Screen presence It was 1970 and I was studying in school in my hometown in Punjab. My elder brother Anil Dhawan had left for Bombay,as it was known then,in 1968 to become an actor. He had joined and graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune and when he was signed by Babu Ram Ishara as the hero opposite Rehana Sultan in his film Chetna,he called us up to break the news. In those days,an outstation call was named as a trunk call. He had informed us about this newspaper called Screen and told us that we would find all information about him there. In those days we had to go all the way to the railway station to pick up a copy. And in the issue there was the news about my brother: Chetna to star Anil Dhawan. I cannot forget that moment. I took the copy of Screen home,marked it and showed it to the entire family. None of us had been to Mumbai,so whatever news we got of him was through Screen. That is what Screen has meant to us since the 70s. It has been a wonderful association. Baby steps Films became a part of our lives then as Anil began getting offers and was a big actor by then. So after I completed my graduation in 74,I decided to come to Mumbai. Around 70-71,three of his films were doing very well at the box-office. I would meet all his friends from the FTII. And there were some very good actors like Shatrughna Sinha. I liked the atmosphere of the Institute but I was finding it difficult to decide which course to do there. As I was nurturing a dream to become an actor,I enrolled for an acting course at FTII. But when I reached there I saw excellent actors like Satish Shah and Suresh Oberoi. By then everyone knew that I was Anils brother so I thought to myself,Yahaan meri dal nahin galne wali. I went to meet Roshan Taneja,who was the head of the acting department,and told him that I did not want to do the course. Since there was an option to take up something else,he suggested editing,and I filled the form,just like that. I had a brief idea of what editing was since I had accompanied my brother to Ranjit Studios in Bombay where Mahendra Batra,a renowned editor in those days,was editing Ram Dayals film. Batra was Anils roommate. I got excited watching him at work. One thing that I realised then was that editing played a major part in filmmaking,for one has to know how to cut scenes immaculately. That was my basic knowledge and nothing more. Kakaji,the caretaker of FTII had been serving there was almost 25 years. He was not educated but he knew every aspect of filmmaking. He taught me many things. We were shown one film every day. One day,I saw Ritwik Ghataks Meghe Dhaka Tara and that changed my whole mental state. It was a black-and-white film with no sub-titles. I started crying in the theatre,I came home depressed. It was a small film but it had a wide gamut of emotions. And I thought,This is filmmaking. What a great director! and that inspired me to become serious about my work. I started watching a lot of films and was working really hard. I topped my class in 76 where Renu Saluja,who later went on to become a reputed editor,was my classmate. Struggle period Then the actual struggle began. In 1976,I again set my foot in Mumbai and first I had to look for accommodation. I started living with six friends in Santacruz East as a paying-guest. I stayed there for quite some time but later my father,who was returning from Hong Kong after retiring from his service with a bank,bought me a small house for Rs 3 lakh. I got married and shifted to that house in 82. Till then I worked as an editor in 70 films. I can easily term that as the best phase of my life. I started editing in 76 with Sawan Kumar Taks Saajan Bina Suhagan. I followed it up with Rajendra Kumars Love Story and went on to edit many other movies. I turned to direction in 89 with Taaqatwar and after that I never edited any films except my own. During that time I was working on Mukul Anands Agneepath but one day I went to him and said Mere se nahin hoga. Since I am involved with my own film I cannot concentrate on this one. It is not right as I will not be able to give my 100 percent to your film. Then Waman-Guru took over. That year,I had also edited Mahesh Bhatts Naam and Saaransh. Bahut kaam kiya hai. I am now in my 35th year in the film industry. The big leap Taaqatwar,my first film,starred Sanjay Dutt and Govinda and since then I have shared a very strong bond with both of them. My relation with Sanju goes back to 25 years. I had edited his films earlier and he was instrumental in pushing me as a director by recommending me to producers. I love working with Govinda too. Both are great actors. I enjoyed working with Rishi Kapoor too. I have had a successful journey and met some very nice people on the way. Presently I am shooting Rascals with Sanju and Ajay Devgn and even my sons - Rohit and Varun are paving their way into the film industry. What more can I ask? Rascal is my next film Sanjay and Ajay play con artists and are pucca kaminas in the film. This is the second time I am working with Ajay after Hum Kisise Kum Nahin. Sanju is like family and I have enjoyed working with Ajay in this film. He was always a good actor. But I was amazed to see how he has grown as a performer. Ajay and Sanju share a great rapport,they are like brothers. Kangna Ranaut plays the female lead. She is passionate about acting,believes in rehearsals and works a lot on her looks too. Arjun Rampal has a special appearance in this film. Though I have known him for long,I never got an opportunity to work with him earlier. I think he is the most stylish actor today in Hindi cinema.
