Calling the shots

A background in advertising. High-profile campaigns like Pepsi, Coke and Ruf-n-tuff shoes. A debut film picked up by Columbia Tristar for...

A background in advertising. High-profile campaigns like Pepsi, Coke and Ruf-n-tuff shoes. A debut film picked up by Columbia Tristar for distribution. And yet, the man behind this string of credits is soft-spoken to the point of being almost shy about himself. Ask him about his career, and you have a first class oral resume instantly available.

The director of Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, Raj Kaushal, seems an unlikely candidate trying to make it in the chaotic world of showbiz. But for him it seems a natural choice. quot;I decided to see what the difference was between telling a story in 30 seconds on a small screen with the product as hero and three hours on a big screen with people as heroes.quot; So, he became an assistant to Subhash Ghai and Mukul Anand on Trimurti.

The film may have flopped but Raj struck gold 8212; he found his true calling. He quit his job with Oamp;M and turned independent producer, working on ads like Surf and Bombay Dyeing. During this time, he met Shailendra Sen of TygerProductions, and an idea for a film sprang up 8212; literally out of nowhere. quot;Within three days, we had started the script, and 15 days later we had recorded the first song.quot;

Equally impromptu was the choice of Rinke Khanna 8212; a happy fluke. Someone just mentioned her, she was approached and she agreed. Just like that? quot;Just like that. That is the thing about Rinke. Either she8217;ll agree or not. There are no two ways about it.quot;

There is no doubt either that Raj8217;s entire career is hinging on this film. A fact that makes him go silent. While he is not keen to discuss the fate of his film, he is happy to go into detail about the making of Pyaar Mein8230;. The cast, for instance, was literally chosen off the streets to play drama school students. The fun the entire unit had shooting the film. The method that finally emerged out of the madness.

Quite like a leaf out of his own book. Raj has no filmi blood in his family. His father is in the Diplomatic Services, his sister and her husband look after theLintas operations in South-East Europe. Even Raj was headed in that direction. quot;I was all set to leave for the United States, when things just fell into place here. And it8217;s been good ever since.quot; Really good actually. Now, after his marriage to Mandira Shanti Bedi, earlier this year, he has firm ties with the entertainment business.

Ties that have not been easy forging. quot;The film industry is the kind of place where people find it difficult to be up-front about anything. I learnt early on that if I want something, I8217;ll have to do it myself, because people will agree now, deny later. These are the breaks, and you just have to learn to live with them.quot; His attempt at change has been the introduction of a unit that functions like an agency team. Best way to beat them, he grins.

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quot;On a serious note, I8217;d say that the film industry has changed me dramatically I8217;ve learned to be a lot more patient now than ever before, and I have understood the meaning of the word persistence.quot;

What next? quot;Let the film comeout and then we shall see.quot;