Subhash Ghai on turning 80 and continuing to produce movies

• Subhash Ghai will soon turn 80.
• He still considers himself ‘still 40 and still mischievous.’
• He feels makers think in English and write in Hindi.

Even though Subhash Ghai will soon turn 80, he still considers himself to be “still 40 and still mischievous.” He chuckles and claims he doesn’t celebrate birthdays. “It is a very intimate affair with family. But they want to celebrate it more than me. A birthday is just like any other day for me. I get up, exercise and leave for work. Even today I wake up at 7’0 clock and work for 10 hours every day. I am as good as when I was 40, I never realised my calendar age,”  he claims.

The filmmaker of numerous blockbusters, including Karz (1980), Meri Jung (1985), Kaalicharan (1976), and Pardes (1997), is still working on new movies and online series. On one of them, he also serves as the creative director. He surprises us though when he admits that up until this point, he had never watched any of his work.

He said “I have always made different films. I made a Yaadein, and also a Black and White. Khalnayak, Ram Lakhan… every film has been a different experiment for me. I never liked to repeat myself. The moment a film is over, it is over for me forever. You will be surprised to know I have never seen my past films. TV par bhi agar kabhi aati hai I just smile, and change the channel. I remember the audience of that time, how in theatres there would be a lower and upper stall, a balcony,”

He feels that makers today think in English and write in Hindi. He continues, “The problem is makers think in English, make in Hindi. Aise kaise chalega? Jis bhasha mein film banani hai ussi bhasha mein sochna chahiye. Satyajit Ray never tried to win over the market of Hindi cinema. He always said ‘I am a Bengali guy, who knows Bengali culture, languagem hence I will make films in that language’. You see Korean, or any other world cinema, they make films in their own language, their own roots are there. That is important.”

According to Ghai, it is comparable to how a poor guy is drawn to wealth without understanding the difficulties that come with being on the opposite side as well. “Jitne hum gareeb hote hain, utni ameeri se attraction hoti hai. Jinka paas paisa hai, unke paas utni hi pareshaani hai jitni gareebon ke paas. Hindustrani bachhe samajhte hain western ban jaayenge toh tarakki kar jaayenge. Yeh galat fehmi hai,”  He says.

Also Read

Anupam Kher and Kartik Aaryan attend Subhash Ghai’s party

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai celebrated his 78th birthday on Monday with a star-studded...