Boney Kapoor: We had seen rushes of Dhadak when Sridevi was alive; she had seen her daughter Janhvi Kapoor on screen – #BigInterview | Hindi Movie News – Times of India
Most internet websites claim you have produced 34 films up until now. Is that right?
I have produced 44 films. 10 out of those are regional – 5 Tamil, 3 Telugu, 1 Marathi and 1 Bengali. During Covid times, I made 8 films.
Your first ever film as a producer, Hum Paanch wasn’t an easy movie to make. You had an ensemble cast and outdoor shoots. How was the experience?
Every actor was signed. Whether we were shooting or not I wanted all the actors together. Everyone agreed except for Sanjeev Kumar. I told Sanjeev Kumar that I needed him only for 25 days. We shot in January and April and the film was over. There were 18 people in the kitchen serving a variety of food. Sundar and CS Dubey were in charge of the media. They used to go to Mysore in the morning and get the newspaper and put it on the notice board. Sometimes, they’d hear the news at night and write it by hand for the morning reading of the cast and crew.
With so many big stars under one roof – how was the mood and ambience on the sets of Hum Paanch?
We had 21 cottages. 18 of those were for living, one for catering, one for a clubhouse, and I had made one badminton court and volleyball court. There used to be games after the shoot. I had taken a yoga master to the shoot, as well as a music teacher. Dipti Naval was all into yoga in those days. ‘Boney, I need to do yoga’, she used to say. Geeta Siddharth was also like that. Uday Chandra, Anil Kapoor and Raj Babbar were into singing.
Hum Paanch’s success turned the tables for your family…
Hum Paanch was released and it became a hit and we had enough money to pay off our dad’s debts. One lakh rupees were left. So my father said, “Boney, go abroad. Anil, Sanjay, Reena all have been abroad, but you haven’t. Go to London.” I said, “I will not travel economy. I will travel first class.” The ticket was about Rs 70000. I can’t stay at a hotel with only Rs 30000. I didn’t want to stay at any relatives place either.
Which was your first overseas trip?
I went abroad in 1983. I flew first class, got down at the airport, Chandra Barot’s brother had come to pick me up. He took me to the hotel where Amitabh Bachchan stayed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, my uncle FC Mehra was there. He shouted at me, and for 3-4 days I had to stay at Rajesh Mehra’s house. I had an independent room. I have always preferred hotel rooms unless the house is palatial. In my worst days also, I have travelled first-class. If I am staying at a hotel, it has to be amongst the best rooms.
How did you foray into the South film industry in those days?
We were working on some other subject. I saw the original picture because Bapu (director) was doing that picture (Woh Saat Din) in Telugu. When I came back, Anil and I spoke and he said, “Buy the remake rights to the film Bapu is making.” I had bought the remake rights for Hum Paanch, so my confidence was also boosted. I flew to Chennai. The original film’s post production was on. I stayed there for 40 days at the President Hotel. Luckily for us, the studio for that film was Venus Studio and Anil had worked with them in a Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi in which Mani Ratnam was launched.
After Hum Paanch, Bapu took a liking to Anil and he thought he could be a good prospect to become an actor. So, he offered him a Telugu film as a hero. People appreciated Anil in Vamsa Vruksham (1980) and later he was offered quite a few South films. But he chose Pallavi Anu Pallavi. But the reason for us to get sucked into this film was that Balu Mahendra was the cinematographer. In those days, he was a big star. The lead pair of Julie – Laxmi and Vikram were there in the film. So, our connection with the South had started.
How did you decide that Woh Saat Din was the right choice for your brother Anil Kapoor’s debut as a leading man?
The main credit of Woh Saat Din goes to Sanjeev Kumar. K Bhagyaraj (directed and starred in Andha 7 Naatkal, the Tamil original) was a big actor-filmmaker in those days. He was a man with a Midas touch. Every producer used to go to his house to buy the rights. Fortunately for me, Govind Rajan, who was a partner in Venus Studio, took a liking to Anil and I told him that I wanted to launch my brother in this film. Rajan told me to wait. My daily duty was to visit him and mark my attendance. He used to say, “Wait”.
