The last goodbye

Rakesh Roshan, Ravi Chopra, Daisy Irani and Nagesh Kukunoor at the Screen jury in 2007

That life is transient is an oft-repeated cliché, but the realisation never kicks in until suddenly, out-of-the-blue, news of a fond acquaintance departing for the heavenly abode makes its way to your inbox or phone. The most recent of such instances was when news of film-maker Ravi Chopra’s demise made its way on Twitter. Mr Chopra was among the Screen Jury members and certainly one who would fall in the ‘fair’ category. He was fair, frank and a lot of fun. With him around, there was never a dull moment what with much leg-pulling and ribbing of co-jurors, Rakesh Roshan in particular. Given his joie-de-vivre, we would occasionally pick- his- brains on the fascinating business of cinema, but the last couple of years, given his ill-health, meeting him was difficult. Just a week ago, when an audio compilation of Bhagwad Gita chants from Renu and Ravi Chopra reached me, I had made a mental note to call in and congratulate him on his film Bhootnath Returns that released earlier this year. Well, as it turns out, it was not to be.
However, the silver lining, if any, in the given circumstance is the fact that intrepid film-makers such as Chopra get immortalised through their work that they create. The epic show Mahabharat co-directed by him, that ran on Doordarshan almost two decades ago, remains a benchmark for all future versions. It surpassed Ramayana (which had aired earlier) in terms of production quality, what with better special-effects and a cast packed with impressive performers. Actors like Nitish Bhardwaj, Rupa Ganguly, Gufi Paintal and Mukesh Khanna became household names across India, because of the show’s success. In keeping with the theme of tradition and family values which formed the backbone of all entertainment shows from their banner, his film Baghban starring Hema Malini and Amitabh Bachchan found resonance with a cross-section of elderly people around India.
Bhootnath Returns, an intriguing satire of sorts on the elections and the state of the nation, directed by Nitesh Tiwari was a good effort by his wife and sons at resurrecting the fortunes of their production house which had taken a dip in recent years. Although Chopra is no more, his young sons Abhay (who aims to direct) and Kapil are likely to take the family legacy forward. After all, the show must go on.

A Happy Ending

On certain occasions interviews, even those that come around the release of a film turn into happy events as they did with actor Saif Ali Khan who was promoting his forthcoming film Happy Ending. Khan who recently impressed everyone with his turn at writing —he wrote a rather lucid and heartfelt editorial about love jihad in The Indian Express—made for an engaging interviewee, holding forth on books, writing, politics and then some more. Not all of the conversation has made it on the pages, but suffice to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, religion, the creative crisis within the film industry and sundry topics were discussed at length. It’s a rare occasion when interviews go beyond movie promotion and compel you in a direction other than checking out box-office figures. This once, I was reminded that I have so far only read an abridged version of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Hearing Khan rattle off the complex, but impressive first line has encouraged me to pull out the old classics from the shelves and re-discover the joy of reading them. A happy ending indeed!