The quintessential mother and bahu of Indian Television, known for her sarees and style in Ye Risha Kya Kehlata Hai, the popular serial of Star t.v.

Her charm and warmth makes every viewer want to have a mother or bahu or a partner like her. What lies beneath the delicate, calm exterior is unrelenting strength, intelligence and innovative entrepreneurial skills.

Lataa talks about her journey as an actor, marriage and a new found passion.

1.) Tell us about your journey as an actor from Lucknow to Mumbai? And the challenges you faced?

I was born and brought up in Lucknow. I did schooling from ‘Christ Church College and graduation from Awadh Degree College.
When i was in Lucknow,I got an offer from Lucknow Doordarshan , for a dance show and to host programmes at Doordarshan. Its then when I got noticed and was approached by by Nitish Bhardwaj [the famous Krishna] for the role of Draupadi for a mythological serial “Geeta Rahasya”.
I accepted it and came to Mumbai. The show was pulled off Air before time, I had no clue what to do next, it was not very easy then. I did a few episodic stories and cameos then. After some time I was offered a very nice show ‘Jannat’ by Farah Khan. My part was lovely in that and once again I was back in action. ‘Jannat’ was a great hit, in fact even now many people recognise me from that role.

2. )Which medium do you prefer Films or Television and why?

Well both the mediums are good in their own way. Television has really come of age.It has become great and rich.Yes there are limitations of time and also long working hours, but I still enjoy television as it gives great publicity and good money too.Films no doubt are shot at their own pace,so more attention is given to minute details.I thoroughly enjoy working in films for this reason. But television has given me great popularity and made me a household name..I have got a lot from television,even my husband.

3.)Tell our readers about your new venture of Image Consulting? How did the idea come about?

I have been in media for about 10 years. I was longing to do something new.There comes a time when one feels the need for personal growth. I was a science student and wanted to become a doctor earlier. But life that other plans for me. So now i thought of studying nutrition. I was inspired by friends and people around me who wanted to lose weight. They would starve themselves to do it yet were not able to achieve the desired results. I being a foodie understand the love for food. I wanted to help them.So finally by doing a diploma in nutrition I found a healthy and tasty way of losing weight and keeping fit.
I wanted to combine something else with nutrition as being a nutritionist is very common these days, so ‘Image Consultation’ came my way.Yes, I believe that first impression is not the last. But to have a lasting impression, one can create a great visual impact by going through an Image Consultation.Both these concepts combined together gave birth to my company LIFE INFLUENCE- a holistic image consulting www.lifeinfluence.in
So now I feel very satisfied and busy pursuing my new dream, apart from this I have become a trainer for Image Consultancy also. lt is difficult at times to juggle both the careers but I am very happy doing this.

4.) You are married to your on screen husband, and a very successful actor Sanjeev Seth. Your take on marriage, career and juggling the too.

Being married is a wonderful feeling! I think everyone should get married!. It has completed me and its primarily because of my husbands support that my company “Life Influence” happened .

5.) Finally your words of wisdom to the millions out there who aspire to be you?

Pursue your dreams no matter what ,they will surely come true one day. And there is no end to learning.

Indian television owes a lot to Shashi and Anu Ranjan. They have, via their Indian Television Academy (ITA) awards given a stature and a respect, that Indian television fully deserved, but were lacking. Today these awards are the Emmy’s of India. Shashi and Anu, who pioneered the Woman Achievers Award and BETI, have combined well to take out the idiot from the idiot box and make it a proud profession to be associated with.  When the annals of Indian Television are written, Shashi and Anu Ranjan, will feature prominently in those. Here we talk to the Ranjan’s:

What made an acting graduate from FTII turn to production and direction?
Shashi: Since I did not belong to any film family, I had to struggle for a couple of years in Mumbai for getting good work as an actor. During those days I did some films, some good, some very bad and I was not getting the kind of roles that I wanted to do.  So instead of waiting around I thought of doing something else, in the creative world, where I could sustain myself with dignity. As I am from Haryana, I decided to make a Haryanvi film, called BAHU RANI, which was made at a cost of Rs 4 lacs and recovered close to Rs 35 lacs. That was a very satisfying feeling since it was a big success, in those days.  Subsequently I produced 5 more films as a producer, director and actor so I got my experience of a producer and a director, at a very young age.  Television, at that time had just started to take off in India and I was one of the first to realize the full potential of this medium. I started my television production company at that time and since then have produced over 2000 hours of television programming.  I was a pioneer in the concept of talk shows in the country.  It was also the first time a film star was stepping into television, this happened in my talk show which got Shatrughan Sinha, to host the show.  I also made three Hindi movies, SIYAASAT (92 with Kimi Katkar, Kumar Gaurav and Shakti Kapoor), DOBARA (Jackie, Raveena and Mahima) and recently DHOOM DHADAKA. During all this I also started the Indian Television Academy, the primary platform in the country, for Television.  We also started the Television magazine called GR8, the first magazine of television in the country.  So summing up it has been an interesting journey, filled with highs and lows.

Your take on the current state of programming in Indian Television?

Shashi: Currently Indian Television programming is very mediocre. There is a paucity of good writers. The current crop of leaders of the various channels, do not have the vision to do something different, which is ironical since television, as a medium, is an ideal platform to try and conceive something untried and path breaking. Everyone is a “me too” channel today. When Saas Bahu started, everybody followed suit, then it became the girl child and everybody ended up making soaps around that, etc. Quite frankly the programming is quite pathetic in the current times.

Where did the germ of the idea come from, for an award specific to television, the ITA awards?

Shashi: The idea for the television awards came from attending a film award with Anu, where we were given front row seats, but some television fraternity friends were pushed to the back rows. We didn’t quite like this division between television and films. We felt that while TV was growing and soaps like Buniyaad and Mahabharat were not only immensely popular as programming but had also made their actors very popular and visible to the general public. I felt that they needed some dignity and also a platform where their work could be recognized. That was the birth of the ITA awards. The platform was created with great aplomb. It is heartening that not only is it successful, but it has brought a lot of dignity to the television industry. Similar with our magazine, GR8, in fact, it is called the Filmfare of Indian Television.

Anu: Today, the US and India are the two most prominent television countries in the globe. Hence these are the two countries where television awards are justified. It took us 18 months of hard work, spending time in LA, watching how they conduct the awards, seeing how television was not getting the respect that it deserved. The unanimous view was that “you do it and we will follow.” I got the Maharashtra Chief Minister during that time, Vilasrao Deshmukh to support it. Mahesh Bhatt, Shatrughan Sinha, Javed Akhtar, all were unanimous in their support. So we launched the ITA and they were all there at the launch. We got the channels to support it and we decided to do our first awards in 2001. It is the only award where we don’t nominate anyone. The channels and the production houses send in the entries and we have no say in that. Hence anyone can send in the entries as long as they fulfill the criteria and then you go for it. It is the Emmy’s of India. A lot of television awards have come and gone, but the ITA has stood solid in all these years and continues to grow.

What got you into the numerous Social causes that you are involved with? It is not something we see quite often in the Indian Film and Television industry?