I used to drive Bapu’s car to a studio where Shabana Azmi, Sanjeev Kumar were shooting. On the 39th day (the film was to release in two days’ time), I went to producer Venus Govindarajan’s house. He said, “Boney, tomorrow get one lakh twenty-five thousand and the rights will be yours.” He told me the names of other producers who were ready to pay that amount. Govindarajan was short of one lakh twenty-five thousand to release the picture. He told me to come the next morning by 10-10:30.
I didn’t have that money in hand. I went to the studio in the afternoon with a pale face. Haribhai (Sanjeev Kumar) asked me what was the matter. He said that after his pack-up, he will come with me. I was driving the car and Haribhai was sitting next to me and smoking. He asked me, “Boney, what is the problem?” I told him the situation about money. I couldn’t even take a flight and get the money from my father. I reached my hotel. Around 8:30-9 pm, I got a call from Haribhai’s boy. He told me that Haribhai wanted me to meet him the next morning at 9 am.
So, I went there the next morning. Saroj Modi was sitting there. Haribhai came out of the bathroom, brushing his teeth. I was sitting by the bedside. He asked me to lift the pillow and there was money – one lakh fifty thousand. He asked me to take the money and buy the rights.
I asked him, ‘How do I pay this money back to you?’ He said, ‘First buy the rights’.
We had worked together on Hum Paanch. And Haribhai had done Humare Tumhare in which Anil was a child artist. He said that he liked the subject and since I wanted to launch Anil he told me to take the money and buy the rights.
I was happy. I took the money and went to Govindarajan. I gave him the money and he gave me the rights. I stayed there for a couple of days and watched the film. Since it was a newly released movie, I had to buy the print. I used the remaining 25,000 from the money Haribhai had given me and bought the print.
Were you able to return Sanjeev Kumar’s money after the success of Woh Saat Din?
When we went to Haribhai to return the money, we were planning to get my sister married. Haribhai said, “Take this money back. Give it to me after your daughter gets married.” Unfortunately, tragedy after tragedy kept happening in Haribhai’s life and he passed away. When we returned the money to his sister-in-law, Haribhai’s secretary Jamnadas said, “There are so many producers who owed money to Haribhai but nobody came forward.”
His sister-in-law told me to give her Rs 15,000 a month and not the full amount in one go. So, Jamnadas would come and take 15,000 rupees every month. One day, he came and said, “Bhabhi ne bulaya hai.” She said that I gave her more money than I owed them. She wanted to return that excess money but I didn’t take it. Without Haribhai, we wouldn’t have got the rights to Woh Saat Din.
With the profit of Woh Saat Din, we got our sister married in Delhi. We got her married the way our parents had wished for. It was a grand affair.
You often get involved in the creative process of your film productions as well. Did that also happen with Woh Saat Din?
In those days, there used to be a Panasonic cassette player with an in-built mic. I carried that tape recorder to the theatre to record the reactions of the audience. I saw two shows sitting in the upper stall. I thought when I’ll give the script to the writer, I’ll give this tape as well. So, I told writer Jainendra Jain to make sure that the dialogue matches the reaction. I had the censored script, which I got translated and gave it to Jain along with the cassette.
Bapu said that just like the character in the Tamil film has an accent we should give an accent to Anil. We made the character from Patiala. Gulzar saab wrote the first draft without taking a single penny. The only thing he asked to be given was a bottle of Royal Salute.
Did you have an elaborate marketing plan to ensure Woh Saat Din would succeed?
When the film was to be released, I had put up a hoarding at Haji Ali which was a prime site in Mumbai. I had hoardings all over Delhi. I also had a first page ad in Delhi newspapers. In those days, newcomer heroes would make grand entries in their debut movies. Sanjay Dutt arrived on a motorcycle, Sunny Deol arrived on a horse, Kumar Gaurav arrived in a plane… Anil Kapoor arrived wearing pajamas with a music box in his hand. The marketing of the film had to be intelligent and not grand.
