Master storyteller Vidhu Vinod Chopra mesmerised the audience on day three of IFFI
Mona
A record-breaking 1,676 submissions from 101 countries, presence of stars, filmmakers and cinephiles from around the world, but one person who rocked on the third day of the 55th edition of IFFI at Goa was Vidhu Vinod Chopra! As he came on stage, amongst whistling and cheers, during the master-class ‘Living Movies: Filmmaking and the Creative Life’, attendees little knew that they would be sending him off with flying kisses along with the same thunderous applause!
‘Strive for excellence and rewards will follow’ was this Punjabi man’s mantra for his super successful film 3 Idiots and this is the message he gave to an auditorium full of aspiring filmmakers at Kala Academy, Panaji, on Friday. Joining him on stage was Shantanu Moitra, with whom he has collaborated for films like Parineeta, Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots.
His father wanted him to be a doctor, but he always wanted to become a filmmaker. Vinod’s first hope came in form of a relative who promised that he would speak to Goldie (Vijay Anand), whom Vinod wanted to assist. Each day after school he would run to the letter-box but was disappointed, as a letter never came. Not the one to lose heart, Vinod joined the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune to study direction. His first student short film, Murder at Monkey Hill, won him the National Film Award. This was followed by his first short documentary, An Encounter with Faces, which got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 1979. After his first feature Sazaye Maut, when he made Khamosh, everyone loved the film but nobody was ready to buy it. Turning a distributor, he released it at Regal Cinema, Bombay, for two weeks and as they say, the rest is history.
After Parinda, 1942: A Love Story, Kareeb and Mission Kashmir, he later turned a producer and gave successful films like Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots, PK and Sanju. Called the sharpest brain of the film industry in India, does one need to have business acumen to be a filmmaker? Vinod’s answer is no. “All you need to do is to be honest and stay on your path,” he said. Notably, his film Zero Se Restart had its premiere at IFFI.
During the session, he shared how he was once challenged by Naseeruddin Shah to ‘make Jackie act’. A passionate man, Vinod took up the challenge and made sure Jackie Shroff, so far called ‘the wooden actor’, won the award for Best Actor in Parinda. When RD Burman made the first song for 1942 A Love Story, he had the courage to call it bahut hi kharab, till Kuch Na Kaho came about.
Even after decades in the industry, life is still not a bed of roses for him. Many told him that it was his film 12th Fail that deserved a chance at the Oscars, but Vinod doesn’t take awards that seriously. At his film company, Vinod Chopra Films, the mantra is to — entertain, educate and elevate. The session was a riveting lesson in how to approach films, or any other career for that matter, and life.
Despite the stature that he enjoys, Vinod has an exuberance, almost a child-like innocence. Thanking his family, daughter Zuni, and wife Anupama Chopra, highlighted the need to trust one’s instinct.
A successful director, he is an equally successful producer, who never enters the movie sets when he is producing. He also referred to his former wife, and editor of his films Renu Saluja, and many others, who helped him create the masterpieces he has. It is not without reason that some of his old films would see a re-release in cinemas next year!
