It was an imaginative story of an aam Hindustani, who went on to become a superhero of sorts. In a generation that had not seen anything like this on the silver screen, Mr . India, directed by Shekhar Kapur, starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Amrish Puri, achieved cult status. As the film completes 30 years this month, India's invisible man, the mighty Mogambo and the sizzling and haughty Ms. Hawa Hawai remain iconic and unforgettable. The man, Boney Kapoor, who was called the “Hero of the film“ for showing sheer guts for backing it as a producer, reminisces the making of the film and the magical effect of Mr .India. Read on...
`PICTURE AISI BANAO KI LOGON KO THEATRE JAANA HI PAD JAAYE'
We had a dream team for Mr . India, and at that point of time, I think I was the youngest guy behind the scenes. The spirit of the team was fantastic, including all the kids. We had created a classroom kind of space for them, so that their friends and family could join them. There was a lavish menu on the cards every day . We shot the film for over 350 days. Back then, a film with an A-list star (Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna and Vinod Khanna) would cost nothing above `40-50 lakhs. I'm talking only about the single-hero projects; of course, films like Sholay and Karma were multi-starrers and were made on a different scale. I spent close to `3.80 crores on Mr India. I don't think that even a big film like Karma spent this kind of money (Subhash Ghai will hit me for this).
Films would take around 80-100 days to shoot, but we took three times more than that. Sri's (Sridevi) mother would allot 3540 days for most of her films, but she made an exception for us. We were shooting for so long that there was immense curiosity about the project. So many actors like Jeetendra and Shashi Kapoor would drop in on the sets that we had erected in Versova (by the beach) for months, just to see what it was all about. Jeetuji said, `Tum log bana kya rahe ho? Jitne mein meri picture banti hai, utna tumne sirf iss set pe kharcha kiya hai'. Around the time Mr India had released, international circuit mein piracy bahut zyada thi. Everyone was talking about it, but I said, `Let's make a film that people would be forced to watch on the big screen'. Picture aisi banao ki logon ko theatre jaana hi pad jaaye.
`SALIM-JAVED WERE TO PRODUCE MR INDIA WITH AMITABH BACHCHAN'
I had the guts to back Mr India when no one did. I never had a budget, I was just passionate about the film and I went all out. I was mighty impressed with the way Shekhar narrated the film in just five-six minutes. I signed him up the next day for `70,000, while at that time, the signing amount was about `10,000.
Initially, Salim-Javed were sup posed to produce Mr .India with Amitabh Bachchan.
There was even talk that Ramesh Sippy was consider ing it, but he felt it was too expensive for a single-hero project. In fact, Javed saab was the one who suggested Shekhar's name, and we all decided to go ahead.
`I HAD SEEN SRIDEVI'S CHIFFON SAREE LOOK IN JAANBAAZ, SO I ASKED SHEKHAR... `CAN WE BETTER THAT SONG?''
It was a perception that Anil would be missing in the film. They thought he was crazy to play a man who keeps dis appearing and I was crazy to make the film. In fact, Anil is there throughout the film. Mr. India is his most iconic character. Nobody could do the role like him. I don't know how it would have been if Amitabh Bachchan had done it.
Maybe, it would be designed differently , because at that point, he carried the image of the angry young man. I remember that we picked up Anil's jacket from Mumbai's famous Chor Bazaar, it was n't customised. He wore his old jeans and only his shirt was stitched. For the song Kaate Nahin Kat Te, we got an elabo rate outfit designed for Sri, but I changed my mind. I had seen her chiffon saree look in Jaanbaaz, and Feroz Khan had picturised it fabulously . So, I told Shekhar Kapur, `Can we better that song?' I wanted everything to be handled aesthetically . Also, all that you see in the film was shot in real-time. From the special effects to the fightsequences, nothing was done in post.
