Films not a priority for me right now: Rahul Sharma

Santoor exponent Rahul Sharma has said composing music for Hindi films was not a priority for him right now and was likely to think about it in another two years.
Rahul composed the music for one Hindi film, ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge,’ but is not taking up similar projects as of now.
“Films are not a priority for me. I want to take the santoor ahead and to experiment with different genres of music. I have cut 40 or 41 albums so far. I was offered films after my first one, but I stuck to performances and albums. It is very difficult to strike a balance between travelling, performances and giving music to Hindi movies. I will think about composing music for films maybe in two years from now,” Rahul said in an exclusive interview with UNI here.
Rahul feels that nowadays there is no scope for music in films. “It is just a formality. It is not like in the 80’s (when music was part of a film). The lyrics have also changed. I don’t think that quality has remained,” he said, but added that he did not want to criticise the present lot of music directors.
So while fans wait to hear some quality music from him in films, Rahul will stay busy with public performances, at the Bandra Fort in Mumbai this evening (in a duet with his illustrious father Pt. Shivkumar Sharma), in Budapest (Hungary) later (March 27) and then in the US. Speaking of the US, Rahul said that there was a lot of interest in the santoor in the country. “People are aware of the santoor and want to learn to play the instrument, but there are no proper schools to impart training,” he said. Asked if he would start a school himself, Rahul said he would think about it.
Rahul, whose next album ‘Rhythm of Love’ with Ustad Zakir Hussain is due to be released in about two weeks’ time, feels that new music should be released directly on the Internet, so that there is a check on piracy to some extent, and the musician derives direct benefit (from royalties on downloads). “Music companies should make CD’s (compact discs) that cannot be copied. This will help curb piracy,” he said.
“With technology growing at a rapid pace, I think that even CD's will become obsolete in the times to come. We should be ready for the next technology,” he also said.
‘Rhythm of Love’ is a live recording of a performance that Rahul and Ustad Zakir Hussain gave at San Francisco recently. Another album, with saxophonist Kenny G, is in the pipeline. The as yet untitled album has been recorded and is due for release in about two months.
Rahul was in the city for a private performance last evening at ‘Sudesh’s Courtyard,’ an art gallery that aims to promote up and coming artists and to popularise art. As Rahul played, an artist painted along the beats and the notes to create a canvass. Rahul has earlier given a similar performance at Dubai with calligrapher Achyut Pallav.
UNI, Nagpur, February 28, 2010

BBC plans TV serial on Mahatma Gandhi

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) plans to produce a television serial on Mahatma Gandhi, with an Indian director and cast.
“The serial will consist of 26 parts of 30 minutes each. It will be made in English and Hindi, with BBC telecasting the English version,” director Devendra Khandelwal, a Mumbai-based short film and documentary maker, told UNI here. A 60-year old theatre actor from Mumbai, identified only as ‘Dr Sooraj,’ had been chosen to play the Mahatma, but the search was still on for an actress to play the role of Kasturba, he said.
“I want the characters in the serial to be realistic. That’s the reason I have chosen the 60-year old Dr Sooraj for the main role. I want my Kasturba to look exactly like Kasturba. I have been searching for my Kasturba for the last two years, but in vain,” Mr Khandelwal said. “I spent five years working on the script for the serial. So I don’t mind spending a little more time looking for (an actress to play) Kasturba,” he also said.
The serial would be shot simultaneously in English and Hindi with the same cast and crew, the director said. The Hindi version would be telecast by an Indian television channel, and he would start looking for a slot once actual production commenced, Mr Khandelwal said.
Incidentally, Mr Khandelwal claims that he had made the highest number of short films on Mahatma Gandhi, including ‘Mani Bhawan.’ The documentary maker’s plans included a 500-part animation series on the great men of India, from Raja Harishchandra, to India’s missile man and former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.
Mr Khandelwal said that besides numerous documentaries and short films, he had made television commercials and corporate films, besides one feature film ‘Maut Ki Sazaa.’ He has acted in several films in Hindi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Bengali, including Basu Bhattacharya’s ‘Tumhara Kalloo,’ Basu Chatterji’s ‘Khatta Meetha,’ ‘Jeena Yahan,’ ‘Durga,’ and ‘Kamla Ki Maut,’ and B R Ishara’s ‘Sautela Pati.’ He heads the Indian Infotainment Media Corporation (IIMC), a film production house.
IIMC will host ‘Gandhi Panorama,’ an international festival of films on Mahatma Gandhi, at Sewagram in adjoining Wardha district from October 2 to 4. The festival, the first of its kind in the world, would feature films of all categories from several counties, Mr Khandelwal said. There would neither be an entry fee nor awards, and the festival would be held every five years, he added.
The Limca book of Records 2006 lists IIMC (www.iimc.co.in, www.culturalfilmsindia.com) as the biggest producer of short films in 35 mm/16 mm in the private sector, and Mr Khandelwal with the highest number of short films to his credit. IIMC produced 78 documentaries between 2004 and 2007.
(UNI, Nagpur, September 28, 2008)

How time flies: Government funds documentary on RSS!

