Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra is one of the most successful people in Hindi cinema, having produced blockbusters such as Munna Bhai MBBS and 3 Idiots. Much like the protagonist of Munna Bhai, the movie that made him quite a wealthy man, Chopra doesn’t mince his words when talking about Bollywood, and how the industry works. He recently talked about collaborating with many filmmakers and actors who went on to become big names, and commented on how success changes a human being.
During a Creator x Creator episode hosted by SCREEN, Chopra sat down with director Jaskunwar Kohli, who made the documentary Zero Se Restart, based on the making of Chopra’s 12th Fail. Kohli wanted to know Chopra’s philosophy behind hiring people to work for him and why he leans towards new faces and inexperienced talent. Chopra replied, “There is more purity in new people, less corruption. Many people who assisted me have become great filmmakers today; when I meet them now, I can see the difference. When they worked with me, there was a certain purity. Unfortunately, if I cast a new face in my film and that one movie does well, it changes them.”
While he didn’t mention the name of any filmmakers, Chopra did name some actors who he thinks have changed since their position in the film industry has improved. “I’ve worked with so many people and I’ve seen them change. Mission Kashmir was Hrithik Roshan’s first film… Vidya Balan’s first film… Boman Irani’s first film… There’s a whole list, I don’t know how many. As they become successful, all of them, this isn’t an individual thing, they change. That’s why I like people who are nobodies, because once you become somebody, you don’t remain the same person,” he said.
Chopra added that producers, directors, and actors don’t care anymore about what they are creating, as long as it is selling well enough. He said, “The people only care about the hits these days. No one has a vision, and no one wants to create for the joy of creating. They make one massive film with a Rs 400 crore box office collection, and suddenly they start walking differently.” Chopra even gave an example of this and told a story of a producer he used to work with and how his entire personality changed after one of his films found success.
“There was a producer who I knew, and he was always very polite while talking and had a soft demeanour. Suddenly one day, he meets me with his chest puffed and some weight in his voice. I asked him, ‘Teri koi picture hit ho gayi (Did one of your films succeed)?’ He said, ‘Sir, you know everything; my film did succeed.’ I told him that I had no idea that one of his films worked; all I knew was that his spine is connected to his bank balance, and that’s why he was walking upright. These days the spine is always connected to the bank balance and not the quality of their work,” concluded Chopra.
Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.
