Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Unfazed by the fate of her films at the box office, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan counts her blessings as she reaps the fruits of years of hard work.

This year, except “Endhiran”, “Guzaarish”, “Raavan” and “Action Replayy” haven’t done too well at the BO. How much does that bother you?

Not at all. I got a great review for each of the films that I worked in, whether it was “Endhiran”, “Raavan”, “Action Replayy” or “Guzaarish”, so for me, it’s been a terrific year. Everything that I set out to accomplish when I took on these movies, as an actor, and in terms of the response I was looking for, I have been able to. Because, as an actor with so many years of experience now, you know when you take on a subject what potential the character per se holds. No one can ever preordain the destiny of a film and I say destiny because it’s literally that. After so many years, you cannot necessarily say that a great film is a superhit or it’s the other way around. I’m happy that the response from critics and audience has been so overwhelming for each of the characters essayed, no matter how different they were from each other.

From the devoted nurse, Sophie, in “Guzaarish” to the quarrelsome Mala in “Action Replayy”, how difficult was it shifting gears?

That’s your commitment, your craft and, of course, that’s the objective that I seek as an actor. When you are starting out and you are asked what sort of an actor you want to be, you say ‘versatile’ and after years of experience if you get to do that year after year, you regard yourself blessed. I’ve been doing that for the last couple of years, but this year, as the releases were in such quick succession, it became glaringly obvious to viewers and critics. It’s been 1.5-2 years of hard work.

With so much hard work involved, how important is it for you that your film does well at the box-office?

As a team member – I say that because I’m a team player – everybody would want their films to succeed because at the end of the day, you are an industry and it is a business on which the livelihood of many people depends, not ours, by the grace of God, but for many others. We all work for the love of art, but we do recognise it is a full-fledged industry. Hence everybody seeks the obvious commercial success of every venture taken on and if that doesn’t happen, then as a team, it feels bad. But the individual fruits that one comes away with it is when it becomes much sweeter. When your effort is recognized, you come away with your reward and try harder the next time.

While working harder, do you intend to do things any differently next year to counter whatever happened this year at the BO?

I’ve never had such thoughts. It’s been a dream journey for any aspiring actor, in terms of the variety of work. I’ve worked with the best of directors not just once, but a couple of times, got to essay so many characters, break across genres and languages… it’s rare and a blessing.

Do you feel lucky that you are a part of Bollywood at this point in time?

I have carved my own journey from the beginning. The potential of different kinds of cinema will have its fruition depending on the way its business is planned. Bearing in mind the business of cinema, it’s a great time for creative explosion. But I haven’t suddenly changed my mode of work or my search for doing different kind of genres.

It’s a star shower on TV… from Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar to Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit. What would it take for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to host or judge a reality show?

Time, the mindset, the inclination and a very exciting opportunity. A lot of ideas have been brought to me in the last couple of years… but so far, I haven’t had the time, and hence haven’t thought about taking on anything. Anything that I take on, I want to be able to participate completely in and commit myself the way I have on every venture.

You always say age is a state of mind and have often cited the example of your father-in-law. Does Bollywood think that way?

I would’ve talked about him even if I hadn’t been family, he’s the most glaring example that you can see. Also, I’m not judgmental, and so far, I haven’t experienced being judged. On that front, I’m fortunate to have met likeminded professionals and got to do the kind of work I wanted to.

How do you manage your time, between shoots and taking care of your family?

Manage, prioritise and commit to whatever you take on and get on with whatever next you have planned.

How was the experience of shooting in Rome with Kate Winslet and Chi Lin?

Rome is a beautiful city. It was very hot… I had never been there in summer. I was there very briefly to shoot for “Jeans”, and to go back there and experience that summer could be so hot was a revelation for all of us. Coming from India, it was embarrassing to say that we have experienced summer. But then again, when you watch the commercial, you don’t see that. We were all so committed to what we were doing, that you only see us having a great time.

Besides Longines, what else do you and Kate Winslet have in common?

