He Khan't (Saif) do that: Directors & Producers react

Saif Ali Khan called his last release Humshakals a "mistake". Is it right for an actor to disown a film

when it doesn't work? Directors and producers react...

Jul 25, 2014

Subhash K Jha

DNA

A movie is like a baby. Once conceived and birthed, you don't put your hands up in the air and say it isn't what you expected it would be. You take the good with the bad, man up and be there for it for as long as it needs you to be.

Any director or actor will vouch for that. And in the light of Saif Ali Khan's statements on the way his role in Humshakals shaped up (the film's B-O run notwithstanding), these B-Town producers and directors offer their take on the matter...

David Dhawan

A film is like a baby sired by both the director and the actor. And no one abandons the baby just because it fails in life. At no stage, should the actor abandon a film or have regrets about doing it.

Shoojit Sircar

Where is the team spirit if an actor disowns a film? Every film is a result of the entire team's hard work, director and actor included.

Aanand L Rai

An actor should doubt his own understanding and choice of scripts rather than blame anyone else. Any actor, or for that matter, any director can go wrong with the script. But then one should be man enough to blame oneself and not others.

Umesh Shukla

If a film project doesn't match up to an actor's expectations or if the actor is unhappy with the way a film is executed he or she might choose to react. A film is a team work where a producer, director and actor are equally responsible for the final outcome. And if everyone is happy while doing a film the actor should not turn around and crib just because a film doesn't work.

Rahul Dholakia

Such instances of an actor disowning a film are rare. But it does happen. Box office failure should not be the reason for disowning or condemning a film. It's fine to analyse the reasons why a film didn't work. But being vocal about your dislike for how a film shapes up is another matter. That could depend on so many things. One can't take a generalised view.

Reema Kagti

I don't believe it's possible to disown your own work. Criticism, if it comes out of giving an honest opinion, is okay by me.

Shailendra Singh

It's rather unprofessional. I agree filmmaking and acting are a creative endeavour. But once you are paid for it, you turn it into a profession. You therefore need to be accountable for your own work. You can't take home the pay cheque and say, Oops, that shit ain't mine!'

Ananth N Mahadevan

Actors sometimes tend to give the mandatory script and narration the miss specially when big names are involved. Not too many actors disown their works. Some speak openly about their mistakes. But the flip side to this is that they often overlook these faults when a close friend or a big corporate house is attached while they tend to go through the more genuine but smaller filmmaker with a tooth comb.

Hansal Mehta

All of us, including me, are on the defensive, when faced with a backlash. Nobody signs a film to disown or criticise it. People have various reasons to do films, including job satisfaction, respect, gratification and money. If they are clear about what they desire from a project before they sign, they won't have reason to feel betrayed later. Failure and success are milestones in the larger journey.We should be concerned about the journey.

Satish Kaushik

An actor can surely blame himself and repent for selecting the wrong film. But at no point can he put the blame on others. and that too publicly ,and wriggle out of all responsibility about the way a film shapes up.. A film is a team effort. Its final outcome is the star's and the director's responsibility equally. Neither can wriggle out by pointing accusing fingers at the others.

Bejoy Nambiar

Everyone involved with a film should stand by it, irrespective of its fate.

Ajay Bahl

After being a part of a project it is unethical to cause any damage to it by speaking against it in the media or any other social or public platform.

Onir

I think it's absolutely unprofessional and absolutely not done.

Gauri Shinde

This is really between the filmmaker and actor. Only they know what's gone wrong between them. For an outsider, it is difficult to comment.

After Humshakals was criticised by viewers and critics, actor Saif Ali Khan too trashed the film, saying it was regressive and he regretted being a part of it and underestimating his audience's intelligence.

But how difficult is it for a director to stand by his own project, when the lead actor slams it by saying the film didn't have a script to begin with? Director Teja, who has worked in Tollywood and Bollywood and directed films like Nuvvu Nenu, Jai and Nijam, feels that it is unfair of any actor to wash his hands off a project when it has failed.

"And in Saif's case, he had a triple role in the film and he practically occupied 80 per cent of the screen space. How could it be that he of all people didn't know what was going on?" he says.

Filmmakers Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K., who have directed films like Shor in the City and Go Goa Gone, have managed to get things going, and are working on their next film Happy Endings, even though Go Goa Gone didn't fare very well at the box office.

"When a film doesn't do well, it is a huge baggage for the filmmaker, actors and producers alike. However, we haven't been in that position yet and have got our next project going. It's important that as directors we don't consider our last film a setback, but learn from the mistakes and come back with something better," says Raj.

Screenwriter and director Habib Faisal, who has made films like Ishaqzaade and the upcoming Daawat-e-Ishq, says, "It is an occupational hazard, but all you can do as a filmmaker is to make sure you commit to your films and make them the best you can. And even if a film doesn't do well, you have to get your energy back and get back to making films. If Anurag Basu stopped making films after Kites, Barfi would have never happened."

"There are two kinds of directors. First the creative ones, like Mani Ratnam, whose scripts have a distinct spike, helping the filmmaker get popular actors on board even if their previous films haven't done well. Second are the commercial directors, who don't really set any trends, because they present the same stories in new packages. And for the latter, if they don't manage to get a good collection, it becomes difficult to either get big names or the required funding for an upcoming project," adds Teja.