PROMINENT Bollywood filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani says his father had wanted him to be a chartered accountant. And like any obedient son, he became one to make his father happy.
But inside, Rajkumar was miserable. “I can never understand money,” says the 56-year-old who was in Kuala Lumpur recently to give a talk at the third Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFF).
Eventually, Rajkumar found the courage to tell his father that he did not want to be a chartered accountant. He had expected his father to be furious with him.
But that did not happen. The last thing his father wanted was for Rajkumar to be miserable. So he joined his father in selling typewriters and calculators.
During his free time, Rajkumar became actively involved in theatre, acting and directing which gave him the keys to express himself.
His father saw his passion for the arts and persuaded him to enter film school. He did, and took a film editing course.
“I am lucky to have a father like him,” says Rajkumar.
Since then, Rajkumar has gone on to produce many of Bollywood’s gems such as 3 Idiots, PK and Sanju. In all his films, he always features an emotional scene between a father and his child.
It’s a way for Rajkumar to show to the world the special place his own father holds in his heart, and in his films.
During his talk at the recent MIFF on ‘how Hindi movies resonated with western audiences’, the filmmaker discloses how he started his career.
He first worked as a film editor, but the experience was not a happy one. He then shifted his attention to the world of advertising, where he did very well. However, he could not stay away from film.
He returned to that world, working as an editor for the 2000 film Mission Kashmir, which was directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
He found that working atmosphere far more positive than in the previous films he had worked on.
“Everyone was passionate about films and what they were doing,” he recalled.
It motivated him to write his first script, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., which he showed to Chopra. The director loved the script and decided to produce it, allowing Rajkumar to direct the film.
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. was released in 2003 and starred Sanjay Dutt as the lead.
The critics loved it and the film went on to become an instant box-office hit. It also won several awards, including India’s 2004 National Film Award for most popular film.
The film’s success encouraged Rajkumar to direct a sequel, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), which also became another box-office success.
Rajkumar believes there is no single formula to capture a world audience. He just makes his films as honest as possible, and hopes the audience will find his honesty refreshing and relatable to their own lives and experiences.
“You cannot prejudge what the world likes,” he adds.
He has heard so many stories of Bollywood producers hiring a mixed cast of Indian and Chinese actors in order to penetrate the China market and make a huge profit.
He does not believe that kind of strategy is fruitful in the long run. To him, the moment one thinks of cinema as a business, everything will fall apart.
He says: “Cinema is an art. It has to come from within. You just have to tell your story honestly and the idea must happen organically.”
Years ago, he was part of a forum alongside the well-known Indian screenwriter duo of Salim-Javed (comprising Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar). He recalls their words clearly till today.
“All they said was [that] a good story is a story that should engage from beginning to end,” said Rajkumar.
“They said [that] during their heyday, many producers approached them to write a screenplay because the producers had a lot of money and could book A-list actors to act in their film.
“No producer ever approached them because they had a great idea [that could be turned into a great script]. That is so sad.”
At the moment, Rajkumar is toying with the idea of directing a second sequel to his first hit, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
If he succeeds, you can bet that it will become another box-office hit.
