. I’m just happy being an actor.

So are you a better wife or actress?
(Laughs) Better actress.

Would you recommend marriage to everyone?
No. It’s all about the person actually. You must find a person with whom you want to spend the rest of your life. It’s a big decision. If you find the person, great. But if you don’t, it’s not the end of the world. I’m not the kind who will say you must try marriage.

Does being financially dependent make a difference in the marriage?
It definitely does. I keep telling this to the girl who works for me that whatever you earn, you have to keep aside something for yourself. That security is something else. I tell her do things for others but even if it’s just Rs 500, save it for yourself. Money is power. It gives you the strength to take right decisions.

Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; November 15, 2017)

The one thing you can’t miss about Vidya Balan is her fullthrottled laughter. It comes from the heart and that’s what makes you laugh along. It’s just like the way she plays her roles, with abandon. Not a shade of compromise. Whether she’s playing Silk or Sulu, she unleashes herself on screen fearlessly, letting her characters live long after the movie is over. With a spring in her steps, she talks about her upcoming Tumhari Sulu, directed by Suresh Triveni. Over a long chat and sips of nariyal paani, she tells us about her past, the voice women currently need to have in society and how to deal with scums at work. Read on...

Lately, the characters that you have portrayed onscreen were deep, intense, and even melodramatic (Begum Jaan, Kahaani 2, Te3n). After long, we will see you play a role that’s cheerful and vivacious Sometimes, it is nice to play a character that is closer to you in reality, isn’t it?
When Suresh (Triveni, director) narrated the story to me, I could see every character come alive. I could see the whole film in front of me. Usually I deliberate over scripts; this one was an instant ‘Yes’! Imagine hearing a one-line narration of a story, where a homemaker lands herself a job as a late night RJ. It is such an interesting visual — here is this woman doing household chores all day and turning into an RJ by night… and sexily saying, ‘Hello!’ You don’t reconsile these changes together. The script made me happy; it was pulsating with life. I like to believe that I am a happy person but after a certain age (and for me, post films like Bobby Jasoos and Hamari Adhuri Kahani, I’ve observed that people can’t see the more humorous side of you, unless you are being made fun of. However, new-age filmmakers are not limit ed in their thinking.

Women are stereotyped far than men. For instance, women often get to hear comments like ‘Oh, you don’t look married’ or ‘You don’t look like a mom’. Women are supposed to fit into a certain ‘type’ depending on their age, their relationship status and the phase of life that they are in. Of course, we are gradually breaking those stereotypes…
Yes, at this point, even in cinema, a lot of stereotypes are being broken. For instance, hats off to Ayushmann Khurrana for accepting a role like the one in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, in a country where people don’t talk about such issues even with their partners. Fortunately, Suresh doesn’t associate interesting and exciting only with young people. As a woman, I feel as exciting, desirable and sexy as I did years ago.

That has not changed with time. Age, is a huge stereotype in our society. Someone recently asked me whether I had got any ‘jobs’ done. She said, ‘Don’t you think that it is important for a female actor to keep looking young?’ I told her that why should I want to age myself down, as long as I am feeling good and looking good? At 38, I am playing a role that is suitable to my age. Five years ago, I didn’t imagine that I would do the kind of work that I am doing today. I am playing my age onscreen, because someone has written that role for me. I am hoping that with time, the roles that I do also become as exiting and grow in that sense. I am not judging anyone who has got jobs done. If it works for them, it is great. I am comfortable being my age and looking my age on screen. Even if I wanted to, I could never play a 20-year-old (laughs).

Don’t you think that in urban India, the stereotypical concept of the housewife has also undergone a change to some extent? The preferred and better term (rightly so) is homemaker…
I have a huge problem with this term ‘housewife’. What is the meaning of housewife? Does it mean she is a wife who sits at home? Most often, they feel undervalued, because we undervalue them. Women also feel that they don’t have an identity outside of their husband. With Tumhari Sulu, we have toppled that entire stereotype. So what if Sulu is wearing a sari and doing household chores, she is a woman who has this zest for life. If that is the life which a woman wants, it is her choice, why should we judge her for it?