Not only Kate, even Chi Lin. When we worked together, we realised that the way we work, the way we are as women, our thoughts, outlook to life, the work that we do, are very similar. We are very basic people, who have a mix of the old world and are the women of today. We all have deep-rooted values, cultural understanding and are committed to our craft – Peden Doma Bhutia

Moushumi Chatterjee

Pictures accompanying this article -  Pic 1 – Pic 2 – Pic 3 – Pic 4

The first time we came face to face with Moushumi Chatterjee was in 1968, courtesy Hemanta Kumar, now her father-in-law. Moushumi was then known more as the “Balika Bodhu” girl (a pity hasn’t been able to discard that tag yet), after her much/talked about portrayal of an adolescent bride.

Moushumi hardly spoke at the press conference because she didn’t know any language other than Bengali. Most of the time she giggled, occasionally answered questions through her “interpreter” Hemantda. In between she flirted—with Jayanta (that’s Babu, alias Ritesh, now her husband) who sat next to her, pinched his sides, grimaced at him.

The pressmen seemed quite impressed by her performance.

Oh, yes, Moushumi had made two relevant points: she had not made up her mind about working in Hindi films; and she had got the impression that the higher one rose on the Hindi screen, the scantier the costumes became.

Back in Calcutta, in the next two years, Moushumi starred in half a dozen Bengali films – prominent ones being Ajoy Karr’s “Parineeta” and Sunil Banerji’s “Maa O Meye”—but won little attention.. Meanwhile she continued  her affair with Babu, decided to marry him and settle down in Bombay. She also made up her mind to work in Hindi films, even if she had to com­promise on her earlier views on the costumes.

Then suddenly Moushumi hit a winning streak. She got marri­ed to Ritesh and shifted to Bom­bay. Raj Khosla gave her her first Hindi assignment. (“Kuchche Dhaage”) and that set the ball rolling. Next came Shakti Saman­ta—his “Anuraag” was released before “Kuchche Dhaage”. Came a flood of offers; Moushumi wise­ly accepted most of them. The top leading men were enthusiastic about being teamed with Moushu­mi: Rajesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Shat­rughan Sinha, Vinod Mehra. Moushumi will never have to say: “I had to struggle to come up.”

It was not Moushumi’s talent that really established her as a star. Her entry into Hindi films was well timed. Jaya Bhaduri made an impact and producers, changing their attitude towards newcomers, were actually looking  for them. At one time it look­ed like these two Bengali girls would share the good films among themselves. However, af­ter the release of “Anuraag” and “Kuchche Dhaage” opinions about her acting were sharply divided – some saying she was good, but the roles weren’t, others that she was disappointing.

It took us three sessions-to interview Moushumi. One of our toughest assignments – sje doesn’t seem to take anything seriously. Mayb she was out of school too early. On the sets of Manoj Kumar’s “Roti, Kapda, Makaan” she didn’t seem to be in a mood for the interview. She was busy narrating fairy tales to Mrs. Manoj Kumar and her sons, Vishal and Kunal. It didn’t seem to bother her one bit that just a few feet away Manoj and the producers of “Natak” were trying to solve the problem of her muddled-up dates.

“Tomorrow is the second Sun­day,” she told us, “Come at 11 and have lunch with us.” Okay, we said, but we’d rather stick to the interview and forget about the lunch. “You must,” she insis­ted.

Leaving Moushumi to continue with her fairy tales we turned to Manoj: “How do, you find her?”

“She’s very good,” he said, almost casually. We were about to ask him how he compared her with Jaya, but dropped the idea on second thoughts. Manoj would probably have given some non‑committal reply. Incidentally, Moushumi has replaced Sharmila in the film.

Knowing Moushumi well — she isn’t such a stickler for time —we landed at Nibbana, Pali Hill, around 11.30, allowing Mou­shumi another half an hour of sleep (“I love to sleep on holidays”). Her ayah smiled and said —Memsaab was still asleep.

Moushumi came in wearing a nightie (suspiciously looking like a film costume), sat curled up on sofa; she looks far more charming without the grease-paint, we thought. Her bust looks pro­minent, in fact a little too big for her delicate frame. We decided that  all that talk about her wear­ing falsies is wrong (unless of course she wears them at home too). “I couldn’t sleep the whole night,” she remarked. “Babu was away shooting for his film and came in the morning. I don’t get sleep if he is not beside me.”

“Auntieji”, the ayah said, had sent aloo parathas for her. “Aun­tieji,” Moushumi said, is Vinod Mehra’s mother. Just then Ritesh joined us. Moushumi ate both the parathas, took a sip of tea, noticed a spot of “sindoor” on Babu’s neck—apparently from her hair—and bit her lip. She tried to tell Babu in Bengali to wipe it before we noticed, decided we had already seen it, winked and burst out laughing. Who says their marriage is on the rocks?

