Chekravarthy

No one remembers you as the college baddie JD in Shiva?

See, Shiva was made by Ram Gopal Varma in Telugu and then dubbed in Hindi. So down south, I came to be known as JD Chekravarthy. You go there and ask about me and they will say: ?Chekr-avarthy who?? You have to put JD before my name in the south. That?s how popular my cameo was after the movie released.

How did your first Hindi film Satya happen?

Ramuji has produced more than 22 films with me in Telugu. So we were throughout in touch, even though I wasn?t acting in his Hindi films. Now he is not a formal person at all; he never asks, ?How are you?? or asks you to ?Take care?. Once when I had just landed in the US, he called up from Mumbai and asked me: ?Have you reached?? I was really surprised because it was very uncharacteristic of him. It was June 30 and he said: ?I am starting Satya on July 4. You can come whenever you want but be here before that day.?

After Satya, Manoj Bajpai became huge but you didn?t really cash in on the film despite playing Satya?

Because I was a very busy hero in the south. I had already committed to four or five films when Satya was happening. So regardless of how the film did, I would have been busy for the next one-and-a-half years. In fact, Ramuji called me up to do another film with him soon after Satya but I was in the middle of a schedule at that time.

Aftab Shivdasani and Chunky Pandey in Darwaza Bandh Rakho

Durga, which had the tagline ?A film by Chekravarthy?, was touted as a sequel to Satya but it sank without a trace...

That was a pure gimmick because I was not being able to sell the dubbed Telugu film in Mumbai. The film was produced, not directed, by me. The gimmick paid off half my debts. But I have no clue why Satya worked and Durga didn?t. I guess it would have been a bad film. It did just okay in the south.

Why did you choose a Sushmita Sen vehicle like Vaastu Shastra for your Hindi comeback?

As I told you, I was always actively involved with all of Ramuji?s projects. In the south, I was either acting in his productions or writing the screenplays. I even did the post-production for some of his Hindi films. So, I was always a part of Factory and Vaastu Shastra came up as an acting assignment. The only major change from Satya was that I had to cut off my moustache (laughs).

Was Darwaza Bandh Rakho Ramuji?s idea?

Yes, he bounced off the idea in one of the Vaastu Shastra meetings. And I just laughed my lungs out. I hate to assign a genre to the movie but you have to call Darwaza... a comedy. While none of the characters is doing any comedy and even the situations are extremely serious, the audience will find it very funny. So I enjoyed the process of making a script out of the idea. Now you have to see and decide whether I developed his idea or screwed it up.

Isha Sharvani in the movie

So, what is this big idea of Darwaza...?

Four young guys kidnap a richie-rich girl. There are no sad reasons like dahej or debt. They just want to make quick money. They then randomly barge into a Gujarati house. It?s here that there is a small twist and they somehow can?t make the deal happen with the girl?s father. Finally the whole plan goes for a toss with the four having to manage 35 hostages in that house.

What was it like helming an ensemble cast including everyone from Aftab Shivdasani and Isha Sharvani to Manisha Koirala and Chunky Pandey?

It was like one big picnic. You have heard that before, right? Well, for me, it wasn?t! I never enjoyed doing it. You can?t, when there are 35 brats under one roof. It was like an unruly classroom and I realised age is no bar when it comes to being mischievous.

So I started acting, as if I am this short-tempered director who can punch you any moment. It was only towards the end they realised that I was acting. Otherwise we would have never been able to finish the movie.

So you prefer acting to directing?

Not really. An actor is a dependant person; he has to do what the director asks him to do. The director, on the other hand, has the capacity to create. So I prefer creating rather being re-created.

Why not do both in the same movie?

I didn?t want to act while directing, especially when it is my first directorial venture. I wanted to be a full-fledged director rather than be a part of it. Also, the film didn?t require me, I could not associate myself with any of the characters. And having done 50 films as an actor, I was not desperate to appear in one scene.

Has Ramuji seen your finished film?

Yes. He had no clue how I was developing the script. He had no clue how I was shooting it. But I was never tense when he wanted to see the final film. He would have liked it or hated it, nothing in between. Now, knowing him, he had no choice to hate it because it was a finished project and he couldn?t have done anything (laughs).

Darwaza... is coming a week after Omkara and a week before Kabhi Alvida...

Any good film will work regardless of which film comes before, with or after it. Kisna and Page 3 released on the same day and you know what happened. So did Dil and Ghayal, and both worked. I want all films to do well, but my film has to do well.

Where do we see you next? Behind or in front of the camera?

I was supposed to act in a Factory film called Sattu. And no, that has nothing to do with Satya. That?s been postponed by a couple of months. I am now working on my next film called Creature which will need some time since a lot of special effects is involved.