You come from a middle-class family and you have seen a fairly different life before you became a movie star. Would you say that the value system you imbibed from your earlier days still has a strong influence on you?
Yes, I come from a middle class family and there were times when we didn’t have as much, but I never felt the lack of it. We were happy with what we had and it was a completely joyous childhood. Often, people ask me if I always wanted to live by the beach, and my answer is — No! I never even thought of moving out of my childhood house in Chembur. I never thought of driving fancy cars and living in a big house. All I knew was that I wanted to be an actor; I didn’t think of what else came with it. I guess that is my upbringing. I was taught not to designate a (material) value to everything… ki itna ho toh achha hai. We were told, ‘Let it happen, maybe you will get more than you can imagine.’ That is exactly what has happened and I am grateful for it. My sister and I shared the load of the housework (like cleaning and sweeping) with my mom on days when the domestic help didn’t turn up. I remember, one of my teachers in the fourth grade telling me that you should always appreciate your mother for what she does, especially when she is at home. We often take our moms for granted and think that this is what she is meant to do. I have heard so many people say this about women, ‘Din bhar toh ghar pe baithi rehti hai’. What does baithi rehti hai mean? Even women say that about themselves, ‘Ki main toh sirf housewife hoon.' I tell them, 'sirf housewife hoon ka kya matlab hai?' They get this feeling that what they do for the house has no value.

Recently, after the Harvey Weinstein case made headlines, there has been an outpour by women on social media. The campaign #MeToo caught on and women started talking about their personal experiences that have scarred them. It is just a small step and it goes to show how uncomfortable we still are while talking about these issues.
Yes, it’s because women have always been told that, ‘It’s your fault’. Women are told not to wear short skirts and go out. And if we do, we are told, agar kissi ne haath lagaya, toh jaake mat bolna. We are told that we are the temptresses and we have provoked the men. There have been instances where even in rape cases, the woman has been blamed. Often, when a marriage doesn’t work, the tendency is to question the woman. Of course, today things are changing. I know that in a lot of cases, families say things like, ‘She was not adjusting enough. She was more focused on her career’. Talking about this case (Weinstein), imagine this happening in Hollywood, where you would think that with the kind of success and power they have, the women wouldn’t keep quiet. If someone propositioned me, I would kick him where it hurts. I have never had that experience, but I will admit that I have always been on the cautious side. If I ever feel that someone is not giving me that comfortable vibe, I walk away from there. Coming from a family that had no film connections, I was always scared. Initially, when I had to audition for advertisements, my mom would accompany me. Later, when I started doing films, she realised that it’s about how you handle yourself and by then, I had a team with me (make-up and hair staff), so I felt comfortable. In the beginning, I was always wary; in fact, I would never socialize with people or make friends at work. I think it stemmed from the fear that maybe if you are too friendly, people would misconstrue it. You don’t want to be in a situation where you think that a man propositioned you because you were over-friendly or over-familiar. I remember what had happened with John Abraham and me. I would keep laughing a lot with him, and we got along very well. Eventually, everyone thought that we were having an affair. So, on set I am friendly, but beyond that I still don’t socialise much.

But you have dropped your guard a little, and over the years, you have made friends in the industry. You are seen at B-Town parties along with your hubby, Siddharth Roy Kapur…
Now, I am a little better, but it has taken me so many years as I was always on the guard. I was always looking behind my shoulder. Sometimes, you might think that a person likes you, but because you have heard all sorts of stories, you are wondering if he is out to exploit you. I know that now no will take those chances with me; hence, I’m more comfortable. I completely understand the insecurity of girls who want to work here. Fortunately, my survival was taken care of and I never had to think of giving up my dream and going back to where I came from, if I didn’t get a pay cheque every month. That’s a privilege. I have seen cases where people have behaved absolutely well with me, and then behaved nastily with other girls. I tell those girls that don’t keep quiet, usko suna do. If you don’t want to make it a big issue, at least usko bol do ki he is scum, and that you don’t want this kind of work. I am aware that when it comes to speaking up, there is always a fear lurking that agar naam kharaab ho gaya, then people will look at you as a troublemaker and they wouldn’t want to work with you. We have heard of instances where married superstars have had affairs with actresses and then the actresses have gone out of work, because the rest of the industry shuns them. I remember telling someone down South while working on my first film that I don’t need the money, I am happy to work for free, but I will work on my own terms.