Anu: Quite honestly it was not something I thought I would be doing. It just happened. We knew people supporting various causes, but beyond that never gave it much thought. My sister was doing some photography for the UN, in Delhi, on the girl child. During that time, her director, asked me if I wanted to do something on female foeticides,  which back then I had no clue about. I told them that what I  could do for them was to provide a platform, since I had limited first hand knowledge of the foeticide issue. So we decided to have this on television, do an event, and I asked the UN director to come and talk about it. They were happy with the outcome since it was a televised event and they had an audience listening to them. Cut to a few months later when they (UN folks) again talked to me and they mentioned that the adverse ratios between the male and the female child, is the most in the cities of Delhi and Mumbai. They actually picked up two, three hospitals in South Mumbai and Delhi, and when they gave the skewed ratios of the boy to girl, in the last decade, it hit like a ton of bricks. One did not expect this in cosmopolitan areas like South Mumbai and Delhi, as opposed to the smaller places. Clearly, there were things happening in these areas, which nobody talked about..  In fact we were informed that this practice is most prevalent in families that are more advanced culturally, socially and economically. This got me motivated, and I called the director and informed them that this is an issue and a cause, for which I am going to do something about.
So I founded BETI. The name said it all, there was no further explanation required. It was launched in the company of Shabana Azmi and Diana Hayden.

And without sounding frivolous, you have actually made support of a good cause, Fun, as opposed to making it preachy and boring?

Anu: Yes that was a conscious decision for the sole reason that in any cause, if you start taking a very serious approach, people loose interest. Also it is human nature, when celebrities talk, it registers right away! So all for a good cause, and if it is also fun, more power to all. Not frivolous, but fun and it is making a difference in people’s lives.We have had the woman achiever’s award, the fashion shows, cricket matches, all for BETI.Finally as per the latest UN statistics the ratio, in India, is actually improving as a result of the whole awareness on female foeticide.

Talk to us about the Great Woman Achievers Award, and now we are told it is moving overseas to Dubai?

Anu: In one of my trips to LA I was at a party and there I met Leonardo Di Caprio and we started talking, amongst other things about, the Woman Achievers Award.  Next day I get a call from my friend that actor, Alan Thicke (Growing Pains, etc)  would like to meet me. So we went to Alan’s Santa Barbara home and found out that he wanted to talk to me about the Woman Achiever’s Award. So after talking an hour and a half about the Woman Achievers Award, Alan tells me that he has googled and found that it is the only kind in the world, and that I should be taking it to more countries, especially since there was no other, cross genre woman achievers award anywhere else. So anyway I take his thoughts and am heading back to Mumbai and I find out that the flight to Mumbai has been delayed by some time. So I ask if I can fly instead of Mumbai to Dubai and I am told that is doable. Just on a whim, land up in Dubai, meet my friends Yogi and Falguni Mehta of Petrochem, who mention to me that you do the award in Dubai and we will support you. So now the awards go global and Dubai is the first stop.

Q1) A little about your journey to become an actor and how did that come about?

Since the age of 10, I wished to be an actor.. But never thought it was possible.. That was the dream but in ‘real’ life I thought I would end up doing an MBA or something!! Well I am living my ‘dream’ now.. Goes to show that anything can happen if you believe, and keep at it!! I started modelling in delhi and moved to Bombay in 2001. At first I was walking the ramp and doing print and commercial work.. In 2004 I started with television.

Q2) The highlights of your television career till date?

I started with a ‘sex and the city’ kind of show on sahara called ‘Kuch love kuch masti’ where I played Carrie bradshaw’s character. Then came ‘Kabhi haan kabhi naa’ on Zee. After that I played a journalist in ‘Ada’ on sahara.
Post that I worked as an anchor on a travel channel called Voyage tv which was amazing!!
Then came Dill mill gayye on Star one.

Q3) Talk a little about your upcoming shows ?

I’ve just started shooting for dill mill gayye again as they are going off air end of the month and are shooting the end with the original cast. And currently on air is the adventure reality show I participated in.. ‘The Amazing race Asia’ on Axn.

Q4) Television or film, which medium excites you more ?

Well, a good movie is better than a bad tv show and a good tv show is better than a bad movie!! My excitement depends on the script and the character I play..

Q5) Given you are a PR grad from Delhi, any aspirations to also get involved in other aspects of the creative medium, other than acting ?

Yes, I did my post graduation in advertising and public relations from IIMC (Indian Institute of Mass Communication)Delhi. It was a great course and provided me a solid base and a better understanding of the media business. I would like to be an actor till I die.. But never say never!! Who knows.. A director maybe??

Last week the South Asian audiences in the US had plenty to cheer about.  India’s No. 1 Hindi channel, STAR India PLUS joined VERIZON’s FiOS TV’s extensive channel lineup, which includes nearly 40 other international channels covering more than 20  languages .We got a chance to speak to both Verizon and Star TV representatives.

First up our conversation with Suzette Baez, who helps manage international programming for Verizon FiOS TV.

a) What is Verizon’s motivation to do this deal, as far as South Asian American audiences go?

Verizon brings a variety of diversified programming to its FiOS TV customers so it made sense to offer Star India Plus.   FiOS TV’s extensive channel lineup already includes nearly 40 other international channels covering more than 20 languages — a collection that cable can’t match.

b) Can you talk about the current South Asian programming on Verizon and what can we expect in the future?

Star India Plus is the latest South Asian channel to join the FiOS TV channel lineup.  We already offer three other channels in the Hindi package that Star India Plus joined: Zee TV, TV Asia and SET Asia.  Verizon also offers another South Asian channel in Punjab called Jus Punjabi.

c) From a content acquisition perspective, will there be more programming on community events and also programming specific to the US based South Asians as opposed to taking programming produced in South Asia and imported here in the US ?

We always look for good programming that will appeal to our customers and we’ll continue to seek out new additions for the FiOS TV lineup.

d) Why the specific alignment with Star Plus, given there are many channels in India ?

We offer a number of the most popular South Asian channels already, including Zee TV and SET Asia , for example.  We look to provide our customers with a variety of programming and Star India Plus offers many popular programs, including well-known soap operas and some of India favorite reality programs and game shows.

e) Can you tell me a little about FiOS TV, for the uninitiated?

Verizon’s FiOS TV service offers more than 520 all-digital channels, including up to 140 high-definition channels.  In addition, FiOS offers a growing video-on-demand service with more than 18,000 titles each month, including 3,300 in HD.  FiOS TV also provides next-generation interactive services including an advanced interactive media guide; social TV, news and entertainment widgets; remote DVR management; multi-room DVR, and more.  Further information on FiOS can be found online at www.verizon.com/newscenter and http://www.verizon.com/athomeblog.

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Then we had a chance to speak with David Wisnia, SVP, Distribution, Sales and Marketing and head of STAR’s North American office.

f) What is Star TV US reaction to this partnership ?

We are very excited by this partnership since Verizon is one of the best out there and it means exciting times for us.

g) What impact will this partnership have on the South Asian American audience?

Taking a step back we have been the number one channel in India for the last ten years, so the content is already strong in itself. That being said we are always looking for opportunities to globalize and bring popular programming to the NRI audience. In that we have done some strategic one off partnerships and are always looking for opportunities and the right fit and will continue to do that.

h) Any plans to develop programming specifically for the South Asian American audience?

