Do you ever feel disillusioned?

On the contrary, I feel detached from everything negative. I have no time or energy to get worked up over trivial matters. The pace of work is all consuming and everything else is on hold. Earlier I was pre-occupied with my new office, then I was doing up my new home and all this has to be accommodated in between my shootings and outdoors so it is all about chalking out your priorities”.

So, what is your priority, your role or the banner?

Ideally a good role from a good banner because the best role cannot be executed without a competent banner. The decisions are not difficult at all because usually everything comes to you in a package and it all happens organically, the right films at the right time come to you and all you have to do is to recognize the opportunities and adjust your dates. When you enjoy your work, nothing is a strain.

You have worked with all the three Khans, how similar or different are they?

Aah, let me see how I can answer this question, Aamir Khan is an intelligent actor with an eye for detail and the film he does is above every individual or ego. During Ghulam director Vikram Bhatt had insisted my voice be dubbed and I was very upset but Aamir convinced me that it was for the betterment of the film. I submitted but a year later, Karan Johar released Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and retained my voice, so I was thrilled. Aamir saw the film and made an effort to apologize to me. I appreciated his efforts; it takes courage to admit that you were wrong and he did that.

When we were children, our birthdays were restricted to cake cutting, as we grow older however, birthdays are time for reflection. Show business is a slippery world and what shines today, fades tomorrow, but there is memory of the sparkle, the spontaneity and the magic. Today is Rani Mukherjee’s birthday, and I recall my many insightful conversations with the actor.

In 2000 Rani was the queen of the box-office and on the wish list of every filmmaker. I asked her how it felt to be on the top and did she ever feel lonely? She was surprised by my question; said she had never thought about it because everywhere she went, she was showered with love and affection and there was no time to feel lonely.

What about the negative stories in the media, did she ever feel persecuted? “Not at all, they are doing their job, they can write what they want but I will not be provoked and will not issue any clarifications. I have no desire to release personal bulletins explaining my every action or choice of films to everyone. My job is to give my best shot everyday to every scene in every film, the results are not in my control”.

To be continued

Ganga Harjivandas/ Bhatt heralds from a small town in Gujrat. She belongs to an illustrious family, is the daughter of a barrister but is obsessed with movies and wants to become an actress, so her boyfriend Ramnik brings her to Bombay and sells her to Kamathipura.

Anamika Anand and Gangubai Kathiawadi after serious attempts to break away from their cages, submit to their circumstances and over a period of time get absorbed in the roaring success. Anamika is charismatic and draws people to her. Gangubai is intelligent, fearless and therefore a natural leader.

Both are surrounded by families. Anamika has her mother, husband and two kids and Gangubai has the entire kotha. Both have special confidantes. Anamika shares her woes with her makeup man who betrays her. Gangubai dotes on Kamli, who betrays her when she dies early in child birth.

Both find true love but are unable to sustain it. Anamika in her co-star and Gangubai in her tailor. For a while both are carefree and joyous but the heady feeling is short lived. For both, personal happiness is a luxury that money cannot buy. Anamika is married and cannot afford a scandal and Gangubai is from the dark alley doomed to singlehood.

Both are exploited by those around them but eventually emerge victoriously. They are famous and economically independent Anamika’s family is dependent on her earnings and Gangubai’s entire clan is dependent on her guidance. Gangubai is supported by the underworld don Rahim Lala/ Ajay Devgan, Anamika by a stranger who stands by her during her crisis.

The Fame Game is the right role at the right time on the right platform for Madhuri Dixit and Dixit fills every frame with her poise and fragrant presence. Gangubai Kathiawadi is the perfect pitch at the perfect age for Alia Bhatt. And most important, both are super successes globally.

concluded

There is a delightful story about Aliaa Bhatt narrated to me by her sister Pooja Bhatt. When Aliaa was three or four-years old, she played Pooja’s childhood in Tamanna. One day, the shot was taking longer and she was asked to rest in the makeup room. A while later, Pooja joined her in same room but Aliaa was reluctant to share the cot with her older sister. Soon there was a knock on the door to announce that the shot was ready. Before Pooja could get up, Aliaa had checked herself out in the mirror and was out! There was no doubt in her mind that the shot could have been for her sister. Not just that, she delivered a perfect one-take and then announced her pack up.

Aliaa Bhatt always knew that she was made for the camera. Madhuri Dixit was unaware of the glamour world till she got her break in films.  She made her debut in 1984 and completes four decades before the arc lights this year while Aliaa Bhatt completes a decade in show business and has to her credit some remarkable films.

This month two terrific actresses have delivered blockbusters and done entertainment industry proud. The senior actor, Madhuri Dixit on the small screen in The Fame Game on the Netflix, the story of a superstar. The junior actor, Alia Bhatt on the big screen n Sanjay Bhansali directed Gangubai Kathiawadi, the story of a prostitute.  If Madhuri’s poise and presence lent dignity to the eight-episode- web series, Alia Bhatt’s energy and power makes the film an engaging watch across all states and generations.

