He’s Mr Blockbuster. The man with a 100 per cent track record at the box office. Rajkumar Hirani — the man behind the best-loved films of recent times… Munna Bhai to 3 Idiots to PK — was in Calcutta recently. t2 caught up with Raju — as everyone calls him — for a chat on his “first love”... films.

We don’t get to see you as much in Calcutta as we would like to...
(Laughs) I keep coming to Calcutta off and on, but those are personal visits and only for a day. The last time I came here and stayed for 10-12 days was 10 years ago when Parineeta (directed by Pradeep Sarkar and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra) was being shot. Cinema lovers are in abundance in this city. I know that the passion for films can make people even fight over what they strongly believe in. It’s always a delight to be in Calcutta and talk to the people here. 
 
You travel the country talking about your craft. Do you feel people behind the camera are being acknowledged much more than ever before?
First of all, if you look at Indian cinema over the last 100 years, then this is the best period. Today with multiplexes around, a variety of films are being made. We are not just stuck to making one kind of film — you have a Masaan playing at the same time as a Bajrangi Bhaijaan. It’s possible to make a variety of films and get them released. Even if you have an idea, you can shoot it on your phone or put it on YouTube. With people getting more aware of cinema, they have started appreciating the people who makes movies, namely writers, technicians, directors…. People now talk about good camerawork… they are aware of sound design, art design... compared to what used to happen earlier. 

But it also isn’t a great time, given the atmosphere of censorship that films are being subjected to?
See, there are issues. We can get cynical about it or take it in our stride. Tell me, 10 years ago, was it possible to have a cuss word in our films? We now get an adult certificate for it, but that’s okay. My opinion is that censorship should be rating-based. The work of a director shouldn’t be tampered with… they should just rate it… 12, 13, 15 or whatever. Films shouldn’t be snipped mercilessly. I also feel that the people in the censor board need to be professors… teachers… more liberal people. Cinema creates a point of view and if that doesn’t reach its target audience, then what’s the point? Yes, there are some stray cases of the censor board going wrong, but I am not pessimistic... yet (smiles). 

You have said that if you had known that PK would generate so much controversy, you wouldn’t have made it. More than the censor board, does the censorship outside it scare you?
It does. People, in general, are not vicious. They want to watch films and get entertained. It’s only pockets of people with vested interests that create all the trouble and the media tends to highlight them. I feel the media needs to be much more responsible in these matters than it actually is. The fact that these things get highlighted make the general person think: ‘Oh, it’s a terrible world we are living in’. We need to ignore these people. Every time a film releases, there are tons of cases thrown at it and this is done so that these people can get their 15 minutes of fame. Most of these cases are fake… they have no logic, no reasoning.

You have an enviable 100 per cent track record. Does the pressure of your previous success weigh on you every time you make a film?
(Smiles) Every time I make a film, I definitely want it to succeed. But my definition of success is a little different… there are other people around to bother how much money my films make (smiles), but for me, the foremost criterion is that my audience should like my film. If you talk to me about PK — though money-wise, it’s the biggest (Rs 337 crore) — I personally feel that I didn’t succeed 100 per cent. It’s not my best work...  I feel I somehow failed with PK somewhere. I tried my best, but the topic was so vast and contentious and the script went through so many changes, that I don’t think I was able to do what I set out to do. And that is something that continues to haunt me. 

So which has been your most emotionally satisfying film?
Actually, it’s very difficult to say that… the first film (Munna Bhai MBBS) gives a special joy because that’s your first film. Lage Rago (Munna Bhai) I liked because it was a very unusual story… there was no reference point for it anywhere in world cinema. In almost all my films, I have achieved what I stepped out to do. With PK, that didn’t happen (smiles). For me, numbers don’t matter. 

Which of your contemporary directors do you admire?
Imtiaz (Ali) is a dear friend and we share stories and ideas. I like Vishal’s (Bhardwaj) work… I think both Anurag Basu and Anurag Kashyap make great films. I was blown by Masaan (directed by first-timer Neeraj Ghaywan). I recently loved what Meghna (Gulzar) did with Talvar. I didn’t know her at all, but I couldn’t stop myself from calling her and saying: ‘Fantastic work… I wish I could have made that’. 

Finally, how is work coming along on the Sanjay Dutt biopic, starring Ranbir Kapoor?
We are still writing it... I have never seen a life like that of Sanju’s (Sanjay Dutt). It has so much that we will need a couple of films to tell it all. But that’s what makes it interesting.  

Priyanka Roy
Do you think Rajkumar Hirani failed with PK? Tell t2@abp.in

 

EYES WIDE SHUT

Shahid Kapoor and Katrina Kaif will possibly star opposite each other for the first time in Aankhen 2, the sequel to the 2002 Vipul Shah film Aankhen, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal and Sushmita Sen. Aankhen 2 will be helmed by Anees Bazmee, fresh off the success of Welcome Returns. Though the official announcement of the film will be made only next week, word is that Bachchan will return to the franchise, with Nawazuddin Siddiqui — with whom the Bolly legend is currently filming TE3N in and around Calcutta — playing a pivotal role. Aankhen, that had Bachchan in a negative role with Akshay and Arjun as the blind men he trains to rob a bank, was a sleeper hit and also earned critical praise. Watch this space for more.