Like I said that depends on the opportunity and the programming that we are looking at the time and it should make sense both financially and from a viewer perspective, so absolutely we are happy to explore that and if it makes sense to take it forward.

i)What other partnerships are there in the future?

We have now completed 3 years in the US and during that time have been making some solid partnerships be it with Direct, Dish, AT &T, Comcast and Verizon, with the underlying mandate and aim being to continue to find ways to put our content in front of as large a population base as possible. We are also looking at all mediums, be it Television or Online, or Mobile, so in that respect we believe that this partnership with Verizon, is a step in that direction and hope to make some announcements pretty soon.

j) Any highlights in the upcoming programming?

We have the Indian version of the very popular Master Chef coming out on Oct 16th.

k) So in what other countries is STAR TV a player in, outside of India, Middle East and North America?

We are very strong in UK with over 8 to 9 million subscribers. We also have a presence in Portugal, France and looking to finalize in a few other countries, very shortly.

Long before the “desi” invasion of Silicon Valley (Northern California, US), the West had already been somewhat “Indianized” by an Indian American reporter and no, he was not talking about Bollywood, or about Technology or for that matter Cricket, he was going right to the heartland….sports and that too as American as they get. The NBA, NHL, MLB, why he was even NBC’s sportscaster for the Olympics in Beijing. That smiling face, never afraid to ask the tough questions of the toughest, yet always positive and who can ignore that humor which can only add a lot more “game” to the sport. Here’s putting the one and only RAJ MATHAI in a spot, where he often puts sports legend after sports legend….in the hot seat! Over to Raj, NBC 11 Sports Director.

A little about what got you into the broadcasting business and also how come sports?

Ever since arriving in US at the age of 7…Like most kids, I was enthralled with Television.  I also come from a family of journalists/writers/poets (TJ Mathew, my father, who ran a few magazines in India in the 60′s + 70′s; TJS George, my uncle, who founded of Asia Week; Jeet Thayil…my cousin, a poet), hence broadcast journalism it was for me.

I loved the excitement and creativity of TV Sports (and still do).

Given that you were one of the pioneering South Asian Americans in the field of broadcasting per se, what were the challenges as you came up the ranks?

I was the first Indian sportscaster for a US network affiliate.  My challenges were similar to everyone else in the industry…how do I advance and get to a bigger market?  Being Indian wasn’t a hindrance.  Though I did get some puzzled looks back then…”are you Mexican, Puerto Rican or Black?”  Pretty funny.

What words of wisdom would you like to share with the South Asians starting out in this line of work?

If journalism is in your blood…go for it.  The industry is going through MAJOR changes, but so are many industries.  It’s not easy, but it can be very rewarding.

I think you did mention that you write your own scripts for your news, how did that come about?

I’m a writer.  I prefer to write my scripts.  Also, sports is much more personality driven than hard news.  I ad-lib much of the material.

With the converging of the worlds, and media and now sports beginning to boom in India, would an event of South Asian origin, lets say a Cricket tournament which is organized in the US, of  a global scale, be something that you might be inclined to cover? Related to that, have you been following the media and specifically the sports broadcast media in India?

I would love to cover cricket, but I better start getting caught up…I’m way behind!
It’s spreading quickly in the US…especially here in the Bay Area.  I do follow the ratings, sponsorships and big money leagues in India and beyond.

What are your future aims and aspirations as far as US Television is concerned?

I’m curious to see how this industry evolves in the next few years.  I’m excited.  My goals are simple.  I want to be creative and valuable whether it’s in sports or news.

When you are not in front of the camera, what are your other interests and what is a typical day like?

This isn’t really a ‘job’.  It’s my interest.  But I do like to unplug and relax by spending time with my newborn son (Maxx) and wife…and dog.  We like to cook and play scrabble.  And sleep…since he wakes us up at all hours of the night!  As for playing sports…I enjoy skiing and basketball…and struggle with golf!

The Indian Entertainment industry, time and time again, reminds us, that it is an industry which welcomes ALL, from the larger cities and also those from the smaller towns and cities. When he found that he wanted more out of life than being a Marketing Executive in Baroda, part time model, Manav Gohil, decided to follow his dreams to becoming a full time actor. Indian Television welcomed this talent with open arms, and so did the viewing audience. In fact television is also what got him his spouse (also an actor of repute). Here is Manav taking us through his journey:

What got a marketing executive into showbusiness?

A whole lot of uncertain dreams that were jumbled up like the parts of a jigsaw puzzle!! A lot of fire in the belly & little direction. I used to be a part time model in my city, Baroda. The city had little to offer in terms of fulfilling your dreams, if they were really big. To achieve something (read: just about anything) remarkable, i felt the need to move, even temporarily, to a bigger city. Closer at hand and apt was Mumbai… and the rest is history!!

Given that your spouse is also an actor, does it mean there is drama at home, or is that something that can benefits you both creatively?

Its a very regular, happy, playful couple, us. Its got its own share of disagreements, emotional moments,

fights, cushions, drama and everything thats comes along in the package called marriage

The benefit tho, of us both being in the same field, is that there is tremendous understanding towards our professional needs, which could be really demanding of the partner at times.

Talk about your upcoming films ?

I have just finished shooting for my first feature film. Its working title was ‘Bhanvraa’, but its now called ‘Tu nahi aur
sahi’. Its complete now and they are working on the marketing & distribution. Meanwhile, i am looking at more projects.

Summarize your work in television, to date, and also talk about your upcoming programmes?

I started working in the year 2000. Before i took the break for my film, i had finished 7 years of working on the tv. A list of my work would include shows like Kahani Ghar Ghar ki, Kusum, Saara Aakash, Kasauti, Chudiyaan, CID, Mansha, Fame Gurukul (as a host), Saarthi, Betiyaan & Nach Baliye-2. I have just finished my film now, so i would be looking at more work.

If your films take off will it be goodbye to Television?

NO…..Thats the thing of the past!! Television is no more considered small. Its reach is wider than ever before and hopefully the content will also improve soon

What are your interests outside of acting?

Outside of acting, i love travelling, photography, playing cricket or soccer, watching movies, interacting with youth on various issues…. ya, just constructing life at large!!

Contrary to popular belief, actors and acting is not only about those who had no academic choices. Often times, academically brilliant folks descend into this universe and uplift the entire environment. Once such person is actor, Vinay Jain. We have seen him on Television, in Theater (both in India and the US) and of course as part of popular films like Cheeni Kum. At a time when class toppers from South Mumbai would probably be taking their GMAT and heading westwards, he chose to defy course and follow what he was passionate about. From there on it has been going from one creative endeavor to another.

For a South Mumbai guy, from Champion School, Sydenham college, academically bright, did it feel awkward when you started your journey as an actor, to the effect of “this is below me or what my qualifications are?”

Not because one started off precisely because one felt passionately about it. In fact in Sydenham I was in the top five in the class and have taken my GMAT to do my MBA abroad. So in a sense the decision making was challenging because I was good academically and also your peer’s who want to get into a certain college, but you have that percentage, but don’t really use it. Also it is only in the last few years that Media and Entertainment have become bonafide professional options, but back when I was getting into it, that wasn’t the case. It was more in the transition stage. But the battle was more within my life on whether it was a viable career option. My dad was in advertising and he had done his own thing in life, so in that sense there was full support, so it was more about me being clear about it, and I took my time. Also I was doing theater through school and college too and had a natural inclination towards those things, and was also getting the professional experience in that field. So as I was passing out of college I had got the hands on experience of what it was all about, and that helped the decision.