Exactly, you have set your own rules in the industry, whether it is the roles you pick, who you choose to work with, the way you style yourself — all of it. Isn’t that tougher, as you have no one to blame for your failure or success? In a sense, you are on your own.
Yes, and I am fine with it. I feel very proud of the fact that I have done it without any one person furthering my career, or having to depend on anyone. I am grateful for the opportunities and the people that came into my life, as each of us is a medium or instrument in another’s life. I’ve seen success and failure, but it’s my passion for what I do and my faith in myself that has brought me so far.

Even in your weakest moment, say after a film didn’t fare well, did you ever think, ‘I wish I had done a film with a superstar, instead’?
No! I have never regretted my choices or hoped that I had gone about my career differently. I evaluated my choices and asked myself some questions, but I never felt that I should have taken any other route. There are lots of benefits of doing the kind of films that others do and probably their success is that much larger, but I am happy where I am.

One role that changed that way you looked at your career?
Films like Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection. These films did well, but I wasn’t good in them, I was a source of embarrassment.

Tumhari Sulu is a light-hearted film, but have you ever thought of doing an all-out, madcap comedy?
I don’t mind doing a madcap comedy, as long as I have enough to do in it. In Tumhari Sulu, I got to do comedy. In Shaadi Ke Side Effects, the comedy was more driven by Farhan Akhtar’s character. There is rarely enough for female actors in terms of comedy, as we are only being reactors in such movies.

Deepali Singh (DNA; August 27, 2017)

The moniker ‘funnyman’ has often been used to describe Sajid Khan. However, if you check out his track record of the last two films he directed, Himmatwala and Humshakals, and go by the negativity surrounding them, you would probably wonder why. But the filmmaker, and sometimes actor, is genuinely funny. The ‘perception’, a word that springs up often as he tells me, sitting in his Juhu apartment, is that he’s no more the guy he used to be. “But that’s the thing about perceptions. They aren’t facts and that’s why they aren’t permanent,” says Sajid, who recently completed 10 years in the film industry as a director. “Ten years of Heyy Babyy, the first film I directed. Ten years of me as a filmmaker. All thanks to Sajid Nadiadwala. He should get the credit. Or the blame!” he guffaws loudly. See what I meant about the funny business. Over to the filmmaker...

How did you deal with the aftermath of Humshakals?
Humshakals chali, but the large perception was to make you believe that it was a disaster. It made Rs 63 crore, so box-office wise, it’s not a disaster. It’s Saif’s highest grossing film in the last four years, but somewhere the perception of the film was, ‘Oh bad film, flop film’. Bad film I can take, but flop film? That made me think further. Then the column in this paper came to the rescue. People got to know the real me. Being on Twitter helped. I didn’t want to fight back. I wanted to take a dignified stance. Chori toh nahi ki, daaka toh nahi daala. Kharaab film hi banaayi hai na, uske liye itni bhaari sazaa? Nahi beta, uske liye itni bhaari sazaa nahi, bees saal se jo tum film industry mein karte aa rahe thhey, logon ka mazaak udaate aa rahe thhey, ab yeh uska grahan hai. This is payback time. Stand in front of the firing squad with your head held high and take the bullets. It’s okay, eventually the bullets will run out. You will fall down and rise again, no big deal. That’s precisely what has happened. I don’t know about rising again, but I have fallen down many times. Sometimes it has taken me a while to get back, sometimes instantly. It’s never that I’ve never got up. So it has been a learning curve. Also, it has made me a slightly more responsible filmmaker. The script which we are writing next, is a comedy, but it stays away from the slapstick genre and comes in the situational comedy zone. One is trying to achieve that with lots and lots of rewriting on the script level itself.

