Does a filmmaker retain objectivity to judge his work after the film is completed? My experience says ‘no’. The filmmaker is so emotionally involved with his creation that it is impossible for him to disconnect with his art. Many years ago Manoj Kumar confessed to me in an interview that editing is the most traumatic exercise for a director. “I have put my life and soul in every frame and deleting scenes is like chopping my fingers but I have to do it if I want my end product to be good.”
In the olden days filmmakers had a better way of resolving conflicts. The veterans shared their unfinished work with their contemporaries and asked for suggestions. It is said that Mehboob Khan and BR Chopra frequently exchanged scripts for feedback before going on floors and Bimal Roy held screenings of his first cut for friends before venturing on post production. There are stories about Raj Kapoor holding screenings of all his new films for his staff because their reactions helped him gauge public opinion.
Over the years as filmmaking turned into a business and original ideas became scarce, filmmakers stopped sharing their work and understandably so. The forced isolation had its share of advantages. It helped the producers to become self-reliant and inadvertently more powerful. The best example of this is Yash Raj Films. Thirty-eight years ago when Yash Chopra parted ways with elder brother BR Chopra to launch his own banner he had already proved himself as a director with Dharamputra, Waqt, Ittefaq and Aadmi aur Insaan.
In 1973 he had to prove himself as a producer. In the coming two decades Chopra made mostly hits and some flop films but he never lost his focus. “My job is to continue making films not to analyse them. If I start reacting to the praise and the criticism showered by the media I will expend my energy defending myself and I will not do that. My only regret as a filmmaker is that I made very few films. When I look back on my career today I feel I could have made many more but then that was the trend those days."
Trends changed and Yash Raj expanded into other businesses like distribution and later music. His son Aditya Chopra joined his father and the duo launched a new chapter in the film business. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge in 1995 and Mohabbatein in 2000 altered the dynamics of filmmaking at Yash Raj Films. Chopra always attributed his career to his brother BR and never failed to give an opportunity to all his assistants be it Ramesh Talwar in Doosra Aadmi, Manmohan Krishnan in Noorie, Dilip Naik in Nakhuda, Deepak Sarin in Aaina and Naresh Malhotra in Ye Dillagi. Aditya Chopra following in his father’s footsteps went a step ahead and provided a second chance to all his failed protégés. So Sanjay Gadhvi was granted Dhoom 1 and 2 after Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai and Kunal Kohli was granted Hum Tum and Fanaa after Mujhse Dosti Karoge.
2005 was a spectacular year for Yash Raj with Bunty Aur Babli crashing all records followed by yet another entertainer Salaam Namaste and finally Yash Chopra’s own Veer Zaara a decade after Dil To Pagal Hai adding up to a hat-trick for the banner. It was almost as if junior Chopra had mastered a strategy that safeguarded his films (those he directed as well as those he produced) from appearing as stereotypes. He picked contemporary subjects and then spiced them with novel professions for the hero and unfamiliar locations on screen. So it was cop-criminal chase in Goa for Dhoom, unlucky lovers in Paris for Hum Tum, petty thieves in Uttar Pradesh having a blast in Bunty Aur Babli and a chef and a doctor trying out a live-in relationship in Melbourne for Salaam Namaste.
Man-woman relationship remained the focus of all Yash Raj Films from Daag to Darr and later from DDLJ to Band Baaja Baaraat but time and again they experimented with other kind of cinema as well (Kabul Express or Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year).The magic sustained for seven long years but after every high tide is a low tide and Yash Raj Films is no exception to the rule. After the super success of Dhoom 2 and Fanaa in 2006 came a series of disappointments-Ta Ra Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle in 2007 but all was forgiven when Chak De ruled the box-office and the hearts of millions. Come 2008 and the banner saw two hits (Bachna Ae Haseeno and Rab Ne Bana di Jodi ) sandwiched between a row of failures-Tashan, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Roadside Romeo. In 2009 there was one disaster- Dil Bole Haddipa and two hits- New York and Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. 2010 was a disaster all the way with Badmaash Company, Pyaar Impossible, Lafangey Parindey sinking without a trace at the box-office.
Something was going terribly wrong somewhere and the banner needed to do serious introspection. In the olden days even the worst films of Yash Chopra made an impact on the audience and the characters engaged you. Not any more, the worst films were completely forgettable and had it not been for the timely hit of Band Baaja Baaraat by Maneesh Sharma in 2011 it was panic hour for YRF touted as the front runner of Hindi cinema. But the darkest cloud has a silver lining and Yash Raj Films has a milestone that is the only example of Indian cinema. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge is the only film in India to have been running uninterrupted for 16 and half years at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir theatre. Last week when the single screens enforced a strike to protest reduction in entertainment tax, Chopra was worried he would not be able to complete his dream 1000 weeks of the mega blockbuster but he soon found a solution to the problem. He shifted the screening to two multiplexes- Cinemax in Versova and Gaiety Galaxy in Bandra.
“The love story of Raj and Simran cannot be interrupted” said Yash Chopra. DDLJ for me is more a love story of a father and son than Raj and Simran. Even Aditya Chopra knows that the film could not have completed 1000 weeks without the patience and perseverance of his father Yash Chopra.