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Tell us something about the iconic and daredevil train action stunt of Ajay Devgn in ‘Kachche Dhaage’.
That scene was difficult because there were no cables, no drones, and no safety beyond a certain point. We had planned it as the highlight of the film so that people would remember it. We liked the idea of brothers being tied in chains but the execution of it was very tough. People don’t realize that if it’s people or a bike or car, it is easier to move them back and forth. But this was a train. How do you give signals to the train driver, where would the tracks be straight, whether camera trolley could move next to the tracks, and things like that. We called a chopper to Udaipur. We put three cameras in the chopper for aerial shots.
Tinu Varma was the action director. That genius man took a chair and went into the engine boggy on day 1 and came out on day 11. He would go to the driver every morning at 8 am with a walkie-talkie. He would instruct the driver to go slow or fast. I was in the bogie in which these two were doing action. I had a walkie-talkie.
We had to do something to shake them. So, we made a dummy bogie and told the driver to increase the speed of the train. That thing had a bit of fire in it and it exploded. It does a Summersault and Ajay Devgn falls down. We managed that much. After Ajay falls down, we put up his close-up. He held the handle and we told him not to look upwards because when we look up, without realizing our head falls back. His body was hung. He moved his head slightly and was hit by a stone. He said, “Roko.” Tinu also said, “Roko.” But amidst the engine sound, the driver heard it as, “Go, go, go.” And he sped the train. Ajay’s kurta, sheet, and vest, were torn and he got bruises on his back. We pulled him out and stopped the shooting for a while. But he said, “Let’s do this. Without this, there’s no fun shooting.” It was quite a big thing for a star to say and do a stunt hanging below a train.
The film had other action stunts as well…
In the climax, Ajay jumps onto a truck, pulls out a grenade and puts it into the truck. And in the next shot, he’s standing atop the truck. The moment he jumped off the truck, we blasted the truck. The blast was wired in the truck. Usually, a dupe does these stunts but Ajay did it himself.
He gave another shot himself where a jeep explodes and he falls on the ground. He fell down but the jeep was still in the air. I said, “Tinu, he is in the wrong place.” Some soil had gone into Ajay’s eyes. By god’s grace, Tinu and I had the presence of mind, and we both jumped into the shot. We are trained not to enter the frame but we did. We rolled Ajay over just in time before the jeep fell exactly where Ajay was. He said, “I would have died now.” Ajay is from an action background so he knows that these things are part of the course.
How did the film get the title, 'Kachche Dhaage'?
Kumar Mangat Pathak suggested the title. The story had a different title before that. We were meeting every week and he suggested why don’t we keep Kachche Dhaage as the title. Ramesh Taurani Ji felt that it was not a musical title. Later on, the title came into a song as well, “Kachche Dhaage sachche pyaar ke naa todna.”
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How did you get Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to compose music for your film?
He was a legend and I had heard his songs. I was thinking of other music directors for the film when Ramesh ji called me to the office one day and told me, “I have signed Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for your film. I think he is the right person for your film. You’re making a rustic film based in Rajasthan. Plus, you want an international flavour in it.” I immediately agreed to that.
When Ramesh ji phoned Nusrat’s secretary to speak to Nusrat. But Nusrat said, “Aaj kal ka taste alag hai. I won’t gel with the new director. I am working with Mahesh Bhatt, Shekhar Kapur and Rahul Rawail.” Ramesh Ji said, “I have complete confidence in the director. I will send him to London. You just meet him once. He will come back if you say no.”
I was thinking throughout my flight to London as to why I was going to London when the man didn’t want to work with me. I respected the fact that he was a senior man and he must have thought about what would a young kid teach him.
When I called him after reaching, he asked me to meet him at his house at 2:30 pm. He expressed his reluctance to do the film. I said that I was happy to meet him and would take his leave. Then he asked me while drinking tea, who was my favourite music director. I told him that I liked Madan Mohan’s music a lot. He was surprised. For the next four and a half hours, he sang Madan Mohan to me. I went mad. It was 7 pm when he told me to go to my hotel and take rest and asked me to come back tomorrow.
I went to meet him the next day at 2:30 pm again. He sang 55 new tunes to me one after the other. He asked me to pick whichever I liked. I picked 6 songs. It was unbelievable.
Which was the first song you chose?
'Khali Dil Nahin' and 'Tere Bin Nahin Lagda Dil Mera Dholna'. Anand Bakshi wrote the lyrics. It was like Tendulkar and Sehwag.
I told Bakshi Saab, “Khan Saab is coming to Mumbai. We have to go meet him.” He said, “I won’t go. People come to meet me, whether it is LP, Pancham, Anu Malik, or Jatin-Lalit.” I told him that it doesn’t look nice because Khan Saab was a guest of ours. He said that he will think about it.
I told Khan Saab that meeting with Bakshi Saab will happen in a couple of days. He said, “I know why the meeting is not happening. Take out the car, I’ll come with you.” So, he came to Bakshi Saab who was shocked. He thanked Khan Saab and apologized for not going to meet him. Khan Saab told him to come to meet him the next day. Since then, it was an inseparable bond. The film’s album was made within 10-12 days. Both of them were at the top of their game.
I think AR Rahman’s best work is Taal with Anand Bakshi and Dil Se with Gulzar. You need that clash of the titans. When Ajay, Saif, Manisha and Namrata heard the tracks they went mad, even the recordists.
How did Manisha Koirala and Namrata Shirodkar come on board for the film?
Manisha was a very big star at that time. I was an Assistant Director in Criminal. We were friends because we were of the same age. So, I went to her. I told her, “Manisha, this is not a big role. But it’s my first film.” She was shooting for multiple films back-to-back. I said, “I’m not taking No for an answer.” She was very fond of me. We used to hang out together. I requested her to do the film. Finally, she agreed to do the film. I am still grateful to her because her coming to an action space gave it that beauty and glamour.
Namrata was signed by Tips on a three-film contract. One was with Salman Khan, Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai. The other was Pukaar. I was at Tips’ office and saw her photographs. I found her attractive. They said that Namrata was Shilpa Shirodkar’s sister. I told Ramesh Ji that I wanted to meet her and audition. Namrata is a great girl. We keep in touch even today.
When I was shooting for The Dirty Picture at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, I fell sick. I got very bad food poisoning. She sent me breakfast, lunch, and dinner and told me not to eat outside food. Namrata is one of the guys and was always part of the gang when we would go out in the sand dunes or chill inside with drinks. We were there in Rajasthan for 47 days.
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