It is indeed surprising how times change. Once strictly taboo in the corridors of power, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and things connected with it now have official sanction. Well, practically so, with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) of the Government of India actually funding a 30 minute documentary on Dr Keshav Balirampant Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS.
The change in the government's attitude can probably be attributed to the presence of Atal Behari Vajpayee at the helm of affairs in New Delhi. Yet, the RSS, ostracised for its alleged involvement in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya, has come a long, long way. (The RSS has been banned thrice in the past - in 1948 shortly after the Mahatma's assassination, in 1975, during the emergency, and in 199 after 'Black Sunday' at Ayodhya).
The Films Division, which is under the Ministry of I&B, has sanctioned Rs.10 lakh for producing the documentary on 35 mm film. The documentary is being directed by Yakub Sayeed, a former Doordarshan officer.
The seeds of the documentary were sown in his mind when Sayeed, as Station Director of the Nagpur Centre of Doordarshan, created a storm by producing a programme on RSS in 1985. He was given a stern dressing down by the top brass, but Sayeed stood his ground by asserting that he was only fulfilling his obligation towards the local audience.
Sayeed retired from Doordarshan in 1992. The documentary on Dr Hedgewar remained a pet project. About a year ago, he wrote about the idea to the Prime Minister himself. He got a routine acknowledgement of his letter. Routine, that is, until he received a formal proposal from the Films Division.
And where else would a documentary on RSS be shot, but at Nagpur, the city that witnessed the organisation's birth and growth, and is still at least on paper, its headquarters? Sayeed and his crew recently completed a week-long schedule at various locations in Nagpur, canning some of the most important events in the RSS founder's life. Some more scenes are to be shot over three days in June in Kolkata, where Hedgewar obtained his degree in medical science.
Sayeed has used both narrative and dramatization to move the script. The documentary is Hindi, but will be dubbed in 13 other languages. The documentary is expected to be complete by August, and will be released by the Films division.
A lot of research and preparation has gone into the script. After receiving the sanction from the Films Division, Sayeed read over 60 books on Dr Hedgewar. Experts then gave him a list 60 important incidents in Dr Hedgewar's life. Sayeed selected the 15 most important among them to feature in the documentary.
True to the style of functioning in RSS, the final okay for the script had to come from the top - the Sarsanghchalak himself. Sayeed spent over three hours with RSS chief K. S. Sudarshan in Mumbai several weeks ago to finalise the script. Once the script was approved, Sayeed wanted to waste no time in getting the film on the floor. That explains the hectic shooting schedule in Nagpur during the ferocious summer.
The RSS itself is also extending all cooperation in the film's production. Some scenes were shot at Smruti Mandir in Reshimbag, where RSS has created a memorial to the first two Sarsanghchalaks. (Dr Hedgewar and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar). It also deployed a squad of 'Swayamsevaks' for a scene of a 'shakha' in progress.
The decision to produce a documentary rather than a full -length feature film is the result of several constraints. According to Sayeed, producing a feature film is a big and costly exercise. It would have been difficult to find a financier for the project. Secondly, he would have been compelled to take 'artistic licence' in feature film, adding imaginary episodes and incidents to keep the narrative going. "My purpose is not to tell a story, but to highlight Dr Hedgewar's thoughts and work. I want to show that Dr Hedgewar was pro-India and not anti-Muslim and that the RSS is not anti-Congress," Sayeed told this correspondent between takes.
Sayeed is, therefore, not bothered whether the actor who plays the lead role resembles Dr Hedgewar: "You cannot have 100 per cent physical resemblance - that is just impossible. I am more concerned about whether the actor can convey the RSS founder's thoughts. I definitely 100 per cent there!"
That is a real challenge for Ramesh Lakhmapure, a Nagpur-based threatre activist, who plays Dr Hedgewar in the documentary. Lakhmapure was reportedly chosen over renowned actors like Sachin Khedekar and Govind Namdeo for the role. A competent theater actor and director, Lakhmapure finds his first film assignment a big learning experience.
The shooting has not been without hiccups. Sayeed was to shoot a scene showing a meeting between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Hedgewar. However, the schedule went haywire as it took several hours for Govind Mahadeo, who plays Gandhi, to complete his make-up. All the while, Lakhmapure waited patiently in the unbearable head wearing a woolen coat.
Sayeed also wanted to shoot some scenes in the house in the Mahal area of Nagpur where Dr Hedgewar lived. However, he had to drop the idea since he thought the house looked 'too new' consequent to a recent restoration as a memorial.
The fact that a new government will have been installed at the Centre by the time the film is completed and the possibility that is may not be one led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not seem to bother Sayeed much. "Mera kaam hai film poori karna. Baaki who jaane (My job is to complete the film. The Films Division will bother about the rest)," he quips.
(Free Press Journal, Mumbai, May 9, 2004)

