"I could have bought a car with the amount of money I spent on putting a beard on Amitabh's face" - Vidhu Vinod Chopra 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, February 14, 2007 - 04:47 IST
Vidhu Vinod Chopra is undoubtedly one of the most talented filmmakers India has ever seen. From Parinda to 1942 – A Love Story to Mission
Kashmir, the quality of his films has always been unquestionable. He has also been a successful producer making films like Munnabhai MBBS, Parineeta and
Lage Raho Munnabhai which did extremely well at the Box Office. And now, Chopra is returning back with his directorial venture Eklavya – The Royal
Guard after seven years. The film is a multi-starrer and looks very impressive.
In a no-holds-barred conversation with IndiaFM, Vidhu Vinod Chopra ends his six-year long silence.
| It took me five years to write Eklavya |
It has been more than six years since Mission Kashmir released. What took you so long to get back to direction?
Eklavya took long time to write; it almost took us five years and before you ask me the next question why it took you five years to write, let me answer that.
It takes me time to write a script because I want to write a film that is entertaining and not boring and preachy. Yet I have to make a film that has a message. For
instance, if you see Lage Raho Munnabhai, Mission Kashmir, Parineeta or any other film of mine, there is something I am saying through the film. In the last one, I
talked about Gandhigiri, this time I am talking about Dharma, the right and wrong. So, I want to say something through my films. I just do not want to get up one day and
make a movie in Switzerland. But at the same time I also want to entertain my viewers as much as a movie shot in Switzerland does. So, it is difficult really to balance
this while writing, therefore it takes time.
| The question that this film will ask is – are we sometimes making mistakes by
following dead traditions? |
What were those elements about the film Eklavya which made you work on the script for five years?
There is a story in Mahabharata of Eklavya, who actually cut his thumb and gave it to Drona; this film has nothing to do with that since the story is contemporary.
Eklavya is a present day India dramatic thriller but the question that this film will ask is, ‘Did Eklavya do the right thing?’ Which means, are we sometimes
making mistakes by following dead traditions? So this film tosses the question if we really need to follow these traditions but at the same time, it is a film that has a
murder, has drama and has a love story as well. So it is all hidden; it is like when you saw Lage Raho Munnabhai, you had a good laugh but I didn’t preach about
Mahatma Gandhi. When you walked out of the theatre, you walked away with Gandhigiri. So, I am hoping in Eklavya, people will walk away with the concept of
Dharma, with the concept of what is right and what is wrong.
| Eklavya is easily my most difficult film so far |
Eklavya looks like your most royal offering till now. A lot seems to have gone behind designing the look of the film.
Eklavya was a very difficult film to make. It is easily my most difficult film so far and the script actually demanded that scale. It is always first that I write a story
and then I set up everything that the story demands. This particular story demanded this scale and these actors and everything that you see in it.
| Bachchan was very emotional when Ralph Fiennes complimented him.
|
Amitabh Bachchan had always expressed his desire to work with you. So was he always on your mind when you were writing the role of Eklavya?
Yes, I do not think that apart from Amitabh Bachchan anybody else could have done the role of Eklavya. I think it was written for him and when you will see it,
you will know what I mean, I think it is one of his life’s best performances and somebody like Ralph Fiennes, who is one of the finest actors in the world, saw the film, he
said exactly the same to Amitabh Bachchan. Ralph complimented Bachchan saying that it is one of the finest performances that he had seen. With such a great
compliment coming from Ralph Fiennes who is one of the greatest in the world, I think Bachchan was very emotional. He did not know how to handle the compliment
when he heard that.
| Eklavya is not a period film. It is set in today’s
India |
Does the film have a contemporary setting or is it a period film?
No, it is not at all period film at all. It is today’s India, India 2007. The characters like Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan are contemporary, dressed in modern clothes. And
although this is a modern film, there are some characters, even in today’s India, who are still living in the past. Boman Irani is one such character who he lives in the past.
