Panaji: Not one to mask his aggressive side, filmmaker and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra knows what he speaks, and definitely knows how it will be interpreted. Vidhu, who was at Film Bazaar recently, discussed the reason why he calls 'Kareeb' his mistake, why he doesn't like going to Cannes and recalls the experience of working with RD Burman.
On the insignificance of film festivals: I'm not a great believer of festivals. I'm rejected at festivals. My wife goes to Cannes, and I go for a walk. People go to Cannes to see movies, but these days you can see movies on DVDs. It is 'tamasha' for me. They show third grade movies at Cannes. I'm not a festival man. Having said that I have come to film bazaar after a long time. I'm impressed with what's going on here. But I'm not a believer of film festivals.
On why his film 'Kareeb' bombed: That's the most expensive love letter I wrote to woman I loved (he is referring to his first wife Renu). And that bombed. And that's the only films that bombed. I won't write anymore love letter through movies. I married a woman who hated violence, and loved mishy mashy movies. I tried to make one for her and I screwed up. Each time she'd see blood she went, "God! You are killing people." So I told her, "Okay, I will make a film for you. So yes that was a mistake. Will never do that again. So please don't do anything because you love somebody, do it because you believe in the project.
On RD Burman's transition from selling music to creating music:
In 'Parinda', I realised I had not treated music with respect, except one song. I took it because commercial film hai aur gaane daalne zaroori hain. That's a terrible way of making a popular film or even a film. So 1942 was a total reverse film. I really wanted to go back to my roots - Kashmir. These Hindi songs were a part of my upbringing. When I approached RD Burman for Hindi songs, he was going through a very insecure phase. Nobody was working with him. RD Burman, because he was going a through a bad phase, the first song we did was 'Kuch Na Kaho'. He made a tune, and I was appalled. And I told him, it is shit. There was a photo of Sd Burman. I told him, 'You are the best music director in the country, and I'm looking for him." So he asked me if I had approached him for '1942' because he knew that if I told him that he was doing the film's music, HMV wouldn't allow. He said 'Give me one week'. So something happened to him and he had tears. Next week, he started the song with SD Burman note and that's how RD came back from selling music to creating music.
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