Birthday special: Producer director Ravi Tandon emerged from the crowd of extras

Mayapuri Issue 51, 1975 -Jay N Kumar

About 20 years ago today in Filmistan, S. Mukherjee was dominant. Filmistan seemed to have become a huge filmi cultural farm. s. With the production of new films under Mukherjee's supervision, new directors and new technicians were being cultivated there.

It is about those days. Filmistan was crowded with extras day and night. In the same crowd, there was also a slender blond young man who would sometimes stand with a moustache with a stick in his hand or put a silk handkerchief around his neck to make his big eyes shine like lightning or sometimes with a sword in his hand. Possibly to show that he has some power even though he is thin.

He was a strong extra but he didn't come to Mumbai from Agra giving up his pleasures to become an extra.

It was the hobby of films that separated him from the shadow of a happy family and brought him into the scorching sun of struggles.

His father was a sessions judge who often dealt with dreadful cases of dacoits and criminals in dreadful areas like Agra, Bhind , Morena. He was a judge because he wanted his son to become a famous lawyer of criminal cases following in his footsteps.

But the boy fled to Mumbai, someone blew his ear. You are fair , you are beautiful , you have big eyes , you look young , you can become a hero of films.

He was already fond of films, just those things added fuel to the fire and he left everything and left the comfortable beds and went on the streets of Mumbai.

This young man had to struggle a lot when he came to Mumbai, he had to struggle for many days.

He could have gone back to his home if he wanted, but after spending his childhood in the harsh mountainous areas of Bhind and Morena, he too became rigid in himself.

He accepted a life full of struggles as a challenge. And in the end, he struggled to join the horde of extras in Filmistaan.

It is often seen that one who joins the crowd of extras stays in the same crowd throughout his life. He gets old but remains an extravaganza of extras.

But this young man did not come just to be an extra. That's why by staying in Filmistan, he started watching closely all the activities around the films being made there, started understanding.

Sometimes he would stand near the camera man and watch his movements. Sometimes he would try to understand the directions of the director.

When he used to try to get information about the nuances of lighting by standing near the lighting people, he started trying to infiltrate all the departments of the films on extras.

The uneasiness that he had about films could not be hidden. Director RK Nayyar first caught sight of this young man. They watched his movements for several days.

And finally , one day he called and answered some questions and, impressed by his talent and intuitive intelligence, made him his third assistant.

Ravi Tandon, the name of this young man who reached the rank of assistant directors by ripping apart the crowd of extras. Who has now come in the category of high quality producer directors.

Ravi Tandon soon became his most trusted by joining the unit of RK Nair . As a result, he was not only an assistant director during the shooting of Love in Shimla but also worked as an assistant director to R.K. Nayyar's left hand.

It is said that the person who tries to stand on his feet , luck also supports him. Same thing in the life of Ravi Tandon. His fate also showed some miracles.

The shooting of the film ' Intakam ' was about to take place in Kashmir. All the preparations for the shooting of the film were done. The advance party had also reached the location.

Suddenly Nayyar sahib fell ill. What's up now ? If the shooting is postponed, then the loss of thousands. About this when S. When Mukherjee asked Nayyar sahab, he said with great confidence that the shooting of the film would not be postponed.

My assistant Ravi Tandon will take care of everything. I have full faith in them. In this way Ravi Tandon got a chance to independently shoot the film 'Intakam ' in Kashmir.

He filmed a few dramatic scenes with great self-confidence and filmed two songs in the same technique of filming Nayyar's songs with the brilliance that Nayyar sahib after seeing his shots patted him and prophesied that you will be in ' future '. You will become a very good and famous director

And the same thing happened... Within a few days, R.K. With the efforts of Nayyar, Ravi Tandon became the director of the film ' Sehra '.

Manoj Kumar and Nutan were the lead actors of that film, during the shooting of this film, Manoj Kumar was influenced by Ravi Tandon's direction and he got him to direct the film ' Sacrifice ' with his efforts.

Although the film ' Sacrifice ' did not hit the box office window. But its director Ravi Tandon's calculation is self. Gurudutt , PL Santoshi and Raj Khosla, who had become known for filming songs in a particular style, some named this style the ' Zoom ' style. Which are still famous by the same name today.

Ravi Tandon rose to prominence as a director after the films ' Sehra ' and ' Sacrifice '. The fragrance of his name and his style gradually spread. In the meantime, he had contact with aspiring and adventure film financier Gulu Kochhar, their friendship again turned into a business partnership and a new film production organization by the name of King Productions was born. Under the banner of this construction organization ' Unhappy '

' Unhonored ' became a hit. As soon as this film became a hit, where the romantic pairing of Sanjeev Kumar and Leena Chandavarkar Kar became a hit, then Ravi Tandon as a producer and director also became a hit and their demand was increasing day by day.

After that Ravi Tandon became Ravi Tandon. After the success of ' Anhoni ', he directed the film Majboor for famous producer Prem ji, whose hero was Amitabh Bachchan and the heroine was Parveen Babi . '

The pair has revealed many new colors of their acting. Although the film was not as hit as ' Unholy ' , it did not affect Ravi Tandon's reputation as a director. Now waiting for RM The film ' Khel Khel ', directed by him under the banner of Films, has become a topic of discussion in the film circles even before its release.

The romantic pair of this film is Chintu Kapoor and Neetu Singh who have shown their lot in ' Khel Khel '.

Recently, when I met him at his flat in the Pandurang Society located in Juhu, he told me that I have got so much support from the beginning to the end that I could never imagine. Nowadays it is not so easy to make a big film with big actors.

Many kinds of troubles arise. But in this matter I am so lucky that till now none of my films have been hindered, Sanjeev Kumar has become like my friend , Leena Chandavarkar respects me , Amitabh Bachchan was so cooperative in ' Majboor ' that The more I admire him, the less.

That's why Chintu ' Khel Khel Mein' has been gathering with me as if I am his uncle. Getting such support from the actors is a huge success for any director.

I asked whether Salim Javed, the story writer of ' Majboor ' , also supported you in the same way ?

Ravi Tandon smiled and said yes. He had handed over the entire script to me before the start of the film, which made it a lot easier for me to take shots.

When the film was ready, he saw it and congratulated me and said that the way the script was written, the film has become exactly the same way.

If this kind of collaboration between the scriptwriter and the director continues, I think films will be made smoother and easier.

Do you attribute the success of the film to the screenwriter or the director ?

On this question of mine, Ravi Tandon smiled and said that when the film becomes successful, then all the people are ready to tie its success on their heads.

In fact, not one person has a hand in the making of the film, from the director to the spot boy, all the people have a hand. Therefore, the responsibility of the success and failure of the film was not put on any one.

Can go Filmmaking is like a democracy, the entire power and subjects unit and the audience – everyone is responsible for its success and failure.