Have you mellowed down over the years?
I think I have calmed down. I was in a state of complete chaos and unrest, shooting my mouth off, not caring for the repercussions. When Himmatwala didn’t work, the negativity factor attached to the reviews were more pointed towards me. That’s when I realised, that something has gone wrong. I told myself, ‘You’re a funny guy. Of course, you made fun of films and people when you were on TV but that, people more or less accepted. Why do you have to keep shooting your mouth off? You’re a director, not a trade pundit. One film didn’t work, they buried you in the ground. Shubh, shubh bolo. Funny ho jao, that’s what you are’.

What sort of perceptions do you think the column and social media helped break?
There were lots of perceptions about me, right from being gay to casting couch to being a drunkard to getting violent, none of what I am in real life. The column did help change a lot of perceptions about me, including ‘ise angrezi aati hai! BA pass hai! Matric pass hai!’ (Laughs) Sajid Nadiadwala has been the strongest guiding light in my life. He and Farah are the only two people who I give full freedom to slap me in public, and I will keep my head down because they are my elder brother and sister. I really look upto them. They were also of the same belief — let people know the real you. Because when people know the real me, they are like, ‘you’re not how we thought you were. You’re quite funny’. Largely thanks to my column and Twitter and my getting out and being more real with people in life, I feel, by now, the negativity has died down completely.

Why limit yourself to only funny films?
I’m not. Heyy Babyy is not a comedy. It’s a family drama. The last 40 minutes of the film, you only have tears in your eyes. Himmatwala was not a comedy. Himmatwala was a tragedy (laughs)!

The first time you directed was a short film, The Graveyard, for Ram Gopal Varma’s Darna Zaroori Hai. Wouldn’t you like to explore horror as a genre again?
Yes, someday, I am going to do an independent small budget horror film. That’s one genre I feel I can surprise a lot of people, like I did with that 11-minute short — the only time in life that I got good reviews (laughs)! I’m very influenced by the movies Shyamalan has been making of late, whether it’s The Visit or Split.

Sajid Nadiadwala and you had a nasty fallout and then you got back together again...
In 20 years of friendship, I think two years of fighting is allowed between best friends. It’s not like we got into arguments or fist fights or abused each other. We just lost out on each other. That was a very dark phase in my life and I was very lost. A lot of wrong people advising me against him and I think, vice versa. I know for a fact that he just doesn’t love me as a younger brother, he loves me like a son. I have not seen a more simple, more caring person than him. Irrespective of where we are, every morning and every night, we would have a two minute conversation — kya kiya, kya nahi. Almost like a relationship. That is what I missed in that period. I was consumed with the oldest factor, which is the worst between friends — ego. Main phone kyun uthaoon, let him call. So many people tried to get us back together. I lost out on Housefull 3 because of that. I was more at fault than he was because I was slightly more immature. He’s a far more mature person than I am. I used to seek his advice all the time. Ever since I became friends with him and started doing award functions, there was not a single show where I have not walked on the stage without giving him a call first. I would say ‘bhai stage pe ja raha hoon’. He would say, ‘good luck, vaat laga de, you’re the best’. He would give me that pep talk and it used to be like an injection that the doctor has given me. I would go with full confidence. Those two years during his absence, I missed that.

But now, you’re working together again...
I told him I don’t care if we ever work together again. Of course, I would love to work with him and he would love to work with me because we vibe well. We’re like Laxmikant and Pyarelal! But I’m so glad that I’ve got my best friend back. I will turn 46 in November. He’s been a part of my life ever since I was 26. You don’t f**k up two decades of friendship over small things. Nothing’s worth it. Our fights were not over a woman or property or money, it was over edits! I was fighting with him about why is my name small and yours big on the poster? Stupid things! But at that time, you’re consumed by self pride and ego and short-sightedness. You lose out on reality and believe everything is a conspiracy theory and it’s not.

You made three films with him which were hits, the ones he wasn’t part of, didn’t work...
He was the missing factor. He told me not to make Himmatwala. I should have listened to him... Some big producer told me I will work with you now because I know you’re dying to give it back. I said no, don’t be under that impression. I said I don’t have the fire to burn somebody’s house, I have the fire to light a diya, which hopefully will light up a good film. I have no ambitions to prove a point, I’m too goddamn old for that! I just want to make good films which hopefully will be successful.

