When I became an actor, I always wondered why successful producers and directors in the Hindi film industry either stole ideas from Hollywood or ended up remaking super hit South Indian films… Why did they have to resort to plagiarism in a country so rich in history, culture and literature.. Why the paucity of fresh ideas especially where stories were concerned… Was it that the land of Valmiki, Tagore, Sarat Chandra, Premchand, Amrita Pritam etc was suddenly drawing a blank when it came to story ideas?? But how could that be?? This is the most prolific time for indian writers writing original stories in the English language.. This question baffled me a great deal especially while working on Indian television which was my daily bread, butter and jam… NO NEW STORIES WERE BEING TOLD…

And then it was my turn to make a film… After directing my first short, I quickly realized that although acting was something I enjoyed, direction was my true calling… So I set upon the unenviable task of conjuring up ‘the perfect script’…Months of story sessions passed by without me finding that perfect story that I wanted to tell.. In the interim, I happened to be at Shabana azmi and javed akhtar’s house for dinner where I was admonished for not being able to lock a story.. Shabana ji is not only my favourite actor but also someone who I feel a deep connect with.. She was very concerned that I was whiling my time away and not starting my film.. The inimitable and witty Javed saab responded in a way only he can when I said I was still looking for ‘the perfect script’.. He said, “ Rohit sahab, hume kahaniyan likhte hue kuch 40 saal ho gaye par perfect script abhi tak hume bhi nahi mili… How you tell a story is as important as what you are telling… if not more!!”

And then I tied up the loose ends which had been bothering me since so many years… There are only these many stories in the world primarily.. What makes every film different from the other is the way the story is told.. People have been known to make films inspired by Hollywood but while some of them like Sanjay Gupta can surpass the originals, others fail to even match the original… The failure is in the story telling, not in the story…

I mention Don, Agneepath and Shaukeen as they are closely connected to my life at this point… Don is one of my my all time times favourites and Farhan Akhtar, who directed the film, is not only a friend but also someone I hugely admire as a director and an actor.. His company Excel Entertainment has a bank of great scripts so no paucity of ideas there.. Agneepath, another cult classic, is being produced by the most successful producer of contemporary Indian cinema, Karan Johar, so obviously its not a case of lack of ideas… and Shaukeen is the classic I have decided to re-make for my next outing as a director.. It is not that there are not enough original ideas, on the contrary… Like I mentioned before, this is boom time in terms of original Indian writing but re-making a classic is like paying obeisance to a story and subject that has left a lasting impression on you… It is not old wine in a new bottle but its like uncorking a bottle of the best vintage which has been maturing for decades…

Now the big responsibility is to take the original film and script to the next level and transform a 80’s classic into a 21st century blockbuster…

As a post note, I must add that lets not make paying obeisance our primary job as filmmakers.. Lets look for more interesting stories that are waiting to be told.. It is our duty towards the next generation of filmmakers who will be looking for classics to be re made!!!

Credits: Times of India