‘BHARAT’ DARSHAN

HITAVADA CAPTURES A GLIMPSE OF SANJAY JOG
Free, frank and fearless, that’s Sanjay Jog, ‘Bharat’ of Ramayana serial, for you in a nutshell.
Handsome, suave, cat-eyed and fluent in five languages, Sanjay has not allowed fame and popularity to go to his head.
Born and brought up in Nagpur, except for some part of his childhood spent in Pune, Sanjay migrated to Bombay to pursue a career in films. He obtained his diploma in acting from the Filmalaya Academy of Cine-arts and TV, and followed it up with a Diploma in Direction from the same institute.
He made his debut in films while still a ‘student,’ with the Marathi film ‘Saaplaa’ (The Trap), which bombed at the box office.
He then had a series of hits to his credit, including five golden jubilees and two diamond jubilees. He has acted in over 32 Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati films so far.
He had been offered the role of ‘Laxman’ in the Ramayan serial initially, but settled for that of ‘Bharat’ because of his busy schedule. Sanjay feels that only two characters in the epic are worthwhile from the acting point of view – Meghnad and Bharat – and has derived immense satisfaction portraying the latter.
Sanjay had aspired to become an Air Force pilot, but his parents forbade him after the family lost a number of relatives, who were in the services, during the ’71 Pak war. But that hardly seems to have made any difference, as he is now ‘flying high’ in terms of popularity.
Why did he choose to become an actor, and not a doctor or engineer? “Well, for one thing, I can’t report to anyone. I like to work independently, without someone else dictating terms. This wouldn’t have been possible had I gone for technical education.” He also confesses that he does not have the ‘brains’ needed for the medical profession.
“Apart from that. I want to be known all over the world, and being a film and TV actor is the one way in which I can do it.”
He is very ‘down to earth’ in his outlook; has well-defined opinions. “I know that I will remain popular as long as the serial is being televised. When the fans mob me, it’s the Bharat that they want, not Sanjay Jog the person,” he says.
He is contemptuous of the ‘involvement’ story that his contemporaries and describes it as ‘bullshit.’ “If I was really involved in my role, I would actually murder or rape the other person, as the script demands. A man can never forget his own self. Acting is purely mechanical.
“Acting is as easy as falling off a log,” he quotes, “And anyone who can react to a situation without being camera-conscious, can act.”
Being conversant with the technical aspects of film making helps in the sense that the crew is happy with you. “I don’t have to be cued for my movements, since I know when the camera will zoom in or pan away.”
Sanjay describes himself as ‘super-superstitious.’ He is very religious minded, and prays regularly. When asked whether he would have done Bharat’s role had he been a ‘nastik,’ he shoots back, “Why not?” He adds, “Acting is my profession, and I’m being paid for the role. The role one plays, is only an image, similar to a mirror image of oneself. Your prejudices and beliefs should not affect the roles you do.”
“I would prefer to play the villain,” Sanjay says. Why? Because ‘it offers a better opportunity to display your acting capabilities, as you are not a villain in real life.”
He also has his priorities fixed. “I am financially comfortable and can afford my present lifestyle for my whole life. But I want to act for a few more years, and then try my hand at direction.”
Having picked up Gujarati and Punjabi from his friends in Bombay, why hasn’t he acted in Punjabi films so far, when he has done a few Gujarati films? “A hero’s concept for the Punjabi film makers is a tall, well-built man, which I am not. I don’t want to act in a Punjabi film and fail.
“Heroes in Marathi films were also hefty and well-built a few years ago. However, over the years, the men who play the lead have shrunk in size. I am waiting for this to happen in Punjabi films.”
His dislikes are stronger than his likes. “If I don’t get a thing I love, I don’t care much. But if I see something I hate, I will get it removed, no mater what it costs me.
“I am still very fond of theatre, but can’t get involved for lack of time. But I will do a role if it is monetarily as well as creatively satisfying. The same goes for my film roles, too.”
The recent spotlight has not affected his lifestyle a wee bit, and he is neither elated for irritated by the attention he gets. “I still eat the same food, smoke, drink, and meet my friends.”
His Hindi film “Jigarwala’ is due to be released shortly, and seven more are on the floor, five of them with the same director. And he will try his hand at direction only in 1990.
“I don’t believe in giving ‘messages’ for my fans. I’m just a normal human being, no supernatural.”
But then, people can learn a lot from his motto, ‘live and let live.’
(The Hitavada, Nagpur, December 1, 1988)