So, it is the present day India but there are certain characters who still live in the past.
| I would like to inform that you have never seen a film like Eklavya on Hindi screen
before |
If you have to define Eklavya what will you say?
I would like to tell you one thing for sure that you have never seen a film like Eklavya on Hindi screen before. I think it will be the first time that you will see
something like this. It is a two hour film and it says what it needs to say within those two hours. I think this in itself is unusual. Wait for the film to release, February 16 is
not far.
Can you give us the gist of the film?
The gist is that the film is about a contemporary royal guard named Eklavya. his mother calls him Eklavya and she tells him that you be like the Eklavya,
unbending, following your dharma and that is what Bachchan does in the film. But the question this film is asking really is whether traditions are to be followed blindly or
do we need to question it. And the answer of course is the question it.
| All the eight main actors have done either the best or one of the best roles of their
careers in this film, including Amitabh Bachchan |
Everyone in the cast of Eklavya – Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Boman Irani and Vidya Balan have given their career best performance in a
Vidhu Vinod Chopra film. So with all of them coming together can we expect a superlative product from Eklavya?
I think that all of them have done absolutely outstanding work, in my opinion. All of them, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie, Boman, Vidya, and Jimmy Shergill have
given amazing performances. One of the things that I am very proud of in this film is that all the eight main actors have done either the best or one of the best roles of
their careers in this film, including Amitabh Bachchan.
Sanjay Dutt has too done an amazing role, he is absolutely fantastic. He has cut his hair and has totally different look to get into the character.
| You will see Amitabh Bachchan quietly standing right behind everybody in the frame.
|
With so many stars coming together, will there be possibility of one overshadowing the other in the film?
I never write a film with stars in mind. I never write a film thinking, ye role ye star karega. I write a film, I write the characters and then the actors will play that
role. You will be shocked to know this, I have not told to anybody before, that you will see in the first half of the film Amitabh Bachchan just quietly standing right behind
everybody in the frame. There are scenes after scenes when you see him in the frame but he is standing far behind Boman or Sanjay or other actors without doing
anything. You have never seen him like that in any film before. So, I do not make a film thinking ye hero hai, iska close up dal do. I make a film with characters
and each character be it Jimmy Shergill, Jackie, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt or Saif, they all play their character. It is not that just because Vidya Balan has become
a hot heroine that I have put an item number with her. It is only what the film and the character’s demand.
The film showcases rich visuals from Rajasthan. How easy or difficult was it to shoot in the desert. Why did you choose Rajasthan as the backdrop?
It is one of my most difficult films I have made ever. If you see the making of the film, you will know how difficult it was to shoot this film. Actually, we are releasing a
DVD which will be available for people to see. It has me in conversation with Mr. Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan along with the whole making. You will know how difficult
it was then.
Tell us something about the music?
The music will be released when the film releases. In the film, there is just one song that you might have seen on television and there are two more songs as such which
are used as background score. In the album, there are eight pieces of music in all and personally I think that it is very unusual and it is very different.
What kind of music can we hear in this album?
It is exactly the kind of music that would suit for this film. It compliments the film. There is an om bhurbhuva swaha theme, there is a gayatri mantra theme.
So, the themes are used in film and there are three songs.
| I don’t think it is a big deal that the actors do their own
stunts |
We have also heard that the actors have done their own stunts in the film, tell us more about that.
All the action scenes are done by the actors themselves in this film. I did not even realize till people told me that the actors doing their own stunts is such a big deal. I think
it is only natural for an actor himself to do his action scenes. I just do not like the feel of a duplicate doing things because you will never get a man for instance say like
Amitabh Bachchan or Saif Ali Khan or even Sanjay Dutt. So, to me it does not make sense for some other person to come and just do the stunts and ghode ka ek shot
unka hai aur dusra shot duplicate ka. I do not really work like that. Hence, I did not think that it was as unusual as now I am told it is. I think it is only natural for an
actor to do his stunts.