Theater, film, television…rank that ?

In terms of the challenge, I find theater most challenging in terms of performance; it is like every night is a fresh start. It is a new audience and your vibes are new and they have to pick up those vibes, irrespective of genre. So in those terms it is exciting, there is a tinge that goes down your spine every time you are performing. But I find film very exciting in terms of totality. Television on the other hand is more of a writer’s medium. Television would probably rank the lowest, for the actor, in terms of personal satisfaction, since it is most time driven and for a good reason, there are deadlines to be met, budgetary constraints, but if can be used positively to develop oneself. So in a way each one has got its own set of unique challenges. So as one who dabbles in all three, it is like constantly shifting gears and a personal challenge to always adapt myself.

Your upcoming and recent projects?

Television my last big project was by Rajshri called, Woh Rehne Wali Mehelon Ki which completed like a 1000 episodes although I came in somewhere in the middle ,and,  Jassi Jaise Koi Nahin, two of the highest rated shows here. After that it has been a bit of a break from television. Last year have done the film, Cheeni Kum., thereafter 13B, a recent project with Pankaj Kapoor called Office Office – The Movie, which is a movie adaptation of the popular serial by the same name, but with some fresh cast members to complement the existing cast members from the serial, another medium budget film called Kartik with Farhan Akhtar, so the focus has been more on wanting to do the film work. Also toured the US, with playright Feroz Khan and his Mahatma Vs Gandhi, play, some time back and the play, Salesman Ramlal, by Satish Kaushik. Hence got an opportunity to perform in the US a couple of times.

So more so in India, we have this fascination with film families, the hero’s son, generally has to play the role of a hero. Does that ever bother the actor in you, as to why there roles are coming as pre assigned, genetically, as opposed to skillset ?

Early on those things used to bother me, but as you understand life, it is like, if you have to make it, you will. I mean you look at Shah Rukh Khan or a Govinda or for that matter Anil Kapoor, they’ve worked their way up. I mean, yes Anil had Boney, but Boney Kapoor became “Boney Kapoor,” later. Or an Irfan Khan, who has pitched his tent. Same with the girls. So in that sense an actor more than anything else really needs to enjoy his profession. So passion is very important along with single minded doggedness. Cause one does not know, it is about being at the right place at the right time, the right role, the right vehicle for you, like what a Satya did for a Manoj Bajpai. So it’s a roller coaster ride, enjoy it and ride it at every stage of the ride. There are times when nothing is coming and one needs to go through those periods and keep on working on yourself, I think that is important and not necessarily in the gym, but in every which way, like spiritually, developing yourself, a lot of acting is what you are as a human.

Do you think that the kind of films that are coming out now are better in subject matter and offer more for the actors, as opposed to just the stars?

As far as subject matter is concerned earlier too, in the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s we’ve had some fine films and subject matters too. Maybe towards the early 90′s, and towards the early part of this century we had lapsed into that typical melodramatic type of Indian cinema. So that is now gone, which is a good thing. Now one sees more real, urban themes. I mean a film like Kaminey is a great example in that, so many things are said but not in an obvious way. So maybe the filmmakers and writers are getting more proficient in expressing themselves in the cinematic language, which is wonderful. They are beginning to have much more control over the medium. The way the writers and filmmakers are beginning to put their point across in an individualistic way, that is really most exciting. Everyone is pushing the limit, directors are pushing known actors into parts that they earlier would not have done, so all that is very exciting. So it is becoming very character oriented and a wider range of actors get that opportunity, which is a very healthy thing as opposed to a personality thing and the world of black and white.

Being a practicing Buddhist, are you able to handle this roller coaster ride better and also does it help you as an actor?

Without a doubt. I’ve been practicing Buddhism close to a decade now and it plays a huge role in shaping my belief system, the way I see life has undergone a total change, the way I perceive situations, they way I judge people, the way I’m able to deal with life on a moment by moment basis, because Buddhism is about hope and optimism and courage and determination. In this line you always feel that your life depends on something else or someone else whereas now I feel more in control of myself and my life. I can give it a sense of direction.

Taking time off from acting, observing real people, real situations..does that enhance your skills as an actor?

Most definitely. I mean a combination of observing and experiencing life. Experiencing life more so, I mean I got married a little over four years ago and now I have a three year old son. So as a father the real wonderful thing has been to spend the last one year with my son, which was not an opportunity I had the two years prior to that since I was caught up in television work and the last one year has been a formative stage in his life and every day is a new day and a new experience. So that quality time that I have got to spend with him is definitely having a bearing on me and that will 100% reflect in the future roles that I do. It also develops me emotionally, being a father, being a husband. So the growth as an individual, as an actor is not borrowed learning of life.

So with the intelligence that you do have and the acting experience, any aspirations to explore other creative aspects, along with acting ?

Yes so as I said, film is primarily a director’s medium. An actor can only contribute that much to a film. So the idea does excite me. When I worked as an Assistant Director  for three years in a feature film, the interest was definitely there in that area but when that will take a complete form I don’t know, at this point of time I’m really enjoying my acting and can express myself more that way. So a natural progression down the road maybe to dabble in full fledged direction.

Overall development of television, from the time your started ?

The quality of performers has increased tremendously. A lot of the younger performers are getting very good. Earlier I used to remember it would take longer for someone starting out to become proficient, nowadays they seem to be quick off the mark. In terms of acting, when you compare to the West in television, I think we are right there.

So it the West beckons ?

I’m comfortable with the language. A lot of theater that I’ve done is in English. For me a role is a role, whether from West or here. What really excites me is the project in total, as opposed to the micro level of my role and the length of it. I’m ok with it being an out and out entertainer but it should be true to itself and not be something that it is not. So I’d be more excited to be a part of the story telling process. Of course the role should excite me as an actor, but the length really is not of utmost importance to me.

Interviewed by Vivek Kumar

Few actors tread as effortlessly between the various mediums, Films, Television and Theater, as Himani Shivpuri does. Even fewer transition from the environs of the National School of Drama, to Commercial cinema, with as much success, as Himani did. But then doing things different, be it studying in an all boys school or be it turning down a scholarship to study aboard to pursue theater, has become a habit with this artist. Hear what this one time aspiring Neurosurgeon, has to say about herself and her creative journey.

Films, Theater, Television, you have done them all, which one is creatively most satisfying for you?

Theater definitely, it is my first love. The kind of theater that I have done at the National School of Drama (NSD) was close to the world theater, we had directors from all over the world. Even the subject matter, British literature and plays, works of Indian authors…also you have the audience in the palm of your hand. As part of the NSD repertory, also got a chance to do theater in different parts of the world.

So you were from Doon School, probably the only girl in that all boys school, were those school years the time that you decided you wanted to pursue acting as a career?

