The Dice Of Destiny Some Dreams Do Come True And How! (The Saga Of Three Young Men)

If there is one place which attracts you, tempts you, inspires you and even forces the most die-hard non-believer to believe in God, destiny or luck, it is this ever so magical and mysterious world of films in Mumbai...

Years ago, a brilliant young man who had passed out from the FTII, Vidhu Vinod Chopra (who was the step brother of the legendary writer and filmmaker, Ramanand Sagar, best known for his reviving the interest of all Indians in the Ramayan in his epic TV-serial of the same name) had invaded the industry with films like“Sazaaye Maut",“Khamosh"and then the mega opus,“1942--A Love Story".

Vidhu who was always known as a rebel or a trend-setter had the ability to have around him juniors and associates who had the vision to make it big themselves one day and in some cases, even become bigger names than their“Guru".

I knew the entire unit of Vidhu, but my best friends were Sanjay Leela Bhansali who was one of Vidhu's many assistant directors, Ravi Dewan who had the qualifications to make it as a big-time stunt director and Nitin Chandrakant Desai who had done his studies in art and architecture from the J.J School of Art, which incidentally has given the industry names like Amol Palekar, Chitra Palekar, Nana Patekar and Atmanand and the late Vivek who were the joint founders of Studio Link, one of the leading designing studios in Mumbai....

Bhansali together with Ravi Dewan and Nitin Desai spent most of their evenings in the compound of Natraj Studios when Vidhu was not shooting. They could only afford a quarter of a bottle of Diplomat whisky which was the cheapest whisky available those days. They often went dutch when they shared the money to buy the whisky.....

It was over these small drinks that the three young men saw all their dreams before it was night. Their dreams were difficult dreams, but they were determined young men who were willing to walk through fire to reach their goals, and it did not take them long to make it in such a way that they left not only Vidhu, but the entire industry gaping as they kept taking one stride after another.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali who had directed the song,“Kuch Na Kaho"in“1942--....."besides assisting Vidhu with all the important scenes was the first to catch the attention of an established producer called Jhamu Sugandh who promised to go with him all the way in the making of his first film,“Khamoshi--The Musical". It was not a very big success, but the work of Bhansali was noticed by all those who had the eye and the minds to recognise talent. It was the beginning of one of the most outstanding success stories of a young director. SLB as he now came to be known went on to make massive films like“Hum Dil Chuke Sanam",“Devdas",“Saawariya",“Guzaarish",“Bajirao Mastani"and his last big and controversial film,“Padmavati". The young man whose mother Leela Bhansali who was his major source of inspiration inspired him to take her name as his second name and that is how Sanjay Leela Bhansali who is one of the living landmarks of Indian cinema is now known and he takes great pride in his being known as the son of Mrs Leela Bhansali, who was a leading singer and a classical dancer in her youth and who at eighty-five can still still and take a few ambitious steps. The big game has just begun for Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Ravi Dewan who started life as a fighter and assisted some leading fight directors took his own big and daring steps and within no time the boy from nowhere land was the occupant of a luxurious apartment in one of the best known multi-storeyed building in Lokhandwala, Andheri. He reached a stage when he wanted to branch out and when last heard, he had directed a small but interesting film based on the underworld called“Khabri"....

But if you ask me, I think that of all three young men who dreamt their dreams in the compound of Natraj Studios, it is undoubtedly the one-man saga of Nitin Chandrakant Desai.

Nitin first worked as an art director for several art and not so arty films because he knew he had to make some money and had seen poverty from very close quarters when he was the son of a farmer-couple who showed a strong inclination towards painting which was noticed by one of his uncles who guided him to join the J.J School of Art, where he proved to be an outstanding student and was taken up as an assistant to a veteran art director, Nitish Roy.

When Nitin knew he was capable of taking on challenges and making dreams come true, he dreamt big and asked the government of Maharashtra for a piece of land which was granted to him without any major hassles. It was in this rough and forest-like land that Nitin decided to build his own studio which would be a studio like no other studio in India. He got the best engineers, architects, interior designers and other skilled men and women to join him in his mission. And after years of hard work, Nitin couldn't believe his eyes or his mind that their was a massive studio standing in front of him with his name, N.D Studios on it. He had a grand launching ceremony at which his old parents from Khapoli were the chief guests and they couldn't believe what their son had done Amitabh Bachchan who was the first to know about Nitin's dreams made it a point to attend the ceremony and there was almost the entire industry present to wish Nitin Chandrakant Desai well. That old friend from Natraj Studios, Ravi Dewan had planned a grand and unbelievable show for the guests and his other friends Sanjay Bhansali was in the audience applauding his one-time struggling friend.

Some of the biggest films made in the last fifteen years have been shot at N.D Studios, with some of the gigantic sets built by Nitin himself.

Nitin has now joined hands with Reliance and has made the show at N.D Studios much more ambitious with not only the studios, but a live museum which brings alive the history of Indian Cinema besides the fun spots for people who come visiting N.D Studios which has become an essential part of the itinerary of every tourist and especially film lovers and film historians and scholars from all over the world.

Sometimes, Nitin wakes up in the middle of the night in his middle class apartment in Powai and pinches himself to believe that he has really done it.

Nitin is also very popular with the most powerful politicians who have to request him to find the time to build sets, mandaps and pandals for wedding ceremonies, other ceremonies and he faced his biggest test outside films when the present chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis wanted only Nitin to build and decorate the stage for his swearing-in ceremony.

What do the grand success stories of these three young men prove? I am no authority to provide an answer, but I no for sure that great dreamers are always great winners and with their stories I want to prove the writer of pulp fiction, Mario Puzo wrong. He wrote a novel and named it“Dreams Die". Only based on the stories of Bhansali, Ravi Dewan and Nitin Chandrakant Desai, I can atleast attempt to write a book which will be titled,“dreams live, dreams build".

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Nitin Chandrakant Desai, The Saga Of Three Young Men