The Showman Goes Very Strong At 75!

I was sitting with the showman , Mr. Subhash Ghai in his 12th floor apartment near the Mount Mary's Church and from his window I could see the entire sea line of Mumbai and also half of Mumbai's structures which I could recognise from that height. It was the perfect atmosphere for a creative mind to work at double the speed. I now realise why he had shifted from this house to another more luxurious apartment next to where Rajesh Khanna's bungalow, "Aashirwad" was once and left the place to comeback to this place which one couldn't get for any price in one of Indians most expensive cities. We were sitting over a simple breakfast of "upma" and 'papaya" and as if he had read my thoughts which I was thinking all the way, he said, " Ali, can you believe, I am 75 and can still work for 18 hours a day in spite of all the ups and downs in my life and career...

We were talking about various issues when the others mind in my mind went into a flashback and I thought of the man's achievements during the 75 long years ...

He was a young man who came to the FTII from Delhi to pursue a course in acting. He came to the Mecca of dreams, Mumbai, only to see all his dreams of being an actor mingled with the hot sands at the Juhu Beach. He had signed nine films as a hero and only one of them was released, Athma Ram's (The brother of Guru Dutt) "Umang" for which he was paid a monthly salary of 650 rupees and was provided with a first class pass between Andheri and Churchgate and a room in Athma Ram's bungalow in Juhu to sleep. The film flopped and he was last seen as an actor as Rajesh Khanna's pilot-friend in "Aaradhana" and that role marked the end of his ambition to make it as an actor.

He had formed a team of writers with another flop actor called B. B Bhalla , but he did not find it comfortable and went his own way as a writer.

He had written a script keeping in mind his friend, Shatrughan Sinha and with Shatru's girlfriend, Reena Roy, Premnath and Ajit . He narrated the script to a leading producer, N. N Sippy who found the script so good that he asked Subhash Ghai to direct the film and it was the beginning of a  very long journey of a director who is now called a showman even though he has not directed a film in almost a decade.

Among the films Subhash Ghai produced and directed were "Hero", "Karz" , "Ram Lakhan","Khalnayak",“Taal", “Yaadein",“Pardes"and“Saudagar"the films he directed for other producers included "Kalicharan", "Vishwanath" , "Krodhi" , "Meri Jung", "Gautam Govinda", "Vidhaata" a few others. He had made enough films and wanted to try to divert his mind to give back something to the industry which had given him so much.

He did not do anything to start some kind of other business or invest his money in some other ventures, but he thought of something very different. He laid the foundation stone of a film making school and many of his rivals felt he was going mad. But he pursued his passion and today  Whistling Woods International is ranked among the 10 best acting schools in the world.

He was caught between two of his favourite dreams, making films and building his school to be the best and one of them had to suffer and it was the films he directed while he was giving shape to his dream school, films like "Kissna" , "Yuvraaj", "Black and White" and "Kaanchi". Suprisingly, the magic touch of the Showman was not seen in any of these films and he decided to concentrate on his school and took to teaching filmmaking seriously and took regular classes with students in different disciplines. He was now an educationist whose contribution was recognised by some of the best education institutes in India and across the world.

The showman was also slowly changing into a soulman and was busy discovering the truth as preached and practiced by different gurus and bhagwans and came to his own conclusions which left him a very peaceful man who had however not lost touch with the world that had given him the status and the opportunities to learn more and more even at the age of 75.

What will the showman do next? He will, ofcourse keep in touch with the basic training he had as a lover of films. He may or may not direct films as he says he has had his share and would find it a little difficult to cope up with the minds of the younger generations which has taken over the industry. He will however continue to produce his own films under his own famous banner, Mukta Arts. He has already finalized the scripts for three films, "Khalnayak 2" , "Aitbaar 2" and a new subject. The  names of the directors have not yet been finalised, but one thing is clear and that he will not be directing any of his first three films he has decided to start in this phase of his career.

He was recently at the Kumbh Mela where besides having a dip in the Holi waters , he also had hectic discussions on sages, sanyasis and gurus and mahagurus and believed that he has emerged as a much better man who can face the challenges lying ahead of him with greater courage , confidence, conviction and commitment. Who can stop a man who is so much in love with life and the search for more and more knowledge and wisdom continues for the man who has created his own world, but has his soul and his roots very deeply entrenched in the soil of the country for which he can do anything like he has been doing during all the 75 years during which he has lived a life of fulfilment and soul-satisfaction and keeps looking for more because as he says learning can never stop and the day you stop learning is also the day you stop living  or loving...

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