Certainly the headmaster we had, Mr Simian, encouraged the love of theater in me, since they themselves had a love of theater. We also had our alum, Vikram Seth come down and do a play for us, so all that definitely helped me develop my love for theater. I was a pretty good actor and won all the acting awards in the school, and you’re right we were like 2 girls in a class full of boys, around 12 overall in comparison to 500 boys. The headmaster would joke that since I was winning the best acting award year after year, he would rename the cup as the Himani Cup…so the love was there. Having said that, coming from a relatively small town like Dehra Dun, one could not possibly think of taking up theater for a career and I also happened to be good in studies, in one of the best schools in India, so I had seriously thought of becoming a neurosurgeon, then I was interested in Chemistry and wanted to pursue Microbiology, it was only when I was doing my graduation in Organic Chemistry that it occurred to me that I found these so dry. During this time I used to spend like 2 hours in the evening doing theater and then it struck me that this is what I want to do full time, from thereon theater became my only calling.
What has the journey been like since?

Overall very satisfying. Which other line of work lets you become so many persons in one lifetime. I love being an actor and also the process of acting, so I consider myself very fortunate to be in this line of work. Theater and NSD was what I wanted to do, however, I had defied my folks back home and joined theater, so I could not go back and had to make a living, and I was also married during this time, hence when the television offer came from Doordarshan, the only channel at that time, I jumped at it and the character I enacted became very popular with the audience. Till that time, as I would travel in the buses and trains, people would ask me what I did for a living, and I replied, “theater,” but they would persist, “that’s fine and a hobby, but what do you really do?” and those questions stopped when they recognized my work in television. Also my hometown and relatives who had felt that I had wasted my talents and intelligence by turning down a scholarship to study abroad and pursuing a more traditional carrier, suddenly started taking a lot of pride in my work in television.

Then some fine films happened to me, Rajshri film Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Yash Raj’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hain by Dharma productions, and I felt very fortunate since not many NSD and theater folks had transitioned to the world of commercial cinema and I was successful in doing that, perhaps a result of being at the right time at the right place. I am at a stage in life where I have done all kinds of roles since I refuse to be typecast, positive, negative, comedy, the works, but as an actor there is always that restlessness. The West is fortunate that way, where despite their age, very interesting roles are written for actors like a Meryl Strep or a Jessica Tandy, I aspire to do those kinds of roles. My Television work keeps me very busy nowadays and pays well too, but the heart always yearns for theater and now I am doing a play again. So with all that, yes, a fulfilling journey.

As an actor, talk to us about the change in Television from one Doordarshan to the multiple channels of today?

Television has made me and when films happened, people would often ask why do you continue with Television, the perception back then was that Television is lower in the scale than films, now of course it is considered on par or even, at time, higher, than films. My response was always, Television has given me the stature where I am today and there is no way that I’m going to throw that ladder away as I have climbed up in my creative journey. Back when Doordarshan was the sole channel, since it was funded by the government, the producers and the content providers took risks, now with the multichannels and the high dependence on TRP’s and the resultant advertising revenue, it has become more of following the trend as opposed to challenging the norm, and quite frankly I can see where the channels are coming from. Also Television gives me the opportunity to play multi dimensional and multi layered characters, all within one programme. However, I do see a similarity in content that is bordering on the excessive, like first it was the Saas and the Bahu, then the Bahu got replaced by the Beti, also with episodes airing daily for 25 minutes as opposed to weekly, it almost feels like a factory worker existence at times. But that is the trend now, I look forward to what the future trends in Television will be.

Do other creative endeavors await you in the future, perhaps directing or producing?

Definitely, writing is one. I have been a closet writer for a while now, all through my school and college days have written poems and short stories, so do aspire to come out with a full fledged script someday, but we shall see, but the desire is definitely there.

And your upcoming projects are…?

In films there is one with David Dhawan, one with Rumi Jaffery, one which has John Abraham in the lead and a children’s film. Am also on the verge of coming out with my play and in television I am currently doing Ghar Ek Sapna and in talks with another show.

Would doing theater, films or television in the West be something that you might be inclined to do?

I would love to do that. In fact there was a time when I had got an offer from a television show in the US, but the requirement was that I shift there for six months and at that time I was reluctant to do so, since my son was young. Now he is grown up and as such my responsibilities are minimal so I would absolutely love to work with an agent in London or the US, similar to what Om Puri and Shabana Azmi do, with the intention of doing films or theater or television, in that Geography.

They say a hallmark of an actor is that he or she should be able to become what they are not and convince the audience that, it is indeed the truth. Using that criteria, Alok Nath, qualifies as one of the finest actors in the globe today. He played father to a man older than him in the national award winning Agneepath and did it with so much conviction, that he became a father to the audience long before he began to become the age of a father. Thirty years later he continues his journey as an actor who is respected, admired and loved by almost every Indian household. The reach of television is in all the corners of India and also wherever Indians are found in the world. Alok Nath is as much a part of their family, as are the soaps that he displays his acting prowess. Here he is looking back on the past and thinking about the future.

From Buniyaad till now, talk to us about the quality of your work and the quality of television programming?
Buniyaad was almost like 25 years ago when it was the inception of soaps in India and we had only Doordarshan (“DD”) back then. It was the radio audiences who had been transformed into watching television. Besides the Chitrahaar’s and the regular weekly feature film, Krishi Darshan, etc, Hum Log was the first soap that DD produced and then Buniyaad followed. So TV was in it’s infancy then and we had one of India’s best filmmakers who had made Sholay, make Buniyaad, so it was a special watch in both India and Pakistan since the story was about these two countries. Also in Buniyaad we shot the first 26 episodes on film, on 16mm, so the whole procedure was like shooting a film on set, we used to dub and the whole rigmarole of processing and background music, just like a film, before we shifted off to video. But since then Doordarshan carried on for 3-4 years on it’s own, serials became  a way of life with people and then the private channels came on, Zee, Star, Sony, etc, programming went out of the reach of the government. Characters and stories became a little more modernistic. The outreach became a lot more too, since if one house had television, then multiple families would gather there and watch the content. Actors, who were doing serials became household names. Stories looks got changed, as did the actors characterization with the channels, it became a little more adult, so the audiences started watching serials from Western countries, some of which became eye openers for us. So now we have gone through various stages, sagas of Saas Bahu, Religion, Social Dramas, Thrillers, to where we have now reached a stage where content is king and you need good performers, good looks, programming itself should look good, be pleasing to the eye. It’s been a long journey and I’ve stayed on as an actor, some people have either gone away or moved to different aspects of their life, all in all it’s been a beautiful journey, worked a lot, earned a lot and gained a lot of love and respect of the audience.

Going back in time what made you take up acting as a profession in the first place?
Growing up in Delhi, in Modern School, it was a ritual in school to have an annual function and it was maybe in the second grade that I was cast in a play and since then it became a routine every year, because of the appreciation. So when I got to the ninth grade I started doing theater professionally. After my graduation from Delhi University, I did a three year diploma in the National School of Drama. It was sheer passion, the joy and the taking the bow at the end of the performance and that high that you get, that appreciation it’s unforgettable. Also it was inbuilt, perhaps because I was average in studies so from a carrier perspective this was an easy way out. Although now when I look back I put in a lot of hard work, lot of love, lot of passion, lot of dedication into the whole thing, so it paid off, the honesty of your work shows and you can get the feeling from the audience response. So basically it has been your passion that has over time become your profession.

