I’m disillusioned!
Shah Rukh Khan with him,
It is unfortunate that this had to happen. I have lost a good project. I
was involved with Darmiyan. When I heard the story, I knew I wanted to play it. See, I spoke to all the magazines about the film. I would not do something like this if I was not interested in it.
When I spoke to Kalpana, I had clearly told her that I could not start her film immediately. Her film was number 5 on the priority list of my films that were going to start. And she knew about it. I had given her 25 days in the months of July, August and September '96 and 25 days early next year. We were very clear that we did not want to do the film in bits and pieces... two days of shooting here and a Sunday there. She agreed.
When my backlog of previous films was cleared, I started working on two new films. And she started going berserk. She said that I was neglecting her film in favour of others. There was no way I could have done that.
When I started shooting for Duplicate, she got very agitated and spoke to Anwar, my secretary. I had not started Duplicate out of sequence. It was a film I signed two and a half years ago. Kalpana told me that her producer could not wait for me until '96. That is sad.
She felt that Anwar was not giving me her messages. That is not true at all. I get every message left for me. I hate taking calls and never answer the phone. All my producers from Yash Chopra to Subhash Ghai know this. So why make Anwar the scapegoat? He follows my instructions and I can tell you that he has never been rude or impolite to Kalpana.
I understand all kinds of cinema very well, be it art or commercial cinema. Just to refresh people's memories, I would like to say that I have worked with Mani Kaul (Idiot), Ketan Mehta (Maya Memsaab, Oh Darling Yeh Hai India), Kundan Shah (Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa) and Aziz Mirza (Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman).
My payment was never a problem. In fact, I had even offered to get her a good producer like Venus or at least the capital for her film.
See, it has become a cherished project for me too. I was busy with it, remember? As far as hearing the complete script goes, all I can say is that Kalpana could have been a little more patient. I am really pressed for time but once I have decided that I am taking up a film, there can be no backing out.
Those who want me to do their films are waiting for me. Shashilal Nair and Abbas Mustaan have been very patient.
I wish the producers of Darmiyan all the best and hope they find a good replacement. Not making the film is my loss.
I hope the film will be celebrated at all the international film festivals and win many, many awards. But I will not be a hypocrite and say that I hope to work with Kalpana in the future.
This experience has left me disillusioned and beyond angry. I will not be involved in any such 'committed' projects in the future.
Kalpana Lajmi's letter to Shah Rukh Khan ending the alliance for Darmiyan
25. September ‘95
My dear Shah Rukh,
It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter to you.
Since March '95, you have proudly and happily announced in every magazine and newspaper your agreement to play the lead role of a eunuch in my film Darmiyan and I, for my part, have expressed my gratitude to you publicly and privately.
But on the professional front, to date, you have made no attempt to move forward with me on the matter, either through your secretary Anwar or personally.
In fact, Anwar and you have simply kept me waiting for six months - in a state of limbo.
Despite this unprofessional attitude towards me, I have been extremely cooperative, patient and understanding, knowing that your shooting schedules are keeping you busy.
But I cannot forgive a repeated pattern of behaviour where even your secretary, instead of sorting things out and helping to adjust your schedules, seems to be just wasting time. For
more than six months, there has been no opportunity where he has been cooperative to arrange any constructive meeting for both of us to move forward with the film. The only meeting we had at your home on July 9, '95, where you heard only a quarter of the story, was arranged by Kiran Kher.
For me, cinema is a passion, I work on one film at a time, thoroughly in detail, and take care of it from the very beginning to its release in India and its participation in major international festivals. This film, I repeat, is not a big-budget formula film. That is why, after you hyped it up so much in the press, it was imperative to complete it as early as possible.
I was stunned when Anwar met me four days ago and said that you had stated that you could schedule Darmiyan only in late 1997-1998 and that only for 10 days a month. It is a pity that Anwar misunderstood the position and purpose of this film and apparently classified it like any other normal film you are working on.
For my part, I was ready to pay your remuneration and requested 60 days divided into three schedules of 20 days each, from March to September '96, to enable me to submit the film for the National Awards with a Censor Certificate by December '96 and as an entry for the Cannes Film Festival by March '97.
It is certainly not financially viable for the producer to wait until 1997 to start a film like this as inflation will not allow the budget to become cost effective by then.
As a filmmaker, it is too long a wait for me. The project will become stale and outdated, especially as you have already hyped the film so much.
Personally, I feel that the film is too important to me. It is the wisest thing for both of us to part amicably so that I can go ahead and make the film with someone else.
It is extremely sad that I will lose an excellent actor like you. With your charisma, the reach of my film would have been greater than it will now have without you. But it is essential that I can make the film the way I envisioned it and I will try to complete it on time.
This letter is to you because you never seem to want to meet me or answer the phone whenever I call.
I hope sometime in the future we can work together on a film. That would make me very happy. I wish you all the best.
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