"I was keen to do DDLJ with newcomers"
The movies have been his school, his playground. As far back as you can remember, Aditya Chopra, has been a watcher, scurrying to the cinema halls to see every new release, preferably on the first day itself. Any image that moves on the screen tickles his appetite for more. When he was a kid, like Olive Twist, he would ask for more.
Even of late, you've seen him urging his pals to join him at a decrepit cinema hall to catch up with a masala movie, never mind if it is a certified flop. And at the International Film Festival this year in New Delhi, he appeared to have shifted, bag and baggage, into the Siri Fort auditoroium, zipping in and out of movies, be it from Hungary, the Honduras or the Hebrides.
The first-born son of Yash and Pam Chopra is also a stickler when it comes to following the principles he believes in. he refuses to comprise his convictions. Perhaps that accounts for the honesty of thought in his debut feature, Dilwale DUlahnia Le Jaayenge, which evidently sprung from his stead-fast regard for unsullied family values.
Although you have known Adi aka ever since he was a sprightlu teenager, the 24 year old has avoided sitting himself down for a formal interview. Even if you've threatened him, periodically, that you'll quote his everyday statements anyway, he's been as elusive as the neighbourhood kid who rings the doorbell and bolts from the spot.
On the Filmfare Awards night - following his triumph with trophies for the Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Dialogue- he senses that you'd feell disappointed if he doesn't show up for the post-function photo shoot. Just for that, he turns up, whizzes before the eye of the still camera. And a few days later, agrees to a conversation conducted in a mattress-lined ante-room of the Chopra's Juhu bungalow. Here then is a replay of the Q and A with the director who, without doubt, is the hottest property in showdown:
First of all, let me ask you why have you shied away from interviews?
I don't know. I probably just want to stay away from the media as far as possible. A film would speak for itself. And now that my film has spoken so well for me, I can't better that. Basically, I'm shy. I'm media shy definitely.
What is your distinct memory of the movies?
That's very difficult for me to pin-point today. I'm told that I would hang out on the sets of Kabhi Kabhie... I must have been four then... with a viewfinder. Usually, shootings are considered to be quite boring but I would love every minute of the experience... subconsciously maybe those days have stayed with me.
This may sound weird but till I was 10 years old, I thought that everyone, the entire world did nothing but make films. I was sure that film-making was the only profession in the world. I was quite startled. That some of my friends' fathers were into business...into making iron and steel etc etc. I must have been quite heavily into films to think that way. My brother, Uday, who's one-and-half-years younger than me was brought up in the same environment... but he wasn't obsessive about the movies as I was.
I don't remember seeing the camera for the first time or anything like that. I just remember the movies. It didn't matter who was acting in a movie or who had directed it. The Hindi feature film per se was the biggest high for me.
At times, haven't you felt that some of the films are senseless... that they're foolish?
No, no, not at all. Frankly till a certain age, I liked every film. I couldn't tell the good from the bad. It was only when I was 14 or 15 that I could pass any sort of judgement. I actually hated one film I saw. And the first time I realized that a film could be good was when I saw Deewar. After that I became somewhat more discerning, I started noticing films more closely.
What were you like as a school kid?
I was a sports fanatic. I'd play football and every game I could handle. I wasn't a bad student though, I always ranked among the top 10. I think I was a balanced kid- when I had to study, I would concentrate on my text books with all my heart. And during the vacant hours I'd read books...fiction books which narrated stories with craft and style... like the books of Jeffery Archer, Sidney Sheldon and Ayn Rand. Earlier, of course, I was crazy about Enid Blytan's Famous Five and the Hardy Boys series.
I believe you wrote a script revolving around a bank robbery when you were in fourth standard in school.
Oh that! I wasn't in the 4th standard... I think I was in the seventh standard. I must have been 11 or 12 then. It wasn't a full-blooded script as such, it was an attempt at a thriller about a man who kills someone and loses his memory. And then he becomes a police officer and is assigned to investigate the murder he has committed himself. (Laughs) It was just an attempt to form some sort of a storyline. And who knows? Perhaps, I could still make it into a film some day.
Have you written any short stories?
Not really. Occasionally, Ive just jotted down some points. Often, ideas just float around in my head. Physically, the first time I actually got down to writing was with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. I never thought I could actually sit down and write but I did.
Earlier, I'd merely suggested a story idea to dad. The germ of Darr came from Dead Calm, an Australian film about an obsessed lover. I thought such an idea would lend itself to an interesting film... the kind of film that hadn't been made by dad before. Only the climax which was set on the sea in Dead Calm was similar in Darr... apart from that, everything else was different.
