Foreword by Shah Rukh
Dear Readers, when Movie asked me to write a foreword to their issue celebrating the centenary event '100 Years of Cinema in India', I was overwhelmed because from this angle, you feel like a grain of sand on the endless beach of talent. My only notable achievement in the short career I have had as an actor is that I have been able to entertain different people from different social classes. When I set out to make films, it was primarily to entertain.
It is pointless to compare our films with the West because our society has its own handicaps. Certain ideas will be unacceptable to our audience. For example, a film like Revelation, in which a woman sexually harasses a male employee, is alien to us. We cannot imagine women as strong entities. Even today, most heroes will tell you, 'I want a homemaker who will look after my children and take care of the house.' Only when women evolve will the scripts evolve too.
I would like to stress that we are part of world cinema and we make films - films that we like, not for film festivals. Given the restrictions we work under, it is amazing that we produce the results that we do. If Steven Spielberg were subjected to the same restrictions in equipment and working conditions, he would not be able to make a bad TV series, let alone a film. The cameras we use are as outdated as those used to film the Olympics. Our current technology is so backward that we simply cannot compete with it.
Mark my words, one day Indian cinema will rule the world. Once we get the technological know-how, we will crush them. I have always felt that Hollywood should come to Bombay, not the other way round. They have made a start with the arrival of Warner Brothers, Paramount etc. but it is a pity that I will not be there when they venture into Bollywood in a big way.
If we compare our cinema with the cinema that prevails in the rest of the world, we find that it is noisier. But when there is a death in an Indian household, old women come in, beat their chests and cry, whereas in the West they wear black clothes, put on dark glasses and sip wine. When we get angry, we rage and rage, they silence you with their sarcasm. They talk to their children, their best friends, in such an alien way: 'Why don't we meet for dinner?' They are the ones who are unreal. We are still more natural. A story like Kramer vs. Kramer works there because for them divorce is just signing some documents. But if we do the same thing in India, it doesn't work because the concept of divorce is largely foreign to us and the few divorces that do occur are far more traumatic, intangible in the world of films.
Aping the West in India is like owning a Mercedes but not having the roads to drive it. America is a land of electric dreams. They are a nation that makes the dream happen. In India, 99 percent of people cannot realize their dreams. We still live in a world where a dream is a dream.
I feed off Indian cinema. I have followed actors like Dilip Kumar, Amitabh and Naseer and I want to be remembered like Satyajit Ray, Shekhar Kapur, Mani Ratnam and Lata Mangeshkar. She started when she was 13. That was 50 years ago and just this year one of the most popular songs was sung by her, 'Tujhe dekha to...'. The same goes for Asha Bhosle. She sang 'Tanha Tanha' and that is not a flash in the pan. Compared to her consistency and dedication, what I have done is nothing.
I would like to pay tribute to some of these people because I feel that whatever we are, we are the results, the culmination of all their efforts and the foundation from which the future will emerge.
Sheikh Muhktar was the original action hero in the pre-Dara Singh era. He had made films like Ustaad. Compared to him, we heroes of today look like puppets. He was a 100 percent macho.
Dev Anand is the epitome of style for me. The way he said drop the gun, only Dev Anand could do that, but people believed him and so did the villains. No matter how hard method actors work, style is clearly the winner in an actor's repertoire.
Shammi Kapoor brought in the hero who could tease women and get away with it. And more importantly, women loved him.
Amitabh Bachchan's contribution is to bring realism into commercial cinema. It is one of his contributions that someone like me dared to enter established commercial cinema as a film hero because of him. If only there had been proper, good-looking guys like Rajesh Khanna in the films, I would never have dared to do that.
Dilip Kumar's language was so impressive that I used to be intimidated by it. But then came Amitabh, who used the colloquial 'apun...' and was accepted. I think perhaps it is thanks to him that anti-heroes can hold their ground here today, and unconventional-looking men like Prabhu Deva, Ajay and me.
In the most far-fetched scenes, the potbellied Haribhai (Sanjeev Kumar) never looked like he was acting. And he has done all kinds of films - romance, comedy and even action (Takkar). He made you feel that acting is not about getting into the skin of the character - it is about standing in front of the camera and delivering a commodity. I heard that for midshots (from the waist up) and montages where wearing a tuxedo was required, he wore the jacket on top and his striped shorts on the bottom.
