From karate kid to director

By A. L. Chougule

SOME actors get bored of acting and become directors. But there are others who enjoy acting but are fascinated by the idea of turning director. That was the case with Neena Gupta and Archana Puran Singh who are now successful directors. And that’s also the case with Farha, Hindi film’s femme fatale of the ‘80s and its original karate kid. She has turned director with a serial that stars hubby Vindoo, pa-in-law Dara Singh, Ranjeet, Parikshat Sahni, Anjana Mumtaz, Shahbaz Khan and Asrani, among others.

Titled Taqdeer, it is a proper soap revolving around three families. "It’s basically a family drama", is all that Farha has to say about the serial. She is tight-lipped about its story and treatment but adds that in Taqdeer, music is going to play an important role. "I have already recorded four songs", she informs, adding, "and they have come out very well."

Farha has been thinking of becoming a director for quite some time, about eight years, to be precise. During the making of Yateem she was quite impressed with JP Dutta’s style of working and method of presentation. Since then the thought of taking up direction was there at the back of her mind. What stopped her was the realisation that filmmaking was a high-risk game and she wasn’t willing to take a risk.

As for directing a serial, it was a certain no because there were no satellite channels then and making a serial for Doordarshan would have meant going from pillar to post. So when did she finally decide to take the plunge in direction? "About three years ago when I started working in serials", she recalls. "On the sets of Amar Prem and Aaha I was always jumping behind the camera to get a feel of the job and often I used to ask my director Arun (Frank) about camera angles, scene composition and cuts. I just decided to learn direction while working on the set because you learn it quickly".

Having gained confidence, she started working on the script which took her two years. During this period she scripted nearly 200 episodes. But by being a writer, director and producer, hasn’t she taken on too many responsibilities which she might find difficult to handle? "When others can do it, why can’t I?" she asks, making light of the situation. Actually she is not much bothered about the nitty-gritty details of production because hubby Vindoo is always there to help her.

Farha made her debut on the silver screen in 1985 as a nubile nymphet. Talented and with a good face and screen presence, she was considered one of the most promising newcomers. Not surprisingly, in a very short period, she tasted success. But after doing about 60 films and when she was near reaching her peak, she got married and offers for lead roles started drying up. So was marriage a wrong decision at that point of time in her career?

"No, it was the right decision and I have never regretted it", she says. "After marriage I wanted to work but suddenly I started getting offers for character roles. I was shocked because I just couldn’t imagine myself doing character roles all of a sudden."

She feels happy for her kid sister Tabu who, in a very short span, has made it big and has also won the National award. "I am proud of Tabu," she beams, adding, "because whatever I could not achieve, she has achieved."