Your father has seen extreme highs and lows with success and failure. Were you affected when the Yash Chopra banner was going through a low phase?
I was too much of a kid when Silsila, Mashaal and Faasle didn't do well. As a child, I was cushioned against the hard blows. Our lifestyle didn't change- we'd still go out on vacations, we'd eat the same kind of food and wear the same kind of clothes. I knew that dad was in a depressed frame of mind but he didn't let Uday and me get affected by what he was going through. Mum handled the situation beautifully.
However, I was directly affected when Lamhe didn't do well commercially. It was the first film I'd worked on... assisted on from scratch. Before that, I'd come into Chandni only halfway through. Those days, Lamhe was the film closest to my heart. When it bombed, it shook us up a lot. Perhaps that's why the success of DDLJ did not send me on a great big high... I did not get swayed because I know that even today a Lamhe is possible.
Have you become aware of the negative aspects of the film industry... of the fakeness and the put-on attitudes?
A while ago, I didn't believe this was true of the film industry at all. I thought film people were essentially good. But when I came in contact with the film industry, I did sense its negative aspects... which is true of every field. Fortunately, I've worked only with good people. I've consciously tried to keep away from the negative side. I don't socialize much. If I don't come to know the industry too closely, close friends are from outside the industry... and I think it works better that way.
Directors often get emotionally involved with their artistes. Have you found this a problem?
It helps if you don't get emotionally involved. If you get too close to your artistes... to anyone as a matter of fact in your day-to-day work... you may realize that you don't like them. And I cant work with people I don't like. That's why I've chosen not to get too close.
Aren't you pretty close to Shah Rukh Khan?
I can't claim to be his best friend. But I can sense that there is mutual respect for each other's work... which is a good thing.
Tell me, did you or your parents have any other career options for you?
No, my decisions to be associated with the movies was taken very, very early. I didn't have even half-a-doubt that I would become a film-maker. Mum was keen that I should go abroad for further studies... in business management or whatever. But since I was sure that it was Hindi films for me, I felt the years abroad would have made me somewhat westernized. That stint would have removed me from the Indian way of thinking which I wanted to hold on to at any cost.
But aren't you a bit westernized?
Not at all... well maybe I'm a blend. Like my film... or the character of Raj... my exterior may seem westernized but my inner thoughts and beliefs are absolutely Indian.
Would you say that you cut your teeth by assisting on Lamhe and Darr?
As I said, I came in half-way through Chandni. Gradually, I became well-versed with what goes on. I was also involved in one major schedule of Aaina. I didn't concentrate on the technical side of things though. Direction cant be taught, you have to acquire whatever you can by observing the entire process of film-making on the sets.
So far, I've paid more attention on character development and performances. I have to become more proficient in camera angles and the lenses, which must be used for particular shots.
After the apprenticeship, were you ready or did you have to be goaded to direct a film independently?
I had to be goaded. Because I'm lazy, I don't like working. I have to be pushed. I guess the fact that I'd nurtured the idea of DDLJ for two three years, set me off on the road.
The original intention was to do a love story as an English language film. I wanted to show the international audience that India isn't a country of snake charmers. Rather I wanted too acquaint them with how we Indians live, love, think and react today. Maybe I could still do this kind of international project someday.
After Darr, I was trying to find a story for dad. When I told him the basic premise of DDLJ, he didn't react immediately. But while I was narrating it to him, the visuals started evolving in my mind... so I thought, okay I'll give the story a shot myself. Something about it excited me. I felt it could be an absorbing love story through which I could say a few things that I wanted to.
What are the few things that you wanted to say?
The primary aim was to make a very honest love story... a love story that would make it at the box office. I wanted to make a film, which I would enjoy seeing. In that way I was selfish - I was making a film for myself. A wholesome film which I wouldn't mind seeing again and again.
On a broader level, I was also trying to get something out of my system. I'd be quite troubled while watching those love stories in which the boy and girl elope. I'd wonder how can they just cut themselves from their parents who've done so much for them? How can they be so callous? They have no right to break the hearts of their parents. I wanted to say that if your love is strong enough, then you will come together... your parents will be convinced about your love ultimately.
I also wanted to comment on the position of the girl in Indian households. In fact, I'm especially proud of the scene between the girl and her mother. I think it describes the situation that Indian women are caught in very clearly. We may be in the 1990s but there are certain things about the Indian family structure that haven't changed at all.
