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The flight of fifty

As the Nadiadwalas complete 50 years in business, Sajid Nadiadwala reflects on the past and the future

SON SHINE Sajid Nadiadwala is striving for technical excellence while retaining the tag of family entertainer

They might not have got the sheen of the Chopras and Kapoors, but over the years the Nadiadwalas have been able to create a space among people for whom cinema spells unalloyed entertainment.

When the production house recently completed 50 years of existence, names like Jeet, Judwaa and Mujh Se Shaadi Karoge came to the mind but a little research shows that the family has films like Dulhan, Taj Mahal, Chitralekha and Pathar Ke Sanam to its credit. Interestingly, Yash Chopra's failed directorial venture, Parampara was also produced by the Nadiadwalas.

It was A.K. Nadiadwala, a construction magnate who established the company under the name of Pushpa Pictures. "The first film was Inspector starring Ashok Kumar and Geeta Bali," says Sajid Nadiadwala, the grandson who has revived the company after a lull with three successful films in a row. "Our films have a universal appeal and are made for family entertainment. There has been violence in the certain films but we have never gone overboard. Also comedy has always been a key ingredient in our films but here again we have never been crass. We are more like the Disney's in Hollywood."

High on technique

Of late their films have noticed for technical excellence, particularly Awara Pagal Deewana and Aan, which were produced by Sajid's brother Firoz. "We believe today films have to be technically garnished well without fiddling with the Indian soul of the script. See, Lagaan, Gadar and recently Rang De Basanti all have been rooted to Indian ethos but all three are high on technical finesse." Now Sajid is experimenting with double role concept that he successfully put on screen in Judwaa. "Generally what happens that the double comes across the original in the climax or a limited number of scenes, we wish to make him part of most of the script. We are also working with Hollywood technicians on motion control that we used in a fight sequence between Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan in Mujh Se Shaadi Karogi, where the actors took multiple forms."From the times of Shakti Samanta, who was just one film old when he got to direct Inspector, the Nadiadwalas are known to work with relatively new directors. "They come with fresh mindsets," says Sajid pointing towards Shirish Kunder, who is making his debut with Jaaneman, again starring Sajid's favourite Salman with Akshay and Preity Zinta.

With three films ready to go on floors, ask him about the winds of experimentation in Bollywood and Sajid avers people like Sanjay Gupta and Ram Gopal Varma have indeed brought in new concepts but he would like to stick to his territory of family entertainers. "There is space for both Mughlai and Chinese but I don't want to serve Chinese."

ANUJ KUMAR

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