Face OFF
THE HEAT IS ON
The commercial success and social message of Rang De Basanti has
morphed Rakeysh Mehra into the hottest director of 2006. Jitesh
Pillaai taps into the vibe
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
HE started the fire. And now it's a conflagration. Right at this
moment, producers have rolled out the red carpet and stars desperate
to get into his good books are now back to frantically SMSing
41-year-old Rakeysh Mehra. But the somewhat offkilter Mehra retains a
certain sangfroid. The first thing he did after the success of Rang De
Basanti was to move from his luxe office in suburban Khar to his old
office in Tardeo, Mumbai. "So less people will come and see me,"
Mehra, who is often called Fakir by Aamir Khan, deadpans.
Rang De Basanti is the new colour of the movies. First let's
compare the statistics. According to trade figures, the box-office
takings of RDB in the first week in Mumbai was a record Rs 4,05,45,311
(in comparison to other BO whammies like Bunty aur Babli which
reportedly raked in Rs 2,53,02,862 and Veer Zara which netted Rs
2,30,71,746 in their first week). Into its fifth week, RDB has totted
up historic collections at the turnstiles.
And what is perhaps more impressive is that shorn of the vulgar
embellishments of commercial cinema, RDB torpedoes you out of
inertness and stupor with its nihilistic content. Most importantly it
makes you think and has sparked off debates and discussions in the
public and
mainline media.
But it hasn't been totally easy. Mehra had the spectre of Aks, that
colossal disappointment, to contend with. "With Aks I became a little
confident of extracting good performances as well as my technique,
though funds were difficult to come by after the film flopped. Anyway,
I'd hate to romanticise my struggles or all that one has been through.
It's a waste of time. I've had my share of passion and angst, just as
the next person in the movies," he says. But all that was in the past.
Right now, it's hosanna time for Rang De Basanti. Film critic
Derek Elley in the Variety review calls it "an ambitious melding of
history, politics, romance and patriotism within the parameters of a
commercial Hindi movieĀ
represents a major step-up by Rakeysh Mehra
and a largely successful attempt to push the Bollywood envelope".
The RDB story first germinated strictly as a story about
revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad. But then
came the bolt from the blue in the form of travesties like four Bhagat
Singh flicks made and released on the same day. Needless to natter,
they bombed. Opines Mehra, "They did a disservice to the memory of
Bhagat Singh. I also realised that I was awfully out of tune with the
needs of the 17 to 25-year-old youth of our country."
That he was out of sync with the times also emerged after a poll
with a cross-section of youth all over the country, whose priority
seemed to be wearing great clothes, perfumes and a choice of instant
love over marriage and commitment. Through the market survey, the real
RDB emerged. Mehra was now ready to take on the world.
All it took was one SMS to Aamir Khan, and a few days later, he
was narrating the script to the redoubtable actor. Five minutes after
the narration was over, Khan said yes, just like that. Mehra laughs,
"Aamir said his trademark `achchha', and mentioned that usually he'd
take about two years to decide. He added that it was one of his most
spontaneous decisions ever!"
Of course, he does joke about how creative director, editor and
his life partner, Bharati, would hand in her resignation letter every
time an actor of her choice fell through or Mehra objected to her
cutting patterns. "She wouldn't allow me into the editing studio
during RDB. I had to take prior permission," he reveals.
Mehra's deadpan morphs into animation when he talks about how the
heads of the navy, army and air force were especially proud of RDB
after they saw it at a screening following the furore raised by the
censor board over the apparent controversial depiction of the faulty
MIG planes. "I'm an army school product. As a child, the heads of the
defence forces, who were watching my movie, were my heroes. I was
overwhelmed when they gave the film a clean chit," he smiles. There
was also the brouhaha by animal rights activists over the inclusion of
horses and the controversy about the portrayal of nihangs. All of
which Mehra summarily dismisses as "one big joke".
It's been a long haul for this Delhi graduate, who sold vacuum
cleaners to make his quick bucks. Mehra moved to Mumbai in 1987 to
make 30-second commercials. From hard-selling products to selling
technicolour dreams has been a huge leap. When asked to enumerate his
list of favourite movies, he rattles off a slew of classics like La
Dolce Vita, Seven Samurai, the Kieslowski trilogies, Sujata, Garam
Hawa. And then throws you completely off-kilter by saying he also got
off on V Shantaram's Navrang, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje and hold your
horses, Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli.
A battery of assistants is hard at work on his next feature, which
in all probabilities, will be a comedy. Right now, the IITs from all
over India have asked for special screenings of RDB. The Indian
community in certain pockets of the US too has requested Mehra to fly
down. RDB has verily done for Mehra what Lagaan did for Ashutosh
Gowariker: Empowered him with the freedom to make choices. Like the
message of his film.
He started the fire. We're feeling the heat.
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