Ever green star going for colours

At an event organized to mark the announcement of the release, we caught up with the years star for a tete-a-tete.

Since last two decades none of your films have worked. How do you analyze yourself as to where are you are going wrong?
I've never analyzed myself. I have written a book and it's releasing on my birthday. It says all that I have always wanted to say. I feel analyzing oneself is like wasting time. Why should one analyze oneself just because few things don't work out? Life is so beautiful. Go ahead and do something creative. Let the world talk about your work.

How do you look back at time?
I am so involved with the present that I don't look back. The past has led to the present and the present will lead to the future. I still read a lot of newspapers today and there are so many stories in them that can be turned into films. Destiny has given me that peculiarity that I can make them into films now. When I started writing my autobiography I went backwards. I did six books in these 61 years. Every time you do something new your past looks stupid. I saw Lord Mountbatten coming to India, I saw the emergency. I am seeing the present as I end my book. Life is beautiful and I have put it all in my book. What is important is that I am here today and life is a challenge for me.

As you gear up for a colorised Hum Dono what memories during its Black n White version are still close to you?
I remember that I went with the Army Chief in Kirkiee in Pune and he came to see my film in Eros. We went in his army jeep with had an army flag and the National flag. And my fans were all there waiting for me. When this film went to Berlin I met Shirley Maclaine and Jimmy Stewart and they were so proud of me. My brother Goldie did a good job. Sahir Ludhianvi wrote such wonderful lyrics then. There was Sadhana and Nanda who were such wonderful human beings and co-stars. I've got all those wonderful memories which I can never forget.

There are smoking scenes and also a song, 'Har Fikr Ko Dhue Mein Udata Chala Gaya' in your Hum Dono. Do you feel the censors will take objections to them now?
They can't because the film was shot in 1952. And even if they do, we have to fight for our rights. Smoking or any scene shown in the right context should be allowed. We are at a stage where we have to fight for a lot of things.

Your opinion about the classics being remade in Bollywood?
I would not like to remake my films. Do we have a dearth of stories here? Lot of people are doing it and I have nothing against them. But, making remakes makes me feel blunted. I feel my brain is dead. Every Navketan film is modern as today and far ahead of its time. I don't want to spoil it by remaking them. Where do I get those stars, that music from?

Any plans to convert your other black and white films into coloured?
I am hoping to convert most of them into colour. Even my all coloured Nav Ketan films are ahead of their times. No one has made such films.

What are you looking ahead at next?
I will be launching my next film Charge Sheet. It will be announced in two to three weeks time along with the cast. The script of Charge Sheet is complete. It is a thriller - a whodunit kind. The casting is still on. We will have a month-long shooting schedule in Himachal Pradesh. I plan to release the film along with my book, Romancing With Life - my autobiography to be published by Penguin Books, on my 85th birthday, which falls on 26th September this year. I am also planning my next English film, When Heartbeats Are The Same, to be made in Croatia. I am looking for an English girl, I've not found her as yet. I want to work with my western counterparts.

How would you compare black and white films with coloured films?
I liked black and white. They were good for dark films or murder mysteries or mysterious kind of films when you could make use of perfect lighting. Coloured films are altogether different. They show how colourful our lives are.

What message would you love to give to the younger generation of filmmakers?
No message. They are young and intelligent. They inspire me and would love to take messages from them. Every human being inspired another. It's give and take. I am still learning and would love to learn from them.

Is there any wish that remains to be fulfilled?
There are many aims and goals and wishes in one's life. I have them too. Some get fulfilled but some don't. Ambitions have no end. The day it ends it is the day for your retirement. Then life goes into oblivion. As you grow older you become wiser and brain becomes sharper. You have to learn from life and pick up these things and put them to good use. Human mind is like an ocean and you have to be creative and sensitive and grab the right things from the world.

Tuesday, 5 June, 2007