One saw you in the film Gandhi many years ago, so now if a Hollywood or a Broadway offer came your way, would you take it?
Definitely why not, as an actor I am open to anything.

Now that your financial goals have been met, is it time to take some risks and do roles that would get away from your traditional image, so fulfill the need of the actor in you as opposed to the audience?
Well the thirst of an actor is always there, it’s when you stop acting you’re a dead man. A man can die with his boots on and an actor is no different. There have been roles that I have done to my heart’s content but I can’t really put a finger on something that I’ve been dying to do. But what I perceive and what I foresee as far as the Indian Television audience and content makers are concerned, and the very sorry aping of the West, at least in the film industry, the kind of roles that I used to do, the Babuji and the Pitaji, have more or less dried up. They have been replaced by the Mom’s and Dad’s, so as far as films are concerned I think I may have exhausted my kind of roles, now things may turn around and that you never know. But as far as television is concerned because it is a medium very much related to the middle class and the lower middle class, the Indian ethos is still there, so as an actor there are still challenges in that medium, so I will probably work for another five years as an actor and then perhaps take up production or direction… I really don’t know, I don’t foresee the future right now.

There’s a saying that episodic television is the most challenging for an actor, your take on that?
(Smiles)…The acting on television soaps has also become like downing fast food. Your working hours are bizarre, the money is good no doubt about that, but you get exhausted by the end of the day, you can start at 7 in the morning and go on till like 1 or 2 the next morning, then get a call that same morning again, so there are time you are working continuous for like 30 hours and channels have the pressure, driven by changing TRP’s to not be able to have a sufficient bank of episodes, so everything is always in a state of catch up. TRP also force the channels to evolve the story line as they go, so you get the script, rehearse like five minutes before the shoot and in that time you have to cram you lines, work out your characterization, your gestures, your looks, whatever it is that you need to present before the audience. And in that respect it is close to maddening. But because of my seniority and the place where I am today, I can demand a certain timing discipline, so I work for like ten hours fixed in a day, but for the newcomers they go through a very, rough schedule, so that way it is tough, the competition is intense so all that makes it very demanding.

You probably answered this, but any plans to take up direction down the road, be it a movie or a television soap?
Yes, definitely it’s a very hidden desire, which hasn’t germinated right now, it’s actually been there for a long time. But for now I have all my thoughts on acting and they say that if you shift priorities it is like stepping on two boats at one time. So I want to first wrap up and say good bye to acting and then step into directing and that might take another five years or something.

Summing up, do you think you’ve got your dues from the film and television world as far as being an artist, is concerned?
Well, see I did not expect anything when I came to Mumbai, many years ago. Now the amount that I’ve got, I’m thankful to God. It’s been a very beautiful journey, could have been better. One part of an actors journey is to sell himself properly, to get that kind of a publicity, that kind of an appeal, that builds up an aura that promotes him and puts him in a status, so even if he doesn’t have it all, he is a big name and a star and t

hat always helps, something which I could not manage on my own. I lived a very down to earth kind of life, I did not go and pamper people up, so I got what I did on my merit, I did not go to offices and beg for roles, I got what I deserved, would have been better if I’d promoted myself, which I didn’t. No regrets overall, have a happy family, the best woman in my life, the best kids, lovely house. A very content kind of feeling. Could have been better, ask Bill Gates, he’ll probably say the same, desires are endless, cause creation is an end in itself, once you create something that’s it, that’s the end of that, you then want to step on to another parameter. So as an actor that thirst will never go, but there is a sense of achievement that whatever you have done is liked, is appreciated and loved by your audience, that’s a great achievement. So I’m pretty much happy.

Everyday lots of aspiring actors come to Mumbai from various parts of India and now even the globe. Some come to be actors, some become actors, some switch to other professions, some make it and a lot more don’t. Fashion Designer, Gaurav Gera is one such individual who has made an immpediate impact as an actor when he had the nation glued to the television with his performance in Jasse Jaise Koi Nahin. This is one actor, who descended into Mumbai from Gurgaon, and is all set to make a lasting impression here as was proved by his recent performance in Dasvidaniya. Here’s his story:

What made an aspiring Fashion Designer become an actor?
While growing up .. I was sure I want to be in fashion ..maybe the limelights attarcted me to it .. but am glad I did a self check ..and realised ..that I actually wanted to be an actor .. as a child I would never let any annual function go ..without me participating ..be it bhangra .. or a skit ..or debate ( I sucked at debate ) .. or fancy dress .. I completed my Fashion diploma .. got a job and experience with a Production House ..and then quit it all to join theatre ..and am glad my parents totally supported me .. while I made this move.

Your performance in Jassi and Dasvidaniya have been appreciated, what was it about these two scripts that attracted you in the first place?
Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi was a rage .. am glad that I was a part of it .. not only coz it was a success ..but also coz ..my role in it as Nandu .. was a challenging and interesting role .. and am happy to have played the part well .. in between Jassi was on .. I would die to shed the garb and yell to the world .. ‘am not a simpleton, nerdy ,uncool guy ‘ …Jassi got a makeover Nandu never did .. its surprising when many people till today ..expect me to be like Nandu ..and they get amazed that i speak English .. I take it as a compliment that I was convincing in the role … but it was a beautiful role and have happy and fond memories of it About Dasvidaniya .. Vinay Pathak, me and Shashant Shah ( dir of Dasvidaniya) are friends .. we worked together in the Great Indian Comedy Show on Star One for 4 years .. infact again am proud of being a part of that show till today ..we did quality work .. and there we all bonded ..Purbi, Ranveer, Vinay, Kiku, Suresh, Sonia, Kunal, Ashwin . I feel we were the best ensemble cast ever .. so when Dasvidaniya was offered .. I would ve done even a one entry role for Shashant and Vinay …coz I love the quality work they do …but the role they offered me ..had depth and a wonderful character for me .. am so thankful and glad I was a prt of it .. coz Dasvidaniya is one of the most beautiful films ive ever seen .. I think even if I wasnt a part of it .. would be still in love with the film.

Comedy has been your forte, do you feel it is time to step out of your comfort zone and do something dark, diabolical, or highly emotional?
Yeah I have done a lot of comedy .. but truly I dont feel Nandu’s character, that I played in JJKN was a comedy ..yes he was a happy guy .. but I had a lot of emotional scenes yeah the character was not the regular .. Nandu was jealous, sad , cunning , happy .in love ..so he did a lot of things ..broadly I think Nandu left happy meories so ..they like to call it comedy .. apart from that I’d say .. I like happy scenes .. yeah am going with the flow and if something dark and emotional gets offered to me .. I’d be willing to do it .. not only to prove that I can do such stuff .. but only and only if the script is good .. and diabolical I’d never do ..coz I dunno what it means

Television gave you the springboard to films, is it goodbye to television then, or does that medium still hold more challenges for the creativity in you?
Yeah television has given me a lot .. yes films I’ve been doing for sometime .. and really I would not quit television .. if the role, script and money is good .. I wont care for the medium ..television or films .. coz even on television ..you won’t see me in just another show .. I choose what appeals to my sensibility.

