When Shashi Kapoor was told he would have to kiss in a few scenes for the film Bombay Talkie, he agreed readily.
"Then I realised those scenes involved my wife [actress Jennifer Kendall]," he recollects, laughing heartily. "I would also discover soon that it is never easy to do love scenes with your own wife in front of dozens of people."
The 56-year-old actor, who says he retired from the movies to spend more time with his grandchildren and charitable work, adds that since his wife was a more talented actress, she was not flustered and put him at ease.
Kapoor can talk for hours about his association with producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, having acted in half-a-dozen Merchant-Ivory productions.
Today, he will just speak about the fun he had working on the under-appreciated Bombay Talkie (1970) and the 1983 hit Heat And Dust.
Both films were released on DVD recently in the US by The Criterion Collection. Bombay Talkie comes with the Ismail Merchant-directed documentary Helen, Queen of Nautch Girls. Actress Helen leads a zesty typewriter song sequence in the former film.
Bombay Talkie, revolving around a romance between a Bollywood star and a visiting American bestselling writer, was not appreciated adequately, though Judith Christ, a well-regarded reviewer in the 1970s, called it 'a most satisfying film' in the New York magazine.
Apart from an interesting cast, including Jennifer Kendall in Bombay Talkie, and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain in Heat And Dust, Kapoor and Merchant say the films are also visual treats. "Subrata Mitra, the great photographer of many Satyajit Ray films, made our film look ravishing," Merchant says of Bombay Talkie.
Bombay Talkie also holds special sentimental appeal for Merchant. "Jaikishen [of Shankar-Jaikishen] was a very good friend. When we decided to shoot an elaborate song dance sequence featuring Helen, he agreed to compose the music for the film."
The song, Typewriter tip tip... karta hain, was sung by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. "The giant typewriter sequence showing Helen dance on the keyboard was the first time we ever shot in a studio," Merchant reveals.
"Today, many people in the West talk about Bollywood," Kapoor continues on a phone interview from his Mumbai home. "You understand Bollywood much better when you see this film."
Heat And Dust offers another bonus: the 55-minute long film, Autobiography Of A Princess, featuring James Mason and Madhur Jaffrey. Both tapes include interviews with the filmmakers.
Heat And Dust revolves around the East-West clash, which featured Shashi Kapoor, Julie Christie, Greta Scacchi and Jennifer Kendall, was a substantial success in 1983, grossing about $10 million worldwide. It was the first hit for the two-decade long company floated by Merchant and Ivory.
"I had excellent vibrations when that film was made," says Kapoor. "We all knew it was going to be a special film." Everything about the film, from the script to the casting, he says was 'inspiring'.
He echoes Merchant's response when asked why people should see the films: "Because they are classics."
Kapoor says Merchant-Ivory films deserve to be seen more than once. And a complex film like Heat And Dust reveals more and more with each viewing.
He adds that Walter Lassally's photography for Heat And Dust, gave the film 'a magical and realistic' look.
Merchant, whose latest film Le Divorce has completed its run in North America recently, also says the two movies will remind people how his company went on to make more artistic films. "These films were made many years apart," he says. "But they bear ample testimony to our vision and our passion for great cinema."
Working with Kapoors was more than fun, he adds. "They were a part of Merchant and Ivory family right from the start."
Kapoor, who gave one of his career bests in Merchant's In Custody a few years ago, says his work in such films as Heat And Dust, and the understanding he has had with Merchant and Ivory helped him in producing a powerful performance.
With renewed interest in him, how can Kapoor stay out of new films? "Who wants to see a fat old man in the films?" asks Kapoor.
"But you can never say 'never'," he continues. Merchant has several Indian projects in the pipeline.
Can Shashi Kapoor say no to a proposal from Merchant and Ivory?
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