Mumbai, March 9 (IANS) Veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who is known for films such as ‘Karz’, ‘Hero’, ‘Taal’, ‘Ram Lakhan’ and others, recently declined to take the credit for making carving stars out of Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit, and Meenakshi Seshadri.
The filmmaker said that all of the aforementioned actors were destined to become stars, it’s just that destiny brought them together, and allowed them to get the best out of each other.
Subhash Ghai spoke with film trade pundit Komal Nahta on his podcast ‘Game Changers’, and shared insights into his unique approach to working with some of Bollywood’s biggest stars.
When Nahta asked about his process of transforming these actors into stars, the filmmaker responded with humility, “I didn’t make them stars, their destiny did. Destiny brought us together, and I found them good, honest, like students, eager to learn. They didn’t seem fake, artificial, or cosmetic. That’s why I asked them to work together, whether it was Jackie, Madhuri, Anil, Sanju, whoever”.
He emphasized that his approach was rooted in an actor’s willingness to grow and learn. For him, the key factor in choosing actors was their authenticity and their hunger to improve, not just their talent. “For me, the most important thing is that a person who wants to learn and has the desire to do something, you can nurture their talent as a director”, he added.
Earlier, the filmmaker had shared the reason behind the title of his memoir, ‘Karma’s Child: The Story of Indian Cinema’. The filmmaker took to his Instagram, and shared a throwback picture featuring veteran writer Gulzar and himself.
He also penned a long note in the caption sharing what Gulzar once told him. He wrote, “Why did they name your book as karma ‘s child ? Gulzar saab told me the reasons coz it only instinctive talent of child like you cud make such time less classics. It just happens”.
He further mentioned, “It’s your own karma n courage to go ahead n shine as a film maker for 40 years. I felt overwhelmed by his deeper affection n love for me while he launched my book in mumbai film festival. Thank u gulzar sahab. I am still a student (sic)”.
‘Karma’s Child: The Story of Indian Cinema’s Ultimate Showman’ was launched at the 55th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
–IANS
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