What are your current and upcoming projects?
Am currently doing ‘Dekh India Dekh’ ( playing Malti Manohar Mishra ) on Sony …and Hans Baliye ( anchoring ) on StarOne .. Apart from that I have 2 films in pipeline .. too early to talk about and another exciting television show ..again too early to talk about..

Your performances have been liked by all ages and demographics, what is it, in your opinion about your roles/character that caused the appeal to be universal and across various age groups?
Well I’d like to think the same I’dd say am blessed.. I love them too ..so its mutual

Gaurav Gera on Youtube

Interview Arranged by Rajnigandha Shekhawat

From Havard to Stand Up comedy, did that the Ivy League education ever come in the way of your career or prevent you from taking certain risks?
Firstly, I wasn’t at Harvard for that long, it was a short acting course. I wouldn’t call myself Ivy league, I’m mostly ‘ Out of my league’ . But to sum it up, my job is to stand on a stage with nothing but a mic in my hand and hope that 5000 people are going to laugh at what I think is funny. Risk taking is a reasonably mild way to describe this suicidal act.

Talk about your upcoming releases?
Delhi Belly with Aamir Khan Productions, I have Parmeet sethi’s film with Yash Raj, I have ‘Shaadi of the dead’ with iRock and a few more that I am not allowed to talk about. I shoot three days a week, i tour three days a week and I write one day a week. I havent slept in a long time.

Film role, television or actual standup comedy, pick one favorite?
That’s like asking me which Japanese twin i would like to sleep with first. Look if I had any sort of planning or preferences, I would be an investment banker, not a comic. whatever’s fun, I do.

Russel Peters is pretty much at home on both sides of the Atlantic, do you aspire to perform live in North America and UK, now that you have won over India (given your earlier days in the US)?
I started out performing in the USA and my show ‘ Walking on Broken Das’ will tour the states as well. I’m not sure I would like to win them over. I like to think of it as ‘unabated assault’.

Talk about the comedy club circuit in India? What’s coming up in the television and comedy circuit for you?
I think the circuit is coming of age. We shall soon experience a comedic boom. My company Weirdass Comedy is already getting in on the ground of it. We organized a Hamateur Night in Mumbai that now goes national. My personal belief is that its about to explode.

What got you to LA in the first place?

I started in India , working with Mahesh Bhatt, I worked with him on his first few movies, Manzilen Aur Bhi Hain, Vishwasghat, Lahu Ke Do Rang and Naya Daur. Manzilen was the movie that gave me the opportunity to interact with Kabir Bedi, with whom I became great friends. So Kabir had become a successful star in Europe and was subsequently doing a movie in Latin America. I told Kabir that I was ready to spread my wings. So one fine day I get this telegram from Kabir…he had hooked me up with the production guys here in Latin America. So I was on a plane in a couple of days. That experience was very challenging, I did not speak the language, but being forced into an environment like this forces you to learn enough to communicate with people around you. While I was there I became very good friends with a guy named Salvo Basile. Salvo was the first AD to Sergio Leone. He was in Columbia to work on a Marlon Brando movie. Kabir’s movie was also being shot in Columbia, so there we were. Because a lot of my work experience with Mahesh was as an AD, was drawn to those kinds of job functions, preparation, planning and execution. So we were supposed to be in Columbia for three months, the movie was supposed to be shot on high seas and they had actually built these two Spanish Galleons, it was a period film. While we were shooting this Galleon hit an underwater wall and capsized. It was like a big disaster. So we had to immediately revamp the schedule and begin to shoot in the interiors, while they built another Galleon. So we ended up being there for like six months. After that movie finished I had a couple of choices, go back to India or go with this company that I was working for, to Italy, or, since I had a tourist visa, go to New York. So I had made a little bit of money while I was working in Columbia, so I showed up in New York and was there for six months. Spent time watching 3-4 movies a day, all the movies I ever wanted to see and finally ran out of money. So now I had two options, go back to Mumbai or go to Italy, with the guys I had worked in Columbia with. So I decided to go to Italy. Replenished my bank account, worked in Italy, did all the odd jobs here and there, finally came back to New York, this time on a student visa, basically took an evening job and went to school there for a couple of years. During that time a lot of the Italian films would come to the East Coast, mostly to shoot in Florida…the Bud Spencer, Terrence Hill films. Now my friend Salvo was hired to come down to Miami to supervise these movies and I would come down from New York, work on these movies and go back to NY. So I did around six movies that way. Finally I applied to the DGA (Directors Guild of America) program when I was in NY, I got selected for the DGA program which moved me to Los Angeles. So I applied under the 90 day rule, since I has approximately 8 years of experience under my belt as an AD, and they accepted me, directly into the DGA, but I did go through the program in terms of the seminars and lectures and workshops, but since I was experienced, once I called into the shows I got directly accepted as a second AD, instead of going through the training hoops, for a television series called THE PAPER CHASE. I worked on that series for three years as a Second AD, followed by extensive television as a Second AD, then moved up as a First in 1987 on a TV series in Paramount called STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION. So I did the pilot and then the series and then moved on to do movies as a First AD. That started to take me out of town a lot, by then the family had come around….I have three kids, my son is in Law School in Boston, daughter just graduated from Cal Arts and my youngest daughter is in UCLA. My wife is a Linguistics Major, now back in school, but at that time…. it came to a point where I wanted to find work that would keep me in town, so that took me to the pilot of ER, in 1994. ER was shot as a TV movie and then subsequently they picked it up as a series for 13 shows, the 13 became 22 and so it became a great job. I worked on the series for 8 years, I moved up on that series as a Director, started directing episodes. Then in 2002 I wanted to go and direct fulltime, so John Wells, who’s the main producer on ER had this rule that if you direct shows full time you cannot step back as First AD and direct full time elsewhere. So while it was a great job, five days a week, in town, great pay, but I had decided that this is a business where if you don’t take risks, you don’t grow also if you are looking for security then you are in the wrong business. So I took John’s offer of directing two episodes of ER and then left to build on it. Did a bunch of shows and then it got a little slow getting directing assignments. So now I have this happy medium of doing outside shows, being a First AD and also developing my own projects.

Let me step back further, relive your growing up days…what made you join Mahesh and the film Industry at all?

