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Three flew over the Cupid's nest
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As Suraj Barjatya's "Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon" kisses silver screens across the country, KANIKA DHAWAN speaks to the incorrigible romantic who believes in an ideal family... .
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WHEN THE industry is busy in the assembly line production of `Bhoots', `Sayas' and addresses that viewers should visit at their own risk, here comes a call from the man who is mad about love and obviously his heroine chants his mantra: "Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon"(MPKDH) with disdain. The film that was released this past week has not only fragranced the air with mush, but is a lifeline of sorts for all the three leading protagonists.
The shy love doctor, sorry, director Suraj R. Barjatya may have may have lost most of his hair, but his prescription works with the audience and the stars alike. Whether it's Salman Khan in "Maine Pyar Kiya" or Madhuri Dixit in "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun"(HAHK) and now Abhishek, Kareena and Hrithik, they have all been in the queue for the love potion to heal their box office maladies. In New Delhi for the promotion of MPKDH, Suraj explains why his films revolve obsessively around the idea of love or family.
"Love has no boundaries, it's a battlefield - win it or lose it. Family as a unit is the first thing that comes to my mind each time I sit to write. Also, because I am very family-centric myself and have suffered a tragic loss, I think my scripts speak of the way I think and represent my ideologies and sense of the world from an optimistic perspective."
The storyline of "Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon" is obviously inspired by the `70s Rajshri Productions film based on mistaken identity, "Chitchor". Directed by Basu Chatterjee, the film was a modest success with some straight from the heart performances by Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Vijyendra Ghatage. A disbeliever in the art of copying in cinema he declares: "If `Chitchor' was not a home production I would have never lifted this, or any other idea for that matter. I have only developed on the concept of the old film."
He is right, as HAHK, which broke many a box office record was an urban adaptation of Rajshri's saga of rural romance - "Nadiya Ke Par" - and as far as his last venture "Hum Saath Saath Hain" is concerned, it was a Bollywood Ramayana, but then on Ramayana the whole country has a copyright.
His films epitomise the concept of an ideal family, one that eats together, drinks and laughs together. Playing with simple yet rare facts of life, such as perfect relationships between members of a family or between lovers, Suraj has so far succeeded in transferring the thoughts of his audience into simply magnificent worlds, where even battles are won over through hearts. "I believe in what I show. Maybe people in the metropolitans don't agree with my kind of idealism but small town people do understand what I portray through the characters of my film," remarks this whose simplicity is his grandeur. Perhaps that is why his distribution company has reduced admission rates this time, though they were raised when HAHK kissed the theatres.
A typical Rajasthani, who relishes "dal, batti, churma" more than anything, he claims he draws his inspiration from children. "When I sit and watch films like "The Sound of Music" with my children, a thought always crosses my mind, that children are the prospective audience. Probe into their likes and dislikes, and one can come across numerous interesting things and ideas."
Conspicuous in his movies are the pets, like the dog Tuffy in HAHK or the digitally created macaw, Raja Hindustani and Johny the dog in his latest venture.
Did he decide to animate these characters to be `different'?
"No", he illuminates. "We called the authorities and asked them for permission. But this time they told us you can't use pets in films. Create digital ones."
The leading ladies of his movies are known to wear saris, long skirts or ghagras and there have been no sizzling numbers so far, but this time around Kareena Kapoor sets the screen ablaze with teeny weeny clothes and a flaming number with Hrithik Roshan. Taking note of the change, the censor board has granted a U/A certificate to the film which is a departure from traditions set by Rajshri productions. Barjatya takes it in his stride and comments: "I have portrayed bounded love as always, only this time with the backdrop of a modern lifestyle."
It is also for the first time that Suraj has ventured beyond in-house designer rooms and kitchens to the scenic locales of New Zealand and Mauritius, which the director puts as the need of the time and youth.
So explore the hearts, knots of romance and lots of filial care with Suraj as he dons wings, but only to fly over Cupid's nest.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
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Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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