Film Industry: Apoorva Lakhia's Interview

Apoorva Lakhia's Interview

Sanju sir was larger than life even in school

Apoorva Lakhia, 45, has had his share of affairs, but is happily single. He loves playing cricket for Sohail Khan’s CCL team and is living his dream. He travels to broaden his horizons and loves cooking. While he loves the process of filmmaking, he dislikes the backbiting and bitching that goes on all the time. Apoorva is his own person and finds solace at home, reading and watching films by himself. He knows that a director is always in a lonely position. Despite him being the least experienced on the set, everyone looks at him for assurance. He is judged by everyone around him all the time and even though he may not be sure always of what he is doing, he cannot show it and yet needs to keep everyone aligned to his vision. He has learnt from his failures and knows that you are only as good as your last Friday. Over an hour-long conversation in his swanky Juhu flat, designed by his younger architect brother, he talks about his strong mother, the legendary punishment tales of Sanjay Dutt at Sanawar and why a Sanawarian will always be loyal. Excerpts:

Let’s talk about your childhood? I come from a middle-class Gujarati family and was born in Ahmedabad. My father was a businessman and my mother, a weaver and sculptor. When I was seven, I was sent to The Lawrence School, Sanawar, that was a boarding school. It was originally called the Royal Military School of Sanawar and was opened to educate the kids of the British officers, who were ruling India. It was basically a school for the armed forces, but that year, the headmaster was trying to expand the base beyond North India, so he came to Ahmedabad and said, ‘If you send your kids, we will not have an entrance exam for them.’ My mom knew I would anyway not be able to clear an entrance test, so she sent me. That was also the time when my parents got divorced. The good thing about school was that even though we had a huge disparity of class and caste (there were rich kids like Ness Wadia and Sumant Bharat Ram along with kids of armed forces), school was a big leveller. The uniform was compulsory and we were not allowed to get home food, your parents were only allowed to meet you on defined days, so we really did not know who is who until we got out. No one was allowed to wear fancy sports shoes, we were not allowed any pocket money except for 7 a week that the school gave us. The only way you knew someone was loaded was if their parents came in an imported car. My best friends were Owais Husain (MF Husain’s son) who now lives in Dubai and Vikas, who is the head of McKinsey, South Africa. We had our beds together from 1978 to 86 and we are really close. Friendship and loyalty has been installed in each of us from Sanawar. We grew up with the moral code that you never stab a friend behind his back and never tattletale about a classmate. Your unity at school is taken for granted and it is understood that you need to help a Sanawarian in need. So, even today, if someone wants to get into films from school and they want to meet me, it is imperative for me to meet them.

Does boarding school distance you from your parents emotionally? You miss them when you join school initially, but it’s great fun to come back for holidays as you get treated specially and can eat whatever you want for those 45 days when you’re at home. And because they have missed you so much, they let you get away with a lot.

How did you get into films? I got fascinated with making films in Class XI and dropped out of college after first year. I needed to get out to broaden my horizons and went to Delhi with the aim of saving money and getting into NYU to study filmmaking. My first job was as an LBS courier boy, after which I worked for Chor Bizarre restaurant as a person who shows you where to sit down, after which I got a job with KLM cargo which was great as I got free tickets to travel. So, eventually, I did get to America but could not afford film school. After working for three years in KLM I moved to the US. My mom at that time was studying and living there. I was bar tending at a bar when I met a Hollywood producer for lunch, where she was interviewing someone for a production assistant’s job. I was overhearing her conversation and as soon as I got a chance I told her that I was from India and wanted to work in films. She gave me her number and after 40 days of hounding her, I got my first job in Miami without pay as the production assistant for Mira Nair’s The Perez Family. I got to assist Ang Lee, on The Ice Storm, Oscar winning director Andrew Davis on A Perfect Murder with Michael Douglas and finally on Flawless starring Robert De Niro, before I returned to India to assist Ashutosh Gowariker on Lagaan. Vicky Nihalani gave me my first break as director with Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost that did not do well and I was again out of work. I met Amitji once and he said, ‘Appu, why don’t you make a movie with me?’ And we made Ek Ajnabee. Sanjay Gupta then asked me to direct Shootout At Lokhandwala that became a blockbuster. Again Mission Istaanbul happened that did not do well and three years later, I have now made Zanjeer.

Who are your friends in the industry? Abhishek (Bachchan) and Sanju (Dutt) sir.

What is Sanjay like? I first saw him when he was in Class XII and I was in Class VI. We all knew him due to his legendary parents. He was larger than life even in school. Just the way he is now, he really did not give a shit and did what he wanted to. His punishment tales were legendary. He was once asked to put bricks in a rug sack and crawl up a slope called Tillies hill as he was so naughty. He must have broken bounds or must have kissed some girl at night. His gang of friends included his current lawyer as well as Bunty Walia. I first met him only during the premiere of Mission Kashmir in the US and I went up to him and said, ‘Hi sir, I am your junior from Sanawar.’ He hugged me and said, ‘Bro, if you ever need anything, call me.’ So after six years, when I came to Mumbai I did call him and since then, he has been extremely supportive of me. He is a really loyal guy. I get a little leeway with him due to the Sanawar thing. I could always walk into his house anytime and would always have more to talk to him, apart from just the film industry.

How is Abhishek? He is a really nice and loyal friend and I am really proud to be his friend. He is simple and supportive. Actually, his whole family has been supportive of me. We have been on a couple of holidays together, prior to his marriage. He is definitely more intelligent than people think he is and is well read. He has his grandfather’s sense of poetry. He is actually an intellectual and there is more to him than just being a Bachchan.

Who are you most attached to? My mother. She was the first woman in the first batch of NID and has always been liberal and creative. She plays an extremely important part in my life and I talk to her everyday. She is awesome, extremely religious, really straight and never told me not to do anything. My father was always more conservative. She remarried five years post her divorce to a junior of hers from NID. When I would come back from school, I would be with both my parents. My mother has always been honest with me and has written the most honest letters to me. One of the letters she wrote said, ‘Divorce does not mean that we don’t love you. We love you individually, but just don’t get along as people. And that does not mean you will be lacking anything and you will be a stronger person’. She told her second husband, ‘I won’t have more children.’ He was really supportive and was a buddy to me, who passed away three years back. She is a strong woman and exudes confidence. She told me at a young age, ‘Don’t be scared of failure. It will make you a better person.’ When my first film flopped she said, ‘You have come from Ahmedabad and made a film. There are so many people who want to do that, but can’t make it. Now that it has not done well, the only way you can go is up.’ She has never told me that I can’t do anything or I can’t achieve anything and she will tell me to my face if she does not like my film.

It’s inevitable that your film will be compared to the original Zanjeer. Does that stress you? There is backlash we get for making remakes, but the reason we make them is not because we are trying to tell anyone that we are better than you. We have made this film as a tribute to people who have made the previous one and I have always been a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan. This movie greatly influenced me when I was young due to the creation of the angry young man who was anti-establishment and was a first of its kind. I hope that people go and see the film for its entertainment value and not for the comparison.