Growing up in Mumbai..Shivaji Park…actually a lot of Saraansh is our younger days in Shivaji Park….the story of a son going to America…I’ve lost my father at a very young age and I am the eldest in my family, have two brothers and two sisters and so when I got this opportunity to leave, my mom was freaking out saying “you can’t just leave all of us here.” Became good friends with Vinod, Shabana, was part of this whole gang in Juhu…….. Kabir, Danny, Shabana, Parveen Babi. Parveen also came to Latin America to visit us. As a kid growing up in Shivaji Park, you know Mahesh and me, we grew up in the same neighborhood, Mahesh went to Don Bosco and I went to St Joseph….we would talk movies, see movies, there was another friend of our’s Hyder Ali…he wrote the story for Jodha Akhbar, Hyder’s mother was Ester Abraham, this Jewish – Muslim family, his family owns a lot of property in Shivaji Park, so we were all part of this group..and Mahesh’s dad was in the movie business already, so there were these two families in that business, growing up met folks like K. Asif, Rajkumar Soni, etc. So Mahesh had just read this O’Henry short story called the Ransom of the Red Cheese and there were a lot of these people in Mumbai, if you are a director or a producer, a lot of people would hover around you. So I still remember, we were in Mahesh’s house and he narrated the O’Henry short story to one such producer, that morning. So that producer immediately took out a sum of Rs 500 and gave it to Mahesh and told him to write the script, so that script was then directed by Mahesh’s dad, but that also triggered Manzilen Aur Bhi Hain. So we took the story of Butch Cassidy and the story of Klute and made Manzilen Aur Bhi Hain. Kabir Bedi, Gulshan Arora and Prema Narayan, Pravin Bhatt was the cameraman, Mahesh directed, Johny Bakshi produced…oh before that Mahesh worked for Raj Khosla films, under Johny Bakshi, so that way all of us connected, Kabir and Vinod had also done a couple of films with Raj Khosla. Johny was able to wrangle the finances, the film was banned by the Government of India, Kabir was very good friends with Mrs Gandhi, she liked the movie very much and she allowed us to release the movie with minor cuts. We campaigned, I had a motorbike at that time, we were like hippies growing up in Mumbai, would hire extras from the Taj. So although the movie did not do very well, it got a lot of buzz and did good for everyone associated with the movie. So those were the growing up years.

So now let us revert to the present. You have plenty of experience in Bollywood, and also Hollywood—where do you take this?

I am really interested…not so much in going back to India, but in doing some projects there, but the projects have gotta happen, what I don’t have is the time to chase projects there. Recently I am involved in a Disney movie called 19 Steps with Bharat Bala. So anybody going from the West to film in India…a good line producer and a good first AD…key elements both of them, I bring the latter skill set to the table. Even big Bollywood ventures in the West, like Dostana, Kites, they bring Indian crew here and the infrastructure in terms of planning and preparation leaves a lot to be desired, that is also an area I would like to get involved in, training and working with these crews coming from India. One of the areas I am interested in, is going back and training some young kids in that game. How to prep and plan a movie and also the execution.

I mean you can go there and tell them this is the way to do it, cause I recently did this musical with Disney in India, 8-9 songs, 30 day schedule shot in Udaipur with two days of shooting in Mumbai and I had not shot in India in a long time. There was me, there was the director, producer and the actors, everyone else was a local hire. The cameraman was from New Zealand. It was interesting for me to kind of work with these guys and …my Marathi came back…all the languages I spoke growing up in India…all came back.

Although chaotic in the first few days, I remember I had to literally stop shooting, gather everybody together and have a conversation….but they were so willing to follow your lead and …it’s all about earning trust, when you are working with a new set of people. It was interesting, cause the director was American and due to cultural differences often times I had to do damage control…to really get the people to overextend themselves and service the shooting company. This was a great learning experience for me and I was very impressed with the way the Indian crew did the job, hard working people and we finished one day ahead of schedule, this is a ten million dollar movie…it’s huge. Another thing I don’t like working long hours, cause to me working long hours is bad planning, so despite that, with this wonderful crew we came a day ahead. Also since this was an action film it was essential to have a seasoned Line Producer, who has done action from all visuals and knows how to prep and plan, action and also to have the Line Producer work closely with the First AD in executing that plan.

So why is that that when Disney did Roadside Romeo, Sony did Saawariyan and Warner did Chandni Chowk to China, all of them got wiped out in the box office? Do the American studios not get the Indian audience and market?

Actually the studios have left the decision on the story they want to tell, to their Indian counterparts. So if anything, it is the fault of the Indian companies on story selection. The studios have decided on a non interference in content policy and actually had stuck to that. Will that change going forward…not sure, see the movie business is all about the numbers that can be generated, example Gajini has made some huge numbers, like $25 million, so Fox has signed the Gajini director. So if the studios continue to see that potential, then irrespective of the first few films, they will continue to do business in India. Also Disney has a deal with UTV, but they also have independent deals, like the Asin project….however, one of the struggles the American studios are having is the lack of transparency in the production management, it is getting better, but there are still issues of lack of completed scripts, etc, before you start principal photography. But I am sure it will get better.

The Indian Television industry is exploding and going places…has been for a while, any desire to utilize your years of experience here in the US, in Indian television?

Absolutely! Television to me is the key. What I would like to do is actually English language content, which I can shoot in India but more catered to an English speaking global audience, more specifically UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, Middle East…the US is a secondary market for Television content coming out of India. There is enough money to be made outside of the US. The way Television works is there is not much private equity in television, a lot of the money stems from advertising. One of the biggest issues with Television in India is the kinds of budgets they are used to dealing with, which is miniscule compared to the budgets in Australia or Europe or even Latin America. The key is to find the hook that appeals to the English speaking South Asian audience, including in India and then it extends itself to go beyond borders. So India has a co production deal with Canada, with Mexico..these have not been exploited or tapped as yet, so I am looking into that. There are two phases in content creation…writing and directing, you want to make sure that it’s top notch and it’s to international standards. Writing is the hardest part and that is where India has to come up..not that they cannot…they just need to be trained in that direction. That’s why most American shows do well internationally, cause there is good writing. Writers in India are not paid well, there are minimums in Canada, in the UK, out here, but not in India. So for the Indian channels getting a co production partner will only help.

So having seen Indian cinema for a while, where do you see the overall quality?

I’ve seen some good stuff come from India, but there is still a long way to go, overall I’d say C to B+, from a global perspective that it. It’s the writing again, that is key.

With the evolution of the RED camera and costs subsequently going down, will that be of benefit to places like India? Also how do we overcome the copyright issues?

Absolutely, lower costs are going to benefit India tremendously. See the name of the game is to tell a great story, also there are some very basic formulas, so let’s take television…if you want to cater to a mass audience you have your soap operas..the Saas Bahu series, now for India to break new ground and create like a Roots into the West or create a Jewel in the Crown that the UK shot in India..so copyright is directly linked to the way writers are treated. There are a lot of Indian writers working in Canada and the US, because they are treated better here, have health and pension benefits, I mean if I retire tomorrow…I’m good..not so in India, so treating writers well there is one way to motivate them to create original content…it’s getting better though.

You had aired a view as an audience, in a panel I had done sometime back in LA, wherein you had said that there is no difference between Television and Film actors, giving an example of Clooney and that despite the big budgets there will always be a need for the smaller stuff too. Do you still hold that view?

There isn’t a difference between Television and Film actors…I think it is all part of a learning curve…in fact Television is great training ground for actors, actors that work in soap operas it’s the hardest, they have very little time to prepare, it’s like shooting in instant time…show up on the set, get the scene, get the dialogue and then go enact it…that is soap operas, next level is episodic television, there is an incredible amount of work to be done in a very limited period of time and the quality of work has to be of very high standard. Top global TV shows have a combination of good writing and good performances. It is made up of professional actors…television is. For Indie film makers armed with a good script, they can have access to these great actors and they also get a certain visibility to the project since they are known faces, which can allow them to sell the movie. Actors that come or dabble in theater have a great career in television…in this town, all the quality work for actors, for writers, for production designers, it is all in television! The difference is that work on episodic does get repetitive after a while, whereas in a movie, you work on it for six months and then move on to something new.