The film was earlier titled Yagna. Why was it changed subsequently?
That happens when I write. Like I am writing my next film which was called The Fifth Move but as I have written it now it has become a 64 squares. It is
just that as you write, you are reaching a final writing in terms of screenplay. Therefore, it is a very natural thing to change the names; it’s not a big deal.
| I could have bought a car with the amount of money I spent on putting a beard on
Amitabh’s face. |
The first trailer of Eklavya came around Parineeta’s release, what took you so long to release the film?
Writing. This is not an easy film to write and to make. We were in the pre-production for almost two years. It took us ten months only to fix the beard on Amitabh
Bachchan’s face. We made some forty-fifty beards. That beard which he is wearing is worth few lakhs. How many beards I must have made and rejected you have no
idea. I could have bought a car instead of putting a beard on his face.
| Eklavya was completed before Lage Raho
Munnabhai |
The film was also completed and kept on hold since a long time.
Yes, it was completed before Lage Raho Munnabhai but I did not want to release the two films together. I wanted to release them one after the other. We took a
call and released Lage Raho Munnabhai first and then now after four months we are releasing Eklavya. I think that is also very rare because this film was
ready last year in April, April is when I finished my mixing in Australia and we actually kept this film on hold in spite of so much money sitting on this film. We just calmly
waited for six to eight months.
| I do not make films for money and I do not want money to make my
films |
Nobody would do this kind of a thing. If you realize, the interest on the money that is stuck is with this film is enormous. My interest on money would be in crores but
because I do not make films for money I have held this film from releasing for so long. Or else, this film would have released last year itself.
Can you tell us about your future films with Mr. Bachchan?
There are two films that we are making. One is Munnabhai Chale Amrika directed by Rajkumar Hirani and the other film is called Talisman to be directed
by Ram Madhvani and then the third one is called 64 squares. When you will see Eklavya, you will see the trailers of Munnabhai Chale Amrika and
Talisman.
Mr. Bachchan will be seen in the trailer of Talisman and Ram Madhvani will direct it.
It is a fantasy film like the Lord of the Rings from India. It is really something that is very huge and big.
And what about Munnabhai Chale Amrika?
What can I tell you, I just love Munnabhai.
Even as a producer, you have been very successful with films like Parineeta and Munnabhai. What quality do you see in your directors before you give them a
yes?
First of all, let me tell you that I will not make more than two films a year because the business can expand, I can get the whole building and the studio. But my mind has
a certain limited capacity and I would never want to make a film that I am not proud of. Whether I made Munnabhai, Parineeta or any other film, I feel proud of
that film, I stand by that film.
Coming to what do I look for in the directors, look at Raju Hirani. He is an honest guy, he is a real man, he is one of the most successful directors in India today and he is
so down to earth. So, is Ram Madhvani and so is anybody. I choose my people like I would choose a family. If God said to you that you can choose your own brothers,
who would you chose? That is how I choose people I work with. It is not a commercial call, the most successful director, actor in Indian cinema can walk into my office
and say, “Let us make a film,” and if he is not the person I want in my family, I will say, “thank you very much for your views but, no, thank you.” Because for me the
most important thing is that anything we do out of it, is what we are proud of irrespective of its box office success or failure.
| I do not see outside films. I really restrict myself to my films only, to the films which I
write, produce, direct. |
What do you have to say about Hindi cinema, looking at the way it is shaping up?
My views are that in Vinod Chopra films, we are making very good films. I have no general views. I do not see outside films. If I had I would have said it, I am not being
smart but it is true. I do not even remember which was the last Hindi film I saw. I really restrict myself to my films only, to the films which I write, produce, direct.
I have seen much of world cinema because I was in film school for three years. Of course, I have seen a hell of a lot films but now I am not watching one film every
night anymore. I read, I listen to music, I have other things.
|
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Eklavya to premiere at GIFA?
