Showman Subhash Ghai is not merely a reputed filmmaker. He surely has a way with songs too. Nearly all his movies starting from Karz to Taal etc have catch- lines embedded in lead songs that have made a tremendous impact – both in India and the world over. The latest being the world acclaimed Jai Ho!
How involved are you with the music and the lyrics of the film?
I think musically. Most of the time when I write the script, the song is part of the sequence of events along with the dialogues etc. I write the mukhda and then the lyricist takes over. For instance, taal se taal mila or aag lage lag jaaye, Om shanti om. The dialogues before the song and the song itself are linked to each other. They are part of the narrative and take the story forward. They songs are not there because we need a song in the movie. They are effortlessly woven into the script.
What is the story behind the Jai Ho song?
Har gaane ki taqdeer hoti hai ( every song has its own fortune).I had written Jai Ho, the catch word and was recording it with AR Rehman for a film of mine starring Zayed Khan. The song was meant for the character in the film who is the wayward 3rd brother of the trio. Sukhwinder even sang a dummy for it. But when we put the two together, the song didn’t fit in with the character and it was shelved. So we made another song called Shanno Shanno instead. This is a usual part of the film-making process. A few days after the film was made, A R Rehman called me that he is working with Danny Boyle and wanted to use the song for his film. I agreed and the song became a stupendous hit. It appealed to an international audience. If you observe closely, the song was dubbed in several foreign languages but the words Jai Ho was always retained!
On introducing new talent?
Yes, it is important that audiences get to watch new faces. Aishwarya Rai wasn’t a star when I cast her in Taal. Her films hadn’t really done well till then and a lot of people had told me to not cast her and that she is not an actress. I told them that I had studied her and she was the best person to perform the role of Mansi. I had an option of other actresses but I chose her because I was convinced and look what the film did to her.
What are the ingredients of a successful star?
An actor becomes a star because of good dialogues and songs. So it is essentially the script writer and the lyricist who are responsible for creating poetry on screen. Of course the writer and director take the film forward but the songs and dialogues create great recall value in the minds of the audiences and that usually leads to an actor becoming a star. Some examples being Rajesh Khanna, Shahrukh Khan, Dev Anand and Madhuri Dixit.
You have been part of the FTII and you now have your own school Whistling Woods? Why does India need a film school like yours? What Subhash Ghai, the great showman has to say about it?
Film making in India needs a balance between commerce and art. We want students who can combine the two and make it a lucrative profession. Whistling Woods offers that balance. It is not just about teaching students to create art cinema only. Media is humungous today and creativity is needed in every sphere. Whistling Woods International is Asia’s largest film, television and media arts institute, providing education in technical and creative aspects of filmmaking and television. Shahrukh and Dilip kumar officially launched the academy. It is also ranked amongst the World’s Top 10 film schools by Hollywood Reporter.
The Mumbai, India, campus of 20 acres (81,000 m2) is located inside Mumbai’s film and television production centre Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari (better known as ‘Filmcity’), and offers courses that vary in duration from 6-months to 2&½ years, both full-time and part time.
The full-time faculty of Whistling Woods International is a body of academics and industry professionals like Subhash Ghai, Rajen Kothari, Anjum Rajabali, Rakesh Ranjan, Rob Reece, Somnath Sen, Gokul Kesavan, with regular guest lectures by leading Indian and international filmmakers, actors and technicians like Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Farhan Akhtar, Ashok Amritraj, Shyam Benegal, Farah Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Ratna Pathak Shah, Danny Boyle, Rajkumar Hirani and Nagesh Kukunoor. Students also study co-curricular subjects like Film Appreciation, International Art Literature Culture, Production Design and Music.
