'The Hero is a hit. But it is too early to say whether it will prove to be another Gadar -- Ek Prem Katha.'
News of the lukewarm reception to director Anil Sharma's Rs 55 crore thriller, released April 11, had just started to trickle in when he issued this emphatic statement about The Hero: Love Story Of A Spy.
Post The Hero's release, the trade is forecasting heavy losses for the film industry. A Bihar distributor believes it would be a miracle if the film breaks even. Dinesh Raheja met Sharma, who maintains otherwise:
How has the box-office responded to The Hero?
The collections over the last four days average 95 per cent. The film is a hit, 100 per cent. Everybody has liked it.
There was a slight drop Saturday morning, but that is not unusual. To release as many as 43 prints of a film in Mumbai city and 130 prints in the Mumbai circuit at a time when the audience has lost the habit of frequenting the theatre is unprecedented.
And the crowd's reaction?
It ranges from 'good' to 'very good' to 'good, but not as good as Gadar.' But since Gadar is my film as well, I am happy.
What everyone wants to know is whether The Hero can match Gadar's collections?
I think it is too early to say whether it will prove as big a hit as Gadar. Movies like Gadar are made once in 25, 30 years. It is difficult for any film to do business of Gadar's proportions.
If I were to make Gadar again, I would have named the film Gadar II. And I would have sent Sunny Deol to Pakistan again!
Usually, after a film succeeds, filmmakers make films that seek refuge in the shadow of the earlier hit.
I didn't do that. I thought people would laud me for having the courage to make a film that is different from Gadar.
Were you subconsciously influenced by espionage films like Aankhen (Dharmendra, Mala Sinha) and Prem Pujari (Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman, Zaheeda) while making The Hero?
The spy factor was the only common aspect in the three films. I don't even remember Aankhen. For your information, the romance between Preity Zinta and Sunny Deol is based on a real-life incident.
At the theatre where I watched the film, the Pak-bashing scenes drew applause, but there was little response to the conciliatory scenes where you tried to assuage the emotions of the people of Pakistan by pointing your finger at a select few.
In Uttar Pradesh and Hyderabad we have got applause for these scenes. For me, the intention was not to draw applause but to place things in the right perspective -- to distinguish between right and wrong. Also, for me, the audience is not compartmentalised as Muslim and Hindu.
Why do you think the music of the film has been slow to catch on?
The music of the film is such that you enjoy it while watching the film. It befits the story. Sometimes a song is a hit, yet the audience does not sit through it. No one in the theatres has walked out during the songs of The Hero.
The general consensus is that you wasted Priyanka Chopra. She doesn't seem to have a good introductory scene.
Just because Priyanka Chopra is an ex-Miss World it does not mean I have to compromise. To introduce a new character by making her turn towards the camera or in some other dramatic fashion is the old school of filmmaking.
You must have noticed I did not underline the fact that Sunny Deol changed his looks. He would just walk into the frame sporting a new look. I want my films to seem life-like.
Why did you devote so much footage to the prosaic, lecture-like description of how to make a nuclear bomb?
When they show something like this in a Hollywood film -- Jurassic Park, for instance -- people say it is classy
and authentic. Why complain when I do it?
Besides, youngsters and students are enjoying it. I should be praised for going into minute details, not panned.
You repeated most of the Gadar team in The Hero but left out Amisha Patel. Why?
After seeing the film, can you imagine anyone else in Preity Zinta's role? Amisha is a lovely girl and a hardworking actress. I will work with her in the near future.
Sunny Deol seems to be your hot favourite.
I have a long association with the Deol family; it dates back to the time I made Hukumat with [Deol's father] Dharmendra.
Besides, I think Sunny fit the role of The Hero like a glove.
What is the subject of your next film?
Ab Tumhare Hawale Wattan Sathiyon has an army backdrop.
I want to explore the reasons that make a mother send her son or, for that matter, a wife her husband, to war, despite knowing she may never see him again.
