Desi Train

And the ever reclusive Sooraj Barjatya is back. I liked his interview on Rediff.com. His openness and frank opinions in the interview are a far cry from his shying away from the press and in turn, from us. From sharing his conclusions on the failure of his last movie (Main Prem ki diwani hoon) to what he’s enjoying in the recent crop of movies to talking about his next project “Vivah”, it was a treat.

I loved the way he was candid in his likes and dislikes in the recent releases:

I can’t make Murder, but I liked the film. I could see the sincerity of the filmmaker. When Mallika (Sherawat) goes to pick up her son from school, I completely connected with the film……..My favourite film is Veer-Zaara. Black is sensational. I could not connect with Bunty Aur Babli and Page 3. I don’t think I can make such films. I can’t bear to sit through the complexities of life in Page 3.

Or his resistance to watch heavy, tear your heart out film:

Tabu keeps telling me to watch Madhur Bhandarkar’s Chandni Bar. But I can’t bear it. I couldn’t watch the little boy in the first half of Koi…Mil Gaya suffer so much. As a filmmaker, I feel it’s my duty to give audiences hope. Even today when I sit through Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films, I feel so happy.

Maybe they were conscious pre-planned answers which would connect with the readers or perhaps, Sooraj is just like you and me…who has a hard time watching tragedies and instead enjoys movies from the Hrishikesh Mukherjee school of thought.

Excellent observations from his dad on MPKDH, his only dud:

A lot of things. But the first thing that my father said when he saw it was, ‘Your theme was that Kareena Kapoor would love Hrithik Roshan till the end. Then how did she agree to get engaged to Abhishek Bachchan?’ I was talking of pyar ki oonchayaiyaan, rishto ki gehraayiyan and my characters were not living up to that idea.

For me, Sooraj did get attracted to what was successfully working in his movies…the sweetness in relationships and the individual characters. That sweetness he pushed more and more in his each next movie until it became a “Main Prem Ki Diwaani Hoon”. In “Maine Pyar Kiya”, it was natural, unexpected, it oozed through each part effortless and with ease without it seeming to be artificial or fake. That fakeness grew and became more and more visible with each passing movie.

But Sooraj looks like a very down to earth person and with excellent guidance from his family around to advise him on his next projects….

After Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon, I was going through a period of creative uncertainty…..I had only concretised Vivah. It kept haunting me. It had to be made first. My father is very excited about it. I trust his judgement completely. Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Hum Saath-Saath Hain were chosen by my father, Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon was chosen by me. Now you know why trust my father’s judgement (laughs). I told him about the ideas for my next film. He selected Vivah straight away.

Good Luck Sooraj…We sure hope you will be back with a bang in “Vivah”….

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005 at 8:45 am and is filed under Bollywood.
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