Did you know filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali was once an assistant to filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra? And that for a brief scene in the song Pyaar Hua Chupke Se in 1942: A Love Story, Bhansali had to go on a mountain top to spread breadcrumbs, just because Vidhu wanted some birds in the frame?
All this and a lot more was in store for a packed house of cinephiles at a session with Vidhu at the 56th International Film Festival of India on Saturday. Here’s a lowdown on what had the audience in equal parts splits and surprise:
Recalling the shoot of Pyaar Hua Chupke Se, Vidhu, the director, recalled, “We worked so hard on that film. There’s a shot when Manisha Koirala is running as the line plays ‘kyun naye lag rahe hain yeh dharti gagan…’ It was not digital like it is today. There were no birds in the sky there, I wanted birds. Itni height pe aate nahi hain. Sanjay, my assistant then, I told him this. Those guys went at night to spread breadcrumbs on that mountain top. Because of that, the birds came! When I saw it in the 8K re-mastered version here at IFFI, it gave me so much joy! After 35 years!”
Vidhu was in conversation with his frequent collaborator, writer Abhijat Joshi, who further revealed to the audience another anecdote, “Vidhu told me once that once he was writing the dialogues of 1942… Jackie Shroff, the film’s actor, entered the set speaking the same dialogue Vidhu was just writing! He asked ‘Jaggu, how do you know this?!’ He said ‘merko 100 meter door sunaai de raha tha!’- because Vidhu was so loud!”
Vidhu further shared that the now iconic music album of 1942, composed by RD Burman, was almost not composed by the late legend. Because in the very sitting itself, RD sang Kuchh Na Kaho as a fast-paced number. Vidhu shared, “RD Burman was down and out, music companies said ‘we won’t take his music’ I had loved him in Parinda, but I had not said to him that he’s doing 1942. I told him ‘all music companies are saying you are finished, we need to make some great music before we can sell the music’ I remember he played Kuchh Na Kaho (as a fast song). I was shocked. He asked me what I thought. Now, you all know how frank I am, maybe I shouldn’t be that frank. I said ‘dada main sochta hoon’, he said ‘first reaction de na’ Main kya reaction deta, it was so bad. I said ‘main 1942 saal ki baat kar raha hoon, aur aisa music…’ Then he replied ‘yahi bikta hai aaj kal, tu dekh Anu Malik ka music ban raha hai’ Because he tried to sell it to me, I got angry.”
What happened next changed everything. The filmmaker continued, “I pointed to SD Burman’s (RD Burman’s father and legendary music composer) picture and said ‘I am looking for him. He’s dead, I believe you are the finest music director in this country. And you are giving me this?’ He said ‘ek word mein bol kya gadbad hai’ I said ‘it’s sh*t. Actually, it’s bulls**t’ He became emotional and asked ‘main music kar raha hoon ki nahi?’ I said ‘dada, it’s not you. It’s the music that speaks. This is not okay.’ He asked for a week, I said I will give him a year to give me the music I want. He had tears in his eyes, I got emotional. Next Friday, he called me. I thought he’s going to say he can’t do it. He asked me to listen to a cassette of his father’s. Next week, he was on his harmonium. He started with the opening tune of Kuchh Na Kaho, and I shut my eyes, and gave the signal of ‘amazing’ He said ‘abhi gaana shuru nahi hua!’ I said ‘dada, yeh pehla note hi aisa hai’ It was an SD Burman note. RD would call it ‘baap ka maal’ This song became this song only because I used the word bulls**t.”