We ask about her marriage. Why was it such a hush-hush affair? “I knew Babu since the `Balika Bodhu’ days,” she ex­plains. “He used to visit Calcutta with Hemantda who was compos­ing for the film. When I visited Bombay he was having-an affair with another girl but gave her up and became interested in me. We got married in 1972″. Their marriage was just a formality. Actually, they had been secretly married much earlier, in June 1970.

Is it true, we ask, that she has been dissuading Vinod Mehra from marrying Rekha? “Why should I do it?” she reacts. ‘What is my interest in their affair? They are in love and are getting married soon.”

Then what’s Rekha’s quarrel with you? “I have no quarrel with anybody. Rekha appears to have said some unpleasant things about me, so naturally I was upset. Even Vinod was annoyed. Later Rekha wanted to apologies, so it’s okay now.”

Just then Vinod’s mother comes in, hugs Moushumi, asks if she liked the parathas, addressing her as Beti and Babu as Beta. “Now you know our relationship,” Moushumi turns to us. “We can’t show it to the world.” Vinod’s mother adds: “Paperwale to kya kya afwahen udate hain.” Meaning there is nothing in the rumors about her son and Moushumi.

There’s another visitor. This time it is dress designer Shalini Shah who comes with a heap of new dresses for Moushumi. (Moushumi’s dresses in our photographs were designed by Shali­ni) . Moushumi jumps up with the excitement of a six year old and pleads with us: “Can I go now?” She promises to talk to us the next day at the studio. She has forgotten about her lunch invita­tion!

Next day at the Mohan Stu­dios. It’s 12-30 and they haven’t taken a single shot. Producer Sohanlal Kanwar (“Do Jhoot”) grumbles: “She comes late and then takes two hours for her make-up.”

Moushumi finally comes to the sets around 1. They just take a solitary shot before lunch. A thousand rupees go down the drain—a half day’s studio hire.

Why should you take so many films if you cannot manage them, we ask Moushumi, “We can’t help it,” she says. “Some we accept because they are good films; many other producers come through friends and we can’t say no.” Her tone suggests that she had accepted the majo­rity of her 30 odd films out of sympathy for producers.

Moushumi has 16 films on the floors, and an equal number are waiting to be launched. In at least six, including her husband’s film “Mazaaq”, her co-star is Vinod Mehra. Every time she mentions her husband’s film, Moushumi makes it a point to add that it is being financed by Gulshan Rai. A film journal had once written that Moushumi was unhappy because her husband was making his film with her money.

Contrary to reports that Mou­shumi and Jaya carry on a sort of hate campaign against each other, Moushumi says she likes Jaya and has seen all her films. “She is a wonderful artiste.” The “Gai our Gori” role, Moushumi said, was first offered to her but she had the usual problem of dates. Incidentally, she added that Raj Kapoor had first offer­ed her the “Bobby” role, which subsequently went to Dimple.

Moushumi’s reputation among film folks ranges from “nice kid” to “likeable girl” to “Badi hara­mi hai.” This last phrase has of course undergone radical chan­ges of meaning and is no longer derogatory. It simply means shrewd, mischievous, smart. On the sets, Moushumi is always playful—pinching people’s bot­toms is still her pet pastime. No­body has tried to reciprocate, as far as we know. Sometime back Raj Khosla paid Moushumi a rare compliment—he said that she is a successor to Meena Kumari. Moushumi has talent enough to be one provided she takes her work more seriously – A.A (Filmfare Magazine, October 1973)

Allah Ke Banday (2010)

Faruk Kabir is all set for his directorial as well as acting debut, Allah Ke Banday, releasing on Friday.

The movie starring Naseeruddin Shah, Sharman Joshi, Vikram Gokhale, Zakir Hussain, Atul Kulkarni, Rukhsar and Anjana Sukhani is about the world of juvenile crime.

Based on real life experiences, the film was shot in 47 locations in Mumbai, where the cast and crew ran into local gangs who demanded ‘hafta’ money.

The 28-year-old tells Ufaque Paiker about the whole unnerving experience of shooting the movie.

