Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rajkumar Hirani are two of the most successful filmmakers working in Hindi cinema today. And both owe a great deal to Vidhu Vinod Chopra for their career. Bhansali, who assisted Chopra at the start of his career in films, has become the unhinged king of sumptuously mounted costume dramas, whereas Hirani has become the undisputed king of box-office, a man who knows the pulse of the masses without receiving scorn from the critics. While Bhansali has charted his own path to become an independent producer and director, a successful one at that, Hirani, on the other hand, still works in tandem with his mentor.
Hirani and Bhansali are not the only filmmakers Chopra has mentored. He has also mentored filmmakers like Pradeep Sarkar (Parineeta) and Rajesh Mapuskar (Ferrari Ki Sawaari). Now he seems confident about Bejoy Nambiar too. While his mentorship is beneficial for Bollywood, somewhere we lost a director to production. Yes, he did make the recent debacle, Broken Horses. And some of his past few directorial ventures have not been very compelling either.
But we must not forget that his films carry a sense of visual flourish that’s very rare in Bollywood. Almost every film has a distinctive look.
And yes, he works wonders within the confines of the Bollywood song and dance routine. Look at the songs from his films, they are mostly narrative tools, barely popping out like sore thumbs. He knows how to make lovers glow in his songs. Look at the melodies from 1942: A Love Story or Parinda; they offer the taste of first love, expressing itself on screen through dreamscapes where locations change, hearts flutter, and fabrics fly all at once, with the organic tempo of the songs. Even the dance moves are subtly graceful, and enhance the song’s sweetness with great vigour. How well lit the faces are!
Then Bollywood took him over with extravaganza, and he started opting for spectacle over a cleaner eye, which was so beautifully evident in Khamosh and Parinda. And being a successful producer, film direction seems to have lost importance for him.
Today, he turns a year older. All we wish is that he comes back, with a film that sparks with his early intensity. We believe he still has it. The question is, does he?
(This story is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 5 September 2015. It is being republished to mark Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s birthday.)
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