Vashu bhagnani: Film banaane ka junoon na utraa hai na utrega kuch bhi ho jaaye

He was a young businessman who had come to Bombay with the maddening ambition to make films - Ali Peter John

He could have spent all the money he had made to expand his business , but he wanted to take the risk of making films and he stayed on to make s number of films, some big , some small , but all of them made with the same junoon and with the determination to go on making films without even thinking about giving up hope or the will to make films .

I had met him when he first started his banner, Pooja Entertainment and today almost 40 years later Vashu Bhagnani is a big name in the business of film entertainment .

And now with his actor - son Jackky Bhagnani joining him in his pursuit of success , it seems like Pooja Entertainment is going to go a long way and set trends and precedents in the field of film entertainment to which both father and son have totally dedicated themselves .

The man who not many knew when he started out , is now a respected leader of the industry.

Vashu Bhagnani , the name means big today and he with his son are doing everything possible to see that they forget all their past achievements and aim to build a new future with the banner Pooja Entertainment flying high.

Vashu is a wise businessman and he took his own time to study the business of filmmaking and once he got a hold on what it took to make entertaining films which would give the masses what they wanted and give him the money and the satisfaction of making films his way , he didn't stop and I don't think men like Vashu Bhagnani easily give up .

The hub of activities in his office at the posh "Honey Houses" in Juhu opposite the J W Marriott can give anyone who knows anything about cinema that the father and son team are working round the clock to make films in the future which will make a difference to the future of Hindi cinema .

It is difficult to imagine that two men could have achievements to their credit that can either inspire and encourage other filmmakers or make them feel envious about them ( the father and son) .

It will not really matter if I give a long list of the films that Vashu Bhagnani has produced during the 30 years or so that his banner has been flying high .

But I will for the record mention some of Vashu's films like "Coolie No 1" " Hero No 1" , "Bade Miya Chote Miya" ," Om Jai Jagdish", "Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein" "Aunty No 1 ", "Deewanapan" , " Kal Kisne Dekha Hai", "F. A . L. T.U" and several others.

Not all these films succeded , but as I said earlier men who have the fire to take risks don't take failure very seriously .

Vashu and Jackky may have made many other contributions to the industry , but the one big contribution they have made is their encouraging new talent and introducing star- children.

Among the star kids who Pooja Entertainment has brought into the limelight are Tusshar Kapoor ( "Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai") and Abhishek Bachchan ( " Tera Jaadu Chal Gaya") .

He also gave major breaks to almost unknown stars like Diya Mirza and R Madhavan. There were several producers who wanted Anupam Kher to direct a film for them, but Vashu was the one producer who took up the challenge and made "Om Jai Jagdish" with Anupam as the director and Waheeda Rehman, Abhishek Bachchan and Fardeen Khan in key roles.

The film however did not make any impression and even had a big fall at the box office and Anupam even decided not to direct a film again .

Vashu also gave breaks to several other directors , writers , composers and technicians . And I being a very close observer of people , matters and things have not seen Vashu Bhagnani under pressure or tension while making his films at great cost .

I have only seen him smiling and I believe that it takes a man all the courage and the confidence and will power to smile in an industry where even the tallest and the strongest always have tension written in black ink on their faces and whose favourite line mostly is , "apun toh fans gaye"" and apun toh mar gaye"

AAPKE JIGAR KO SALAAM , VASHUJI, ABHI TOH AAPKI SHURUWAAT HI HUI HAIN AUR AAPKO BAHUT DOOR JAANA HAI. JACKKY AAPKI HIMMAT HAI . USKA HAATH THAAM LO AUR BAS AAGE HI AAGE NIKAL PADO , HAR MANZIL AAP DONO KA DIL SE INTEZAAR KAR RAHA HAI