What were the obstacles you faced while shooting this film?

We shot for 62 days at 47 locations. When you are shooting in your own set, things are under your control. But in a live location, there are many things that can go wrong. You need permits and that sort of thing. Then there are the crowds.

I have shot in areas like Bhandup, Tumbulur and Trombay, near Mumbai. No one has ever shot there before. The dynamics of real life locations are very tough. We had to hide the cameras at times.

Besides directing the movie, you have also written, acted and composed the songs. How did you manage to do it all?

I knew that after writing the script, I would have to direct it. But acting was accidental. I did the role of Yakub because we could not get the right person. Everyone wanted to do Sharman’s role because he is the protagonist.

Plus, I bore a close resemblance to the boy who plays young Yakub in the movie.

How did the idea to make Allah Ke Banday come to you?

When I was doing my documentary Unheard Voices of the People of India, I came across children, who are exposed to crime. The interviews I had with them stayed with me long after the documentary was done.

I had kept a diary documenting that journey and five to six stories stayed with me. I am an emotional person, so the stories affected me.

But the one that touched me most was the story of Mahesh from Varanasi, who runs a balwadi (remand home) for children of prostitutes and convicts. He turned down a job as an IAS officer to heed his calling — which is to give children from such backgrounds their childhood back.

Initially, Mahesh was my inspiration but I then realised that the story was only from Mahesh’s point of view. So I met the kids he taught as well as those who have grown up and left the place.

All in all, it’s not a dark movie, it has hope.

Were Sharman and Naseer your first choice? What made you chose them?

Yes. I wanted someone with vulnerability and Sharman fitted the role. His is also a complex character, something which he has not done before.

As for Naseer, words cannot describe the talent and caliber he possesses. As an audience, we trust him. When I gave him the script, I didn’t tell him which character I wanted him to play. To my good fortune, he reacted well.

Sharman is looking very different in the movie. How did you come up with his look?

After a great deal of discussion, we fed his image to a computer where we then tried different things. I worked with my makeup artist Vikram Gaikwad to highlight certain features like Sharman’s hair line, eyebrows, jaw line. Then we gave him a tan, a beard and a moustache.

The censor board has chopped off some scenes from the movie. Was it justified?

They had their points while I had mine. We had a discussion. After giving an A certificate, I think the cuts are not justified. Let the audience watch and decide for themselves.

How did you manage to pull off a movie with such a sensitive theme like juvenile crime?

When I was writing a screenplay, there was a line, which I wrote just below the title.

The line is from one of the many conversations with the kids at the remand home. One of them had spent four years at the remand home. He had said, “Bhaiya kya hai kabhi kabhi zindagi mein pyaar ki zarroorat hai, woh pyaar hume nahi milta hai” (sometimes you need a little love in your life, we don’t get that). This line is very important to me because it’s the cry of children who need love and hope.

The film is being compared to Slumdog Millionaire. Any comments?

If they are comparing the two films technically, then I consider it as a compliment. But story wise, they will be pleasantly surprised.

We heard that you wanted to cast Shah Rukh Khan in a comic role.

I would love to do a film with Shah Rukh. I have a beautiful script for him, which is not a comedy per se. It’s more of a musical comedy.

What do you enjoy most — directing, acting or writing?

Writing and directing. Acting doesn’t even come close.

Tell us something more about yourself.

I studied at a boarding school and was interested in literature. We had a very active theatre group in school. We wrote our own spoofs. We even spoofed famous playwrights like Shakespeare and Premchand.

Once I was done with school, I returned to Mumbai. I felt lost here. I attended a year of college before dropping out to assist director Aziz Mirza on Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani.

Azizji interacted at lot with his writers. I would listen to their discussions and try to see it from the audience’s point of view.

After that, I have been working with Santosh Sivan (cinematographer, director, and producer) on ad films like Titan watches and Kerala Tourism. Then I worked with Rajeev Rai (writer, editor and director) for a while for his movie Pyaar, Ishq Aur Mohabbat.

After that, I enrolled myself in the New York Film Academy where I learnt screenplay writing, filmmaking, 2D animation, and Mac painting.

In 14 odd months, I tried to soak as much about filmmaking as I could. After that, I worked on Unheard Voices of the People of India.

After that, I took a two-year break to write a script that became Allah Ke Banday.

Source – Rediff