In this absorbing memoir, ‘Karma’s Child’, preeminent Bollywood director Subhash Ghai, reflects on his life and career.
By Shevlin Sebastian
In the foreword of ‘Karma’s Child,’ by Subhash Ghai with senior journalist Suveen Sinha, the veteran Bollywood film director gives an unintended warning to wanna-be stars. ‘Countless stars are born in the film industry and just as many fade away; some never to be
heard of again. This is the story of this city of dreams.’
Ghai’s life took an abrupt turn when his parents split up when he was ten years old. His mother returned to Nagpur, where she had a career as a schoolteacher. The three children remained with their father, a dentist, in Delhi.
He had a fraught relationship with his father. Once, when his father slapped him many times, in despair, Ghai poured Neela Tota, a blue vitriol powder, into a glass, added water and drank it. He was rushed to the hospital. The poison was flushed out at the right time.
Ghai enrolled in Vaish College in Rohtak. He excelled as a writer-director of plays and won trophies at the university level. Because of his suicide attempt, Ghai’s father allowed him to apply to the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. He joined the first acting batch in 1963.
In a talent hunt organised by the United Producers Combine (UPC) and Filmfare magazine, he placed in the top five of 200 short-listed candidates. The others included Farida Jalal and Jatin Khanna.
Jatin’s audition took place on a Friday. The next day, there was a crisis meeting at the office of producer-director GP Sippy. The boy he had chosen to be the hero of his next film was not good. So Sippy, who had been on the UPC jury, suggested Jatin’s name. He did the audition, and they selected him.
Jatin later took on the name of Rajesh Khanna. He became the first superstar of Bollywood. For several years after that, Ghai would ponder over what if his audition had taken place on Friday, instead of Monday? Wrote co-author Sinha, ‘It was a thought that would gnaw at him for years.’
When he went to Mumbai, Ghai went to drinking joints in Bandra at night. Members of the Bollywood film industry frequented them. People would have animated discussions about various topics. One night, he met Javed Akhtar, famed scriptwriter and lyricist, who told him, “All these people are mediocre. You are not. You must pretend to be mediocre to mix with them. But, in your mind, you must always know that you are special.”
Ghai always kept this in his mind.
However, he had a tough time establishing himself as an actor even though he acted in several films. Over a period, his mind turned to writing. He met director LV Prasad, whom he admired. Prasad allowed him to work on ‘Parivartan’. And it was a learning experience. As Sinha writes, ‘Prasad’s sense of the scene was astounding. Ghai learned from him how to visualise the audience’s reaction.’
“There could not have been a better classroom for learning how to write a film,” said Ghai.
It was Prasad who also gave tips to Ghai about how to choose a title for a film. “He taught me that a title should be simple, full of meaning, and acceptable to families,” said Ghai. “He once told me a film’s title should be such that a son or daughter would not hesitate to say to their father while stepping out for a show. It should not be ‘Nangi Jawani’ or some such.”
Later, Ghai wrote a script about a police officer and a criminal being doppelgangers and called it ‘Kallicharan’. But there were no takers.
Later, he teamed up with actor Bharat Bhalla and wrote several scripts which became films, like ‘Aakhri Daku’. And when his name spread, one day he met NN Sippy, a well-known producer and distributor. Ghai pitched the story of ‘Kallicharan’. Sippy liked it and allowed Ghai to direct his first film.
As everyone knows, the film was a blockbuster hit and set off Ghai’s stellar career as a director.
Ghai began to experience the emotional ups and downs of a director as he embarked on making ‘Vishwanath’, ‘Gautam Govinda’ and ‘Krodhi’.
‘Making a film can take you on a ride of inconceivable joys and unthinkable sorrows. It can stretch friendships, test relationships, and at times, push you to behave in odd ways. Despite all that, the final film may not be what you wanted it to be.’
And there are sorrows you have to bury soon. When his premature-born son died, the morning after the burial, Ghai had to be on the sets of ‘Gautam Govinda’ to complete a song sequence.
But for another song, Ghai faced a different kind of problem. In ‘Karz’, Ghai wanted Kishore Kumar to sing ‘Om Shanti Om’. But he was finding it difficult to get Kumar. So, music composer Laxmikant sang it. Ghai acknowledged it sounded nice. Laxmikant asked to sing it in the film.
Ghai was in a dilemma. He felt Kishore would be the better bet. Ghai told Laxmikant’s partner Pyarelal about it over dinner. Pyarelal agreed with Ghai’s assessment. In the end, they roped Kishore in. It became a timeless song. But for over a year, Laxmikant did not speak to Ghai.
Ghai concluded: “Not every good singer can be a good playback singer. For instance, few ghazal singers, although great in their way, have been successful at playback singing.”
Ghai also has a heart of gold. When he set up his production company, Mukta Arts, named after his wife, he ensured that the technicians who worked for him received more than the market rate. In case a film was a hit, the technicians’ salaries went up by 20 percent. If it was poor, salaries still went up by 10 percent.
“If I stand on a stage and say that my success is the team’s success, I have to truly share this success with the team,” he said.
Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar offered advice after the box-office success of ‘Hero’. He told Ghai never to move away from his roots, which lay in family values. This was important even when he was making a crime thriller.
Sinha drops some stunning behind-the-scenes incidents.
Following Sanjay Dutt’s imprisonment on TADA charges, Mukta Arts and Mukesh Anand (producers and director of ‘Trimurti’) decided to replace him. Several names came up, including Aditya Pancholi. But Ghai opted for Anil Kapoor.
Soon after, Kapoor began receiving threatening calls from an unknown number. He went to the police. When law enforcement investigated, they traced it to a hotel room in which Pancholi was staying. He confessed he did it because he was disappointed at not getting the role. Kapoor did not press charges against Pancholi.
This is a book which abounds in anecdotes that keep the reader gripped throughout. You get an idea of the Bollywood of the 1980s and 1990s and of the background stories of Ghai’s films like ‘Vidhaata’, ‘Hero’, ‘Ram Lakhan’, ‘Saudagar’, ‘Khal Nayak’, ‘Pardes’ and ‘Taal’.
You understand what a director goes through as he travels through the minefield of getting an idea, writing a script, finding the producer and the actors and then making the film against innumerable odds.
After all that, the result is decided on one day, the Friday when the movie is released. Street buzz and today, social media, will decide whether the movie is a hit or a flop. Two flops in a row, and a director will feel that one foot of his is already out of Bollywood. That is how precarious careers are in Bollywood.
And yet, with 12 blockbuster hits, Ghai proved to be one of its most enduring and accomplished directors.
(An abridged version was published in the Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)
