The God of Small Things

Tarachand’s grandson is the man Hrithik Roshan calls Buddha. Because, unlike the grandeur and razzmatazz of blockbusters like Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, 40-year-old Sooraj Barjatya is all downplay. The flagbearer of ‘hum sab achche log hain’ cinema is just another shy guy who still slips his CV in with every press kit.

‘‘I know the consensus is that my films are all sweet and sugary, but as a film-maker, it’s my right to give hope to my audience,’’ he says. That audience is the moderately conservative, average middle class household—‘‘the teachers, Parsi managers, homemakers and government servants’’. That’s why his hero, the perennial Prem, is always a seedha saadha gharelu kind of guy. ‘‘I like nice guys and try to be one myself,’’ he says, flashing a smile.

Much before Karan Johar made it cool to love your parents, it was Barjatya’s family fundas that set the box office alight. Hum Aapke Hain Kaun remains Bollywood’s biggest money maker till date, while Maine Pyar Kiya began the wave of yuppie love stories that culminated with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

‘‘I decided to become a director after watching Hum Aapke Hain Kaun,’’ declares Johar. The caffeine- and-conversation expert says Barjatya also showed the real potential of Bollywood films. ‘‘Before Soorajji, we had no idea that Hindi films could make this kind of money. Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun changed the face of the box office. He was the man of the ’90s,’’ says Johar.

But in the new order, Barjatya can’t make up his mind about where he’s headed. If 1999’s Hum Saath Saath Hain suffered from an over-dependence on the Ramayana, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, four years later, tried too hard to be hip. Both met with a lukewarm response at the box office.

The failure of Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon hit Barjatya badly. ‘‘I took it personally. The one thing I want from movies is appreciation, and that’s something I didn’t get from Main Prem…,’’ he shrugs. But the director accepts that the blame lies squarely at his door. ‘‘I’m too traditional to let go of my roots. I tried to make a modern film and ended up confused.’’ After the debacle, he totally cut himself off from public view.

Two years later, he’s back and ready to start afresh. ‘‘I’ve finally realised that they didn’t like what I made doesn’t mean they don’t like me as a maker,’’ he says. Under his creative supervision, Rajshri Productions has ventured into television software. Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki on Sahara One is about the trials of a rich girl who marries into a middle class family. ‘‘Television has lost its values. This is our attempt to get them back,’’ he says.

Family remains the raison d’ etre of all Rajshri ventures. And it’s Barjatya’s core strength too. ‘‘We are 14 people in one house. And we still have the same kitchen,’’ he adds. On that home front, there’s an army waiting in the wings: His cousin Kavita is being groomed to take over the day-to-day running of the serial; another cousin, Rajat, looks after the marketing duties of the production house. But the pulse point of the Rajshri enterprise is Rajkamal Barjatya, the director’s father.

An enterprise that insists on its own rules and regulations. And yet, turning the star power equation on its head, actors willingly make all sorts of adjustments to comply. On the non-smoking, vegetarian Rajshri set, Kareena Kapoor gives up her meat and Salman Khan his nicotine fix. ‘‘I think somewhere they sense our sincerity,’’ says Barjatya.

Or maybe it’s because Barjatya’s the most patient guy around. He speaks softly, enacts scenes for his actors and doesn’t start a sentence without a ‘please’.

Abhishek Bachchan, the third in the Main Prem… triangle, recalls how he managed to piss Barjatya off. ‘‘It’s the greatest achievement of my life. Sooraj threw the mic because Bebo (Kareena) and I weren’t listening to him. Now, how many actors can boast of having made Sooraj Barjatya angry,’’ grins Bachchan. But, three years on, Barjatya still castigates himself for that slip. ‘‘That was by far the most impulsive thing I’ve done on a set,’’ he grimaces.

More than 16 years in the A-list might have quelled his impulses, but even Barjatya had a wild side once. Tales abound of how he and Khan got atop a Mumbai local in the midst of shooting for their hit, Maine Pyar Kiya. ‘‘That was so far back,’’ he murmurs.

But, unarguably, there’s history with Khan. They struggled together and both had a point to prove. ‘‘His extrovert behaviour complements my shyness,’’ says Barjatya. Though he gave him a miss in Main Prem..., the director is sketching another Prem for Khan.

In the meantime, Barjatya’s on a project with newcomers. Though he refuses to divulge much, rest assured, the central theme will remain love. But if Barjatya were to take Prem’s advice, he’d switch to action flicks, ‘‘But I tell Salman ki kabhi chaku nahin uthaya, toh kya kissi ko maarenge.’’