The characters they portray are both contradictory and similar in many ways. Actress Anamaika Anand/ Dixit heralds from a small village in Maharashtra. She wanted a normal life but her ambitious mother had big dreams for her and controlled her life. Her father is unknown, never mentioned in the series.

To be concluded

Are you doing right by avoiding the media?

See, there is curiosity about me but there is no hype, because I don’t hard-sell myself, because I don’t boast of my achievements to film magazines. I don’t believe in media publicity. I don’t succumb to media pressures because my dream is on another level. I want to be the country’s most respected actor and the race is not over yet!

Even though your competitors have moved ahead?

They did so because they had the talent. I don’t grudge them; for myself, I can say that out of the fifteen films I have done so far, I am proud to lend my name to seven films and I’m not sure how many actors can be as fortunate.

So, would you say you are happy?

Well… not entirely but I’m fairly happy.

Why not entirely?

Because I would like to work even lesser than I do now; as of now I’m working every single day of the year except Sundays. I want to reduce the assignments to just one film in a year.

What other things make you happy?

Umm… Let me think, success makes me happy… Good things happening to my family, to people I care for, make me happy… People who are sensitive make me happy…Kindness makes me happy.

And what makes you unhappy?

When things go wrong in my life… Suffering, my own, and of those around me makes me unhappy.

(concluded)

In the early 90s Aamir Khan was not as successful as he is today.  A number of his films had crashed at the box-office and the other Khans had over shot him. Yet Aamir Khan was confident that he would be on the top of the game soon, ‘The race is not over’ he said and time has proved him right. Time changes a lot of things around us and also people. All of us change with time. We think differently, feel differently, respond differently. Aamir Khan is as unpredictable as he was thirty years ago, also as individualistic. On his birthday, I present excerpts of my vintage interview with the actor published in my latest book, On Camera Off Camera.

Does it bother you that you earn less compared to actors who do more films?

No, because there are other things I’d like to do besides films. These things may not bring in t money but I do them because I want to.

How important is money to you?

Money is important, but it’s not the only important factor.

Is your family supportive of your decision or do they feel deprived?

They don’t feel deprived, I haven’t even once sensed such a feeling from them.

Is it because you lead a fairly simple life? They would be happy if I give up films altogether. Then maybe we would live in Coonoor.

But wouldn’t that be unfair to your career?

Well, career isn’t your life.

Life wouldn’t be the same without a career either?

That’s also true but how would you know it wouldn’t be better unless you tried it? There are so many things I want to do but cannot because I am an actor.

For instance?

Like learning to swim.

That’s hardly an impossibility. Think of the million things you are able to do because you are an actor.

Sure… Like having this gruelling session with you and another one in the morning with my Chartered Accountant, it was awful!

You make it sound like you are terribly unhappy about being a star?

I am satisfied with the way things are but I’d like them to be better. I’m slowly working towards achieving that like doing selective films. At one time I was working on eleven films at the same time and only I know how unhappy I was! Today, I have reduced my workload to three films a year and with time I will reduce that even further.

(To be continued)

Similar and yet different is Vikrant Massey’s marriage with longtime girlfriend Sheetal Thakur. The media never got a whiff of Sheetal because Vikrant is a private person but now that he is married, his fans for the first time got a glimpse of his woman and his life. In my opinion, Vikrant – Sheetal marriage is symbolic of when you love, you trust and submit. Sheetal submitted without complaints and when the time was right Vikrant gently led her to the altar.

And finally, Farhan Akhtar and Shibani Dandekar. Twenty-two years after his first marriage, and four years after his divorce, actor-writer-filmmaker, Farhan Akhtar found love again in model- anchor- actor Shibani Dandekar. Their marriage establishes that it is never too late to follow your heart and that age, society, don’t matter as long as you find happiness. They come from different worlds, different cultures but what binds them is passion- art and talent.

I don’t know why but I have a strong feeling that we are going to hear of many more wedding news soon, some predictable couples and some surprises. 2022 is going to be a year of grand celebrations.

Mouni Roy and Mohit Raina played Mahadev and Sati in the popular show Devon Ka Dev Mahadev. Everyone assumed they would end as Shiv Parvati off screen but life is stranger than fiction and when the serial ended, the lead pair slowly and gradually drifted apart. Both found their paths and their soulmates and coincidentally both got married around the same time. Mohit to Aditi Sharma and Mouni Roy to Suraj Nambiar, an engineer. Their marriages reconfirm that love means never having to say you are sorry. It means having the courage to move on and allowing opportunities to happen to you.

Rajkumar Rao and Patralekha worked together in Citylight and moved in together soon after. Success came earlier to Kumar and in fragments to Patralekha but their relationship went from strength to strength. A decade passed like a dream and Rao and Patralekha decided that they were ready to live as man and wife. Rajkumar Rao confessed this on Kaun Banega Crorepati show to host Amitabh Bachchan.  Their marriage establishes that time does not necessarily diminish fragrance in love. On the contrary, they were now all the more certain of wanting to be with each other.