I believe to start with, your dad felt that the mother-and-daughter scene slackened the pace of the film.
It was like this. When I wrote the complete scenes and narrated it to my parents and some of the unit members, it was felt that it was a little long and that it would drag. But I shot in the way conceived... if it had slowed down the pace, maybe I would have cut out a few lines of dialogue. In fact quite a few of the scenes were long... I was scared that they might bore the audience. They could have become restless... they could have hooted.
Yes... go on...
Like it was touch-and-g in the case of Shah Rukh's monologue towards the end which I felt was the base of the film. In the last reel, there's just this one man talking. If anyone in the audience had made a noise, the entire scene would have crumbled. But at the first show in the theatre, it was watched in pin-drop silence. And I knew we were through, I knew we had a winner.
But there were some abruptly brief scenes in the film. For instance shah rukh's night out in the Punjab village with Parmeet Sethi and other boys.
I was aware that the film was quite long. So I didn't want to deviate too much from the main plot. As a result, there were some brief, almost abrupt scenes. I also didn't want to create the character of a typical villain. I just wanted him to be a typical MCP... and not a pitch-black, nostril-flaring villain.
How much difference was there in the film's conceptualization and final execution?
It turned out to be exactly the way it had been conceptualized... be it the scenes set in London's Trafalgar Square or in Punjab's sarson ke khet. Normally, things can change when you get down to the nitty gritty of shooting. Yet, everything seemed to fall into place at the locations and at the studio. Somebody up there was making it all go right for me.
Okay... were Shah Rukh and Kajol your first choices for the roles of Raj and Simran?
Initially, I was keen to do the film with newcomers. But I sensed that the key senses calculated for a high level of performance. Being new myself, perhaps I couldn't have extracted the kind of performances I needed. Kajol was the natural choice- she's the best... her potential hadn't been sufficiently tapped... I feel it still hasn't been tapped enough.
As for Shah Rukh, he hasn't done a pucca love story before. His negative image even helped me. To start with, the audience feels unsure about the boy-is he a haarami sort of fellow, a mischievous guy? The audience's trust in him was won slowly but suddenly as the story unfolded.
How did you handle your two lead pairs?
Their scenes and their characterizations were clearly defined. I just tried to create the right ambience for them... and let them be. I just held the reins in my hand, controlling them, pulling and pushing them accordingly to the requirements of the scenes.
Often, both of them went beyond the script and the direction. I though Kajol was brilliant in the scenes with Faridaji and Amrishji and also in that close-up when she meets Anupam. And Shah Rukh was outstanding in the climax... the bridge scene where he has to convey a scene of pain and anguish. Actually, I can't really be objective ... I feel close to all the scenes.
MY FAVOURITES
MEMORABLE INDIAN FILM
Awara 1951
Mother India 1957
Mughal-e-Azam 1960
Ganga Jamuna 1961
Sangam 1964
Teesri Manzil 1966
Anand 1970
Jhonny Mera Naam 1970
Mera Gaon Mera Desh 1971
Bobby 1973
Chupke Chupke 1975
Deewar 1975
Kabhi Kabhie 1976
Amar Akbar Anthony... 1977 - which I must have seen 25-30times
Hum Kisise Kum Nahi 1977
Karz 1980
Masoom 1983
Nayakan 1988
Maine Pyaar Kiya 1989
Parinda 1989
Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! 1994
MEMORABLE FOREIGN FILMS
It's A Wonderful Life
Odd Couple
The Godfather - I and II
Die Hard
When Harry Met Sally
A Fish Called Wanda
Cinema Paradiso
E.T.
Schindler's List
MEMORABLE BOOKS
Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead
Jeffery Archer's Kane And Abel
John Grisham's The Firm
WHAT CERTAIN WORDS MEAN TO ME...
Love... Forever
Sex... Passion
Possessive... A part of love
Lust... A basic instinct
Success... Hard work
Failures... Fear
Purity... Mother's love
Evil... Jealousy
Life... Love
Death... Inevitable
COLOURS I ASSOCIATE IMMEDIATELY WITH CERTAIN FILMS
Blue... Cape Fear and Jaws
Purple... The Godfather
Red... Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!
Orange... Purab Aur Paschim
Brown... Mother India and Lawrence of Arabia
White... Chandani
Black... Parinda
Green... Lamha
Pink... My Fair Lady
Yellow... Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge
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