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Message is the spirit!
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Producer-director Ravi Chopra in conversation with ANUJ KUMAR
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The right blend Ravi Chopra in New Delhi
Stepping into the father’s shoes is not easy. Ravi Chopra, son of B.R. Chopra, the man behind films like Naya Daur, Gumrah, Insaaf Ka Tarazu and Nikah, realised this early. After assisting his father as also his uncle, Yash Chopra, he came into his own and delivered films like The Burning Train, Mazdoor and Baghban. Best known for his tele-series Mahabharat, Ravi has now come up with Sujata on Sony Entertainment Television. Meanwhile, his production Bhoothnath is ready for release. Excerpts from an interview:
BR Films has been able to mix entertainment with message quite successfully for the last five decades. What’s the formula?
Keep it simple. We don’t start with looking for a message, as it will appear forced. No director makes films for his own consumption. The first criterion is an interesting story which has entertainment value. Then we subtly bring in the message. Be it Naya Daur or Insaaf Ka Tarazu we always try to provide solutions to the issues we raise. Sujata deals with how middle-aged women find themselves lonely despite being surrounded by the family. How the husband and the children forget her sacrifices. After showing the mirror to the society , we will move on to how she can make her presence felt.
Why do we generally see housewives crying on the small screen?
It depends on what the audiences want. If they make Taare Zameen Par a hit, they would get more films of the same quality. But if they throng for Race, which I personally didn’t like, some filmmakers will feel encouraged to try similar confusing subjects. Television as a medium is much younger than cinema in our country. It has yet to learn how to balance the commercial and aesthetic values. The scenario is, however, improving for sure.
Doesn’t making Amitabh Bachchan play a ghost amount to under-utilising him?
No, (laughs) he would be seen all through the film. Yes, Shah Rukh is in a guest appearance, as the father of the kid who makes friends with Bhoothnath.
It is very rare that BR Films give the responsibility of direction to somebody (Vivek Sharma) outside the family.
The film is Vivek’s idea. I didn’t want to fiddle with his perspective. As for the family, these days you can’t survive on one film for four years. The banner needs more output, and for this you need more creative minds.”
Do you believe in psychological counseling of child artistes? In our setup there is no such requirement. One needs to keep the environment light. Aman (the child artiste) loves to play cricket. I encouraged him. As soon as the shot was over, I used to ask one of the assistants to play with him. We do keep an ambulance on the sets for any emergency.Your films Baghban and Baabul propagate joint family. Do you personally believe in the concept?
Yes, we do. Yash uncle still comes every day to have lunch with us.
In the season of mythologicals…Weren’t you offered to remake Mahabharat?
I got the offer from a couple of channels but I refused. It amounts to bankruptcy of ideas. That’s why I don’t remake any of my father’s films.
How about a film?
The project is on. We are working on the script. We want to make it in two parts. The first will end at the cheer haran episode and the rest will be covered in the second part. We plan to release them within a space of four weeks.
The colour version of Naya Daur didn’t do well at box office. Is the experiment still on?
Very much. We are now colouring Gumrah. The idea is to bring these timeless stories to today’s audiences who don’t watch them because they were shot in black and white. Even channels have more or less stopped showing black and white films. It was never my idea to make money with these films. It is a gift to my father. Naya Daur could have done better if it were the solo release of the week. Unfortunately, the distributors didn’t listen to me and it was released along with Cash and Gandhi My Father.
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