`MR. INDIA WAS THE LAST RELEASED FILM THAT SALIMJAVED WROTE TOGETHER'
When the script was narrated to me, we didn't have the villain's track, that was reworked later. It so happened that Pramod Chakravorty (director of films like Love in Tokyo and Dream Girl) had a mahurat planned with Amitabh Bachchan for some film. Somehow, he couldn't reach the event, and Amitabh's recorded voice was played on the speaker.That's where they got the seed of the idea and then, they worked on the script.Unfortunately , they (Salim-Javed) parted, and I think this was their last released film as co-writers, but actually , they had worked on the structure way before I started shooting.
`ALMOST EVERY VILLAIN IN THE INDUSTRY WANTED TO BE MOGAMBO'
Those days, superhero films like Superman and Batman were gaining popularity here, and Shekhar wanted something on those lines which was larger than life. Almost every villain in the industry wanted to do this part. Javed saab said that his takia kalam would be `Mogambo khush hua' and we all jumped at it. He even predicted that the line will be remembered for as long as film industry exists.The challenge was to create the aura that Sholay's Gabbar (Singh, played by Amjad Khan) had, or come as close.While we had auditioned a couple of actors, Amrish Puri was at the back of my mind as Hum Paanch had just catapulted his villainous stature in the industry . A massive set was constructed at RK Studios to shoot Mogambo's sequences.
`I'VE BACKED MY DIRECTOR'S VISION'
I am blamed for being overindulgent, but I'm not. I am just very honest, and I like to give everything I do, my all. I have been blessed that actors have backed me and I have backed my directors' vision. I have been brought up in the backyard of Raj Kapoor; my entire childhood was in their house, seeing Shammi Kapoor and Raj Kapoor reacting to their films. My father (film producer Surinder Kapoor) started his career as an assistant to K. Asif, so I grew up hearing conversations and stories about how lavishly they shot and envisioned their films, including Mughal-E-Azam. Perhaps, subconsciously, it stayed with me always. My father was a large-hearted person. He encouraged Anil and me and had blind faith in us, without ever questioning our decisions. I have done over 30 films and not every film has been lavish. Some films need that kind of scale. For Pukar, we went to Alaska and Mexico, which was rare back then. I have shot 12 of my films in North America. Also, in those days, AR Rahman was the biggest prize catch for a film, but for Pukar, without talking money and dates, he straightaway gave me a confirmation, saying, `You are the producer of Mr . India, I will do it'.Mr .India is one film that opened on a Wednesday in some centres, because there was a rush and theatre owners couldn't control the crowd.
`SRIDEVI DANCED TO HAWA HAWAI ON STAGE, IT WAS HER FIRST LIVE PERFORMANCE AS AN ACTRESS'
People talk about branding and marketing now, we did such exciting promotions years ago.For Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, I got singing and dancing dolls made of Anil and Sri.Before Mr .India released, there was an India-West Indies match at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium, where Anil landed in a helicopter in his Mr .India get-up.Sridevi performed on stage as an actress for the first time during the Hope `86 concert in Kolkata, where she danced to the song Hawa Hawai. She was nervous before the show, and it was also the first time that out of sheer shock or joy , or whatever the emotion was then, she came off the stage and held me. I was crazy about her, and that made my day .
`WOULD I LIKE TO MAKE MR. INDIA 2? YES, I WOULD LOVE TO'
In every era, there are films that open doors like Awara, Barsaat, Ganga Jumna, Sangam, Bobby, Sholay, Kranti, 3 Idiots, Dangal and Baahubali. I don't follow any benchmark, I only trust my instincts. Yes, I went through major lows, but there was nothing that could stop me. I was also fortunate to get an opportunity to work with some of the biggest stars of the film industry .Would I like to make Mr .India 2? Yes, I would love to. I am itching to make a few more films like Mr .India, Wanted and No Entry.
`SRI AND I NEVER CARRY OUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP ON THE SET. WHILE SHOOTING FOR MOM, WE WERE STAYING IN THE SAME HOTEL, BUT ON DIFFERENT FLOORS'
The dynamics are not different when I am working with my family . For instance, when we were shooting for Mom (his next production, starring wife Sridevi in the lead) in Noida, Sri and I were in same hotel, but we were staying on different floors. She wanted her space and I wanted mine. We never carry our personal relationship on the set and Sri is too focussed and dedicated to get distracted by anything.
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