A throwback to March 1984, Cine Blitz goes behind the scenes of the expensive production of Joshilaay. Long before they worked together in Mr.India, suave model turned director Shekhar Kapur was fanning out at the young starlet Sridevi.
Sunny Deol on the other hand... was not as impressed with the southern sensation, who by 1984, had a dozen hits while, Sunny was still struggling to get a foothold despite a blockbuster debut!
Making hay while Sunny shines!
When my editor mentioned a location shooting at Panchgani, I was thrilled! It was to be my first outdoor assignment. But my enthusiasm soon waned when I learnt that the cast comprised of a dull, reticent Sunny Deol and a dumb, gawky Sridevi for Shekhar Kapur's Joshilaay.
Early, on a bracing wintry day the rest of the press and I bumped along in a rickety, old coach to the picturesque little hill-station. Our hotel was a quaint little place on a hillock overlooking a wide lake in the valley. The producer Mr. S. H. Rizvi was the very epitome of hospitality. After a quick freshening up we rushed to the site which was on a 'table-top - a flat piece of land on top of a hill.
As we neared the site a man hurried towards us flailing his arms. He turned out to be Shekhar Kapur, the effervescent, ever cheerful director. With him was his continuity girl - bubbly young wife Medha.
The film is an action thriller on the lines of a Cowboy Western and Shekhar plans to shoot the whole film in brown and yellow hues. On that particular day he had had the common enemy. "As the plot thickens," Shekhar explained, "and the two come close together they develop a mutual respect for one another, even though they are diametrically opposite in nature."
As the technicians got the shot ready, we heard a lilting tune float by. It was part of the song sequence which they were to shoot for the next two days and pretty soon the whole unit including us were humming it almost constantly. The scene they shot the first day had Sunny sitting atop a haystack looking on mischievously but inconspicuously at Sridevi, a gypsy girl dancing with her friends. Sunny was surprisingly rather voluble and he gestures. Sridevi dressed in a bright green and scarlet gypsy outfit suited the role to the hilt. After smiling a shy hello at us she went back to the dance director's instructions. Anil was not present as he was not part of the schedule.
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| Director Shekhar Kapur on set with newcomers Sunny Deol and Sridevi in Joshilaay |
Shekhar appears to be a most fastidious director, much to the chagrin of producer Rizvi who has had to accompany him all over India scouting for suitable locales. "I've almost exhausted all my finances just hunting for locations with this fussy man," revealed Rizvi, good humouredly. Even on the days we were there I noticed Shekhar's penchant for details. Apart from explaining each artiste's role at length, his eye would be strained for the smallest straw of hay that was out of place! He appeared almost captivated with Sridevi's effortless acting and the ease with which she followed the dance instructions. "She is one of the most natural actresses ever," he gushed. "Her spontaneity is remarkable. As for her dancing—it is sheer pleasure watching her." And as I watched her shoot for the next two days, I found that Shekhar had not exaggerated. After pack-up as Sridevi and Sunny posed for still photographers, I was fascinated by their thorough professionalism. Otherwise, the communication between the two was almost nil, but as the bulbs flashed the couple transformed themselves into a photographer's delight, posing comfortably and romantically, instinctively knowing what the other wanted.
The next day I decided to make the most of Sunny's talkative mood. I wonder whether it was the holiday-like, relaxed atmosphere of the place or whether it was being away from Bombay that made him speak rather expansively on intimate subjects like marriage, love, affairs etc. Expecting him to clam up when I mentioned the word 'marriage' (because of the strong rumours about his own), he surprised me with his willingness to speak at length on it, "Of course, I believe in marriage whole-heartedly. You see affairs may come and go but in the end it's only the wife that matters. When you come home after a tired day and you have a loving wife waiting for you, you suddenly realize that that's what life's all about." When I asked him what qualities he would seek in his ideal woman, he eulogized on his mother whom he considers to be the ideal. And from his wife he would want, "Deep love and understanding. You see, being in this profession I am aware that I am constantly a victim of all kinds of gossip and slander, so my wife should know me well enough and take it all in her stride. I'll give her anything I can, lay the world at her feet, for she's my wife but in return I expect constant reassurances of love and understanding—two things I thrive on. Typically, like most male chauvinistic husbands, he detests nagging. "I think nagging slowly destroys two people who are very close to each other." With all this oblique talk on marriage, my curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't help asking whether he'd ever marry an actress. He gave a long... "