I first prayed and did a pooja when I went to Vaishno Devi. Then, I made a list of theatres where the film should be released. In Mumbai, I wanted the Opera House and Roxy theatres. In Delhi, I wanted Moti and Regal, and in Calcutta, I wanted Paradise. I had plans for Jaipur and Hyderabad, too.
In Connaught Place, Delhi, around 2 lakh people would visit daily in those days. I wanted a hoarding for Woh Saat Din there and I wanted to release the film in Regal. But Mohan Kumar’s Avtaar (with leads Rajesh Khanna and Shabana Azmi) was running in its 25th week. After I came back from Vaishno Devi, as luck would have it, Mohan Kumar had agreed to run Avtaar in one show and the other three shows were mine for Woh Saat Din. I got hoardings of my film all over the theatre except for the main pillar which belonged to Avtaar. I was okay with that, because the Woh Saat Din hoardings would be above Avtaar’s hoardings and that was for the best. I did the same in Calcutta and Mumbai. Everything fell in place.
Did things also serendipitously fall in place for Mr India as well?
After Woh Saat Din, we wanted to make a film with Bapu only. Somehow it didn’t work out. I had said that this time we won’t do a remake, Javed Akhtar is writing an original for us. So, he got a little impatient. That’s when we scrapped that project. We toyed with so many subjects. I had heard the story of Mr India after Woh Saat Din. Javed Akhtar saab, Naresh Goyal and I were supposed to make Mr India with Ramesh Sippy as the director and Amitabh Bachchan as the hero. But it didn’t work out.
So, once when Javed saab and I were sitting, I said, “Let’s do this picture.” He said, “It’s an expensive picture. GP Sippy was in two minds to make it with Amitabh Bachchan. How can you make it with Anil Kapoor?” I said that we will make it. In those times, when big films with top stars were mounted with 1 and 1.5 crores, I made a film for 3 crore and 20 lakh rupees. I was 80 lakhs deficit on release. But in the first year itself I got money and name, and the film is remembered even today.
Your youngest brother Sanjay Kapoor turned out to be a late bloomer.
We searched for subjects and got a script written for Sanjay’s debut. Shekhar Kapur was supposed to direct the film. Everyone was excited when we started Prem. The film had 32 locations and sets. We shot in Chennai, Sri Lanka, Kochi, Nashik, Seattle and everywhere possible. I was happy with the script and the way the film had turned out. But sometimes, your sense of humour can go against you as well. Sanjay somewhere jokingly said, “I’m the oldest newcomer”. The film was in the making for five years because Satish Kaushik (director), Baba Azmi (DOP), Javed Akhtar, were busy with Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, which also had got delayed because Sridevi met with an accident. Then Anil met with an accident.
We introduced a newcomer as well as the song Yaad Aati Hai Magar Aati Nahin. Everyone started making fun of it. That “I’m the oldest newcomer” statement worked against Sanjay. But at the premiere, everyone appreciated the picture. Vijay Anand, who was a jury member at a popular awards ceremony, resigned from the jury because he said, “This film deserved the Best Picture award. It need not be the most successful picture.”
Fortunately, after that, Raja was released and it worked. A few films didn’t work after that though.
Do you feel disappointed that your late wife Sridevi could not witness Janhvi Kapoor’s debut?
When Janhvi grew up, Karan Johar came home and expressed his desire to launch her. He wanted to make Shiddat with Janhvi which was later released as Kalank. He wanted Janhvi to play the role which was eventually played by Alia Bhatt in Kalank. And he wanted Sridevi to do the role eventually played by Madhuri Dixit. Later, he decided to make Dhadak with Janhvi. Till Sridevi was alive, Kalank was called Shiddat. She had agreed to do the film reluctantly.
We had seen the rushes of Dhadak when Sridevi was alive. So, she had seen her daughter on screen. Khushi had auditioned, too and after Janhvi’s audition, she got a scholarship at the New York Film Academy.
