"Maximum City should Be Banned:" Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Why Parineeta? It’s a film I’m very proud of. It’s as good as Gone with the Wind. And very expensive, unlike Munnabhai mbbs. When I see its promos between those of women thrusting their boobs at the camera, I’m bloody proud. It’s a 25-crore film with a new girl, who’s bloody brilliant. Who else would take such a risk? Kareeb and Mission Kashmir were panned. What went wrong? You’re the only person to ever ask me this. This is a false question. Mission Kashmir was ranked by The New York Times alongside Costa Gavras’ Z under the title ‘Two Thrillers, Two Traditions’. People I respect, like Dustin Hoffman, have been very kind about Mission Kashmir. Kareeb wasn’t a film I had a great time making. Sanjay Bhansali, who worked with me for eight years, was supposed to make his debut with it, but he made Khamoshi. Frankly, I got slightly bored. Anyway, there isn’t a single Indian critic I respect. We have critics who criticise others while making movies I wouldn’t piss on. You’re part of Indian cinema, yet outside it... Is that true? I’m not in Hindi cinema. I’m in cinema. If I compare myself to mediocre Hindi cinema, I am God, but compared to Ang Lee, I’m nothing. But I’m striving very hard to be there before I die. I was nominated for an Oscar at 21, and offered a job in Hollywood. Now I have a script at Warner Brothers, and Twentieth Century Fox bought Munnabhai mbbs. I had dinner with Peter O’ Toole in London, while publicising Parineeta. We talked about my script The Fifth Move and got drunk on single malt. I’ll never forget how he praised my work. He showed me rada that night, after I told him that as a kid in Kashmir I’d really wanted to go there. When he took me, I said, “Yes! This is it.” You refer to Amitabh Bachchan as Amit. Even his wife calls him Amit ji in public. It tells me a lot about you. (Laughs) His name is Amit! I think I live so much in isolation, I don’t know how the rest of the world lives. I really like him. He’s a very good man. Watch him in Yagna. He’s a fucking bomb. He rehearsed for a year before shooting began. Has your relationship with Suketu Mehta soured after Maximum City? Mehta is crazy. His marriage is over, he’s on the street. He writes, I’m told, (I haven’t read the book) that he came to my house and there were my three wives. What is this nonsense? Renu (Saluja) was my ex wife, Shabnam is in Canada. I have had one wife for nine years. I haven’t spoken about this to the press, but talking about it to you makes me think I should sue him. It suits him to project this image of an Indian director, because it fits into the dangerous mind of Americans, who like to feel superior to everyone else. The book should be banned. Mehta mentions your desire to immigrate to Canada. I don’t want to talk about him. I let him into my house, took him everywhere. But for me that book wouldn’t have been written. I never knew he was writing about me and my family, just about Hindi movies. If I didn’t want to forget about it, I’d sue his pants off. Aamir Khan was reading the book, but when he reached my chapter he threw it away. You slap people when you’re angry? I’ve slapped a couple of critics, which is why I never get good reviews. But I hven’t slapped anyone for a long time. I have young children so I try very hard. But I get angry with people like Mehta. If he came here now, I would slap him. Parinda set the tone for gangster films in India. What do you think of the new genre? There is very little good Indian cinema being made. The last three good films I saw were Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai and Black. Black? Even though it’s a frame-by-frame copy of The Miracle Worker? Is it? I didn’t know that. I haven’t seen The Miracle Worker. I’m shocked! I’ll see it and decide who did a better job. Maybe Bhansali did! Looking back at your early years, is there anything you’d change? I’d still want to be born in Kashmir, but I’d ask for a better education. I wish my father could’ve sent me to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (rada). But it’s complicated. If I’d gone to rada I wouldn’t be me. I’d be discreet, which I’m not now! But I think what I am to India, I’d have been to the world. I’ll still get there. ...I think I’d have liked to get married only once. But again, I went through very beautiful relationships. No, I’m happy being myself. (Tehelka, June 11 2005)