'I've met so many Rollys'

Want to separate fact from fiction in Luck By Chance? You can't, writer Javed Akhtar tells Shradha Sukumaran

Want to separate fact from fiction in Luck By Chance? You can't, writer Javed Akhtar tells Shradha Sukumaran

"I came to the film industry as an assistant director in 1965. That means I've done 44 years here. All that happens in Luck By Chance does take place in the film industry. Credit should go to Zoya, who is the screenplay writer. It's understandable she was born in the industry and brought up here. Obviously she knows film families, but you must give her credit for her keen observation."

Rishi Kapoor as Romi Rolly in Luck By Chance

'I know Mr Romi Rolly'
"I've seen almost all of what Zoya wrote for the film in real life, which is why I thoroughly enjoyed writing the dialogues for it. I know Mr Romi Rolly; I've met so many Rollys. When we had a trial of the film for film people, so many came out trying to guess who he was. Rishi Kapoor was able to play it so well because he knows these people he has worked with Romi Rollys quite often.
"I've seen so many Vikrams struggling, coming up and I've seen a few Sonas. On one level, the industry looks almost virtuous and funny. On another level, someone has put it aptly Show business is a sad one where people crawl from hope to hope.'
"Every story boils down to human interaction and emotion. It's incidental that this one is placed in the film world. All these things happen around the world. False hopes, illusions, delusions, manipulations, using people, social climbing, changing loyalties.
"Among reactions that I've been hearing is that the movie is real and not even the smallest character is two-dimensional. Not one character has been deprived of empathy."

Fear of the 'festival' film
"The scene where Rolly calls the scriptwriter, 'Eh! Institute!': that was a common perception. I'm not from the institute and never wrote stories that could be construed as that, but yes, the traditional producer was extremely sceptical of anything realistic. Unka dialogue hota tha, 'Arre yaar main yeh film festival ke liye thodi bana raha hoon!' There was a fear of art films 'mera art film jaisa nahin ha na?'
"Writers didn't always coach actors on diction, especially not the more experienced ones. But new actors do need coaching and the dialogue writer often does that. Quite a few times, I have tape recorded, acted, pronounced dialogues and given it to actors."u00a0

An unusual rejection
"In Luck By Chance, I especially liked the scene where the girl finally rejects him. It's not done in anger or hurt. It's rejection out of tremendous understanding. Zoya has directed it beautifully; the girl holds his hand and says, 'It's not your fault.' She is not angry she has mourned over this relationship. If at all she feels anything for him, it is sympathy."

Star moms
"Star mothers no longer come on the sets today and sit there like they used to, but somewhere in the background, you can find an ambitious mother. That's not an extinct species, but perhaps it's not that much in the face. Before I entered the industry, I heard stories of mothers being so dominating that they wouldn't let the heroine out of their sight."

Child stars
"Child stars have so many experiences. It was like child labour, in a way. Working in a factory or in a studio, is work. They grew up and before they could even enjoy their teenage years, again they were working.
"What happened is also that a very young boy or girl became the sole earning member for the whole family and that totally made relationships topsy turvy. It creates a strange imbalance."u00a0u00a0u00a0

Strange but true
"There are so many bizarre stories in the industry that people wouldn't believe it if they saw it on screen. The way some people narrate their stories, sing their songs or project themselves as the greatest things.
"I remember I was writing a picture and its producer came to me. He told me that the distributor offered him a certain price and the producer was outraged at how little it was.
"So he tells me, 'I told the distributor, I have India's Richard Burton as my hero, India's Elizabeth Taylor as my heroine, India's David Lean as my director.' Suddenly, he realised he was talking to me, the writer, and had to take my name. 'I have India's... yaar, tell me the name of some Hollywood writer?' I told him, 'Robert Bolt.' 'Yes, I told the distributor, I have India's Robert Bolt as my writer!' He just asked me and cooked up the whole story, right in front of me!"u00a0u00a0

Producer tales
"Once, there was this producer from the south, Sandow Chinappa Devar, who wanted to make Haathi Mere Saathi. I had to collaborate with him on the story and he didn't know English or Hindi.
"There would be an interpreter between us; I would narrate him the story bit by bit, he would translate it into Tamil, Sandow would give his inputs, which would be translated back to me. This went on, 10 am to 5 pm, for three days. I thought I would get throat cancer because I had to shout out the dialogues at times!
"Once, a producer came up to me and asked me to write a script. 'The first scene from the film will be a court scene,' he announced, 'Mujhe ek bada court ka set banvana hai!' I asked him, but what's the story first? He said, 'Let that be. I've even chosen where to do it at Mehboob studios. Wahaan ka floor match hota hai. Main poora wall-to-wall court scene banaoonga!'

What never changes
"What has not changed in the industry in all these years? I've been hearing three things continuously. One, if the prices (star fees, distribution rights, production costs) go up the way they are, soon the industry will close down.
"Two, now audiences have changed and they will not take these films anymore. Three, if the government policy with theatres remains the same, soon it will be impossible to make films. I've heard these things for the last 44 years."

Change in the air
"What has changed is that the film industry has left the feudal age and is entering the industrial age. The feudal age had many things wrong with it, but there were some attractive features. Like they had strong relationships and more loyalties than what you have in the corporate world. There was more of what you call, aankh ki sharm, lihaaz... ek khayal rakhte the. Earlier if a producer had a music director, he kept him in every film of his.
"The permanence of relationships has reduced. Today, people are more professional and matter-of-fact. Things are changing. Perhaps now the whole ethos, attitude, morality is different. Life offers you packages. It's difficult to decide which is better it's always half good, half bad."

shradhas@mid-day.com