Identification is the key word. Smita Patil, who rose from reading the news to acting, is my all-time favourite. Along with Shabana Azmi, she added to the image of the film heroine in Hindi film format. Both of them made you realise that women in films are like any other section of society. They even convinced other commercially successful actresses to work in more substantial cinema. Take Rekha, for example. And I think the mystery, the aura, the enigma that Rekha represents is her contribution to Hindi cinema. To me, she is this beautiful, sensual, Garboesque woman who leaves no trace behind her - a black widow. Rekha is no longer a human being; she is the type of human being - the epitome of unrequited love. When she did Umrao Jaan, she added to the mystique of Umrao.
I think Dimple was somehow encouraged by Shabana, Smita and Rekha. I have heard of people losing years in World War II, but Dimple lost years in her marriage. I wish she had acted then. I have never seen not just a newbie but any person of that age act the way she did in Bobby. The fact that she was able to recapture her past glory in Rudaali and Lekin is an encouraging signal to many women that it is never too late.
And there's Hemaji - the epitome of dignity. I think the real No 1 was Hema Malini. Whoever we had after that was only because we were trying to find a replacement for Hema Malini.
I don't want to forget to include Helen, the greatest. She was a variety artist who didn't look cheap. Just crazy. My father was a huge fan of hers. I'm not taking anything away from Nana, Manisha or Salman, but I want to go and watch the Khamoshi that is in production because of Helen and I know there are a lot of people like me who feel the same way. I really wish she danced in the film one day.
Then there were these bad guys like KN Singh, Pran, even Prem Chopra, and you realise that even though they are villains, you are not afraid of them. They were villains of a child's imagination. In fact, I think I was scarier in Baazigar or Darr - they were always so cute, like caricatures. Amjad Khan is the one who brought the deadly villain to cinema - the bad guy. When he said 'Kitne aadmi the', he meant it - Gabbar Singh, you didn't laugh at him. The success of Sholay was largely due to the fact that you imagined how frightened you would be if you met Gabbar Singh on a lonely road. Ramesh Sippy could never replicate the same frightening effect, not even with Shaakal in Shaan.
Before and after Mehmood, there has never been a hero and comedian who could carry an entire film on his shoulders. He is the clown who made others lose their inhibitions. I am sure Amitabh Bachchan has learnt from him.
There are some films that have made an impression on me. Films that I never get tired of, films that inspire me to start a new project after failing. Like Padosan, Jyoti Swarup, the director has made a tremendous contribution in this film as it entertains every generation. It is a timeless film.
I loved Sholay and I honestly believe that we couldn't have made a bigger film than this. That's a personal view. You can challenge it and talk about Mother India or Mughal-e-Azam but these were made before my time and for me Mughal-e-Azam is not as great as Sholay, I can't relate to it. Sholay is a modern, routine film and more importantly, Sholay didn't even have a mother figure to latch onto.
Karz is another film that I liked. It scared me. Karan Arjun didn't make me believe in reincarnation, but Simi Garewal's icy smile, Raj Kiran's blood-stained face and that haunting tune made me believe that Rishi Kapoor was Raj Kiran reincarnated.
Deewar, on the other hand, is a very modern film. And for me, one dialogue of Amitabh sums up the whole film. 'Mein gire hue paise aaj bhi nahin uthata.' I would give my life for a film with a dialogue like that. I preferred it even to that legendary line, 'Tumhare paas kya hain? Mere paas maa hain.'
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron was also a trendsetter. With a budget of 17 lakhs, it proved that you can make a film without stars, you just need good actors.
Personally, I am proud of Baazigar, Darr, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Ram Jaane as there is variety in the roles even though the style of the actor is the same.
These five years have been my probationary period. Now my learning process ends. I have absorbed what I needed, now I am ready to play.
We don't need to produce a Fellini or a Polanski. We will have a Coppola or a Spielberg. When I entered the film industry, Indian cinema was already in its 95th year. I hope to be there in a big way in the 200th year. Even if not in person, my films should be there and maybe someone will talk about Shah Rukh Khan like I talked about these contributors.