You have worked with stars such as Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and Ajay Devgn, but none from the younger lot...
I’m sure when the right script comes along, they will be attached to it. Actors today are not interested in working with names but the correct script. That is why unknown new directors get breaks, and obscure directors also make big films. If you get the correct script, they will work with you, which is ideally the correct thing to do. Because who benefits the maximum? The audience. Rishton mein ab film nahi banti. Rishton mein jo film banti hai, woh ab kishton mein banti hai. Film banti hai abhi merit pe. You have to now identify the correct script and the correct cast.

From the younger lot, who is on your wishlist?
I would love to work with Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. I would love to work with Varun Dhawan. I find him very entertaining, I loved him in the Judwaa 2 trailer. But you can’t go to a Ranbir or a Varun with a wrong script.

What sort of advice does Farah give you?
‘Cut your hair, lose weight, don’t smoke, I can’t send my kids to your room, they complain of smoke’. She’s like a mother hen to me. She has been telling me to write Heyy Babyy 2 and that is something Sajid, Akshay (Kumar) and I have discussed. I just feel it’s a little too early. Technically, the baby has just turned 10, let her become a teenager. I have an idea, about teens and young parents. There is a lot of unsaid familiarity and uncomfortable grounds where they both lie to each other. Today’s teen is far more troubled than earlier teens. Today’s parents are far more worried than ours were because today, one wrong move and your child’s future is destroyed. I would like to do something with that and keep it in the entertaining space that’s more real.

We’ve heard that your mother is funnier than you and Farah put together. Do you take advice from her?
Yes and no. She gets a little worried when she reads reviews. She used to read the reviews almost like a report card (laughs). But that’s okay.

You have acted in a very few films. Why’s that?
I was offered quite a number of films after Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate, but I never intended to be an actor in the first place. My biggest regret in life, later, was not meeting Rajkumar Hirani when he wanted me to do Arshad’s role in Munnabhai. Sanju also told me meet him. Maybe I was too busy with my TV work at that time and not keen on acting. I was offered Shaandaar recently and another film called Coffee With D in the main role. I don’t think I can be a lead actor, but a strong character actor. I’d like to do something I can pull off.

Most-trolled filmmaker ruminates on his past as he completes 10 years as a director in the industry
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; August 24, 2017)

After Himmatwala (2013) and Humshakals (2014) turned out to be damp squibs at the box-office, Sajid Khan knew it was time was introspection. His brand of cinema was trolled widely, but, he even more so.

"The negativity surrounding my last two films got me thinking that something was as much wrong with my films as it was with me. I was being reviewed more than my films and was being panned by everyone. I decided to get a reality check as to where I was going wrong," he says.

Sajid Khan soon realised his follies — the director understood that his headline-seeking behaviour was getting the better of him. "In my personal and professional zone, I was shooting from my mouth. I was coming across as an arrogant person and trust me, I am not someone like that. I was sensationalizing things not thinking of the repercussions. I have learned to curb that side of me to a great extent. I want my work to speak now."

On the work front, he is reportedly working on the script of Housefull 4. Ask him about that and he clams up, "I am working on a script, but I can’t divulge anymore than that."

Most of his films have been panned, their box-office performance notwithstanding. Having faced so much of backlash, does it make him weary? "Not anymore. With bouquets comes brickbats and I am fine with it. Unfortunately, in my case, the bouquets never came. I had to collect the flowers and make a bouquet for myself. But things changed after I joined social media. It gave me a chance to clarify myself and defend my stance. And I realised that the shroud of negativity that surrounded me has diminished."

It was exactly on this day a decade ago that Khan made his directorial debut with Heyy Babyy. Recalling his first day at the shoot, he says, "Producer Sajid Nadiadwala told me to start the shoot with a song, which was choreographed by my sister Farah Khan. I think the idea worked as for the initial four days while the song was being shot, I got familiar with the crew which helped me a lot."