MEGAMOVIE: Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja
Filmfare's extensive feature on Roop Ki Rani, Choron Ka Raja prior to the film's release, published in the magazine on October 1992!
Shame the film tanked. It really wasn't that bad, but whoaa, there was no way the movie could have recovered. BTW kindly note there's a note of misapprehension from all involved, doubts were seeping in from the beginning but five years on, what could they do - but release it in whichever way possible.
Can't think of a Hollywood equivalent other than say Cleoptra with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton which was plagued with problems, re-casting, over inflated budgets, personal and professional trauma for all those involved, great expectations, public curiosity... and a fiasco and debacle that's still remembered decades on.
Anyhoo, on to the feature with extensive quotes from the film's producer Boney Kapoor, director Satish Kaushik - and by far the most interesting quotes from Anil Kapoor - who had an inkling long before the others did on the movie maelstrom that was brewing... Bless Sri for being her optimistic best.
A Seven Crore Gamble
Boney Kapoor's Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, which was launched in December 1987, as a "quickie" has turned out to be a seven-crore extravaganza - perhaps the costliest film made in India - thanks to the fleeting fancies of all those involved in its making.
Changing trends, new ideas, regular after-thoughts and ever-soaring ambitions caused the film to be re-shot repeatedly on 30-odd lavish sets in India and abroad, in the process making it "a commercially dicey proposition." On the eve of its release, the refrain in trade circles is: this film will have a tough time breaking even. But Boney Kapoor is unfazed. "I couldn't have made this film any other way," he says. Adds Anil Kapoor, "I feel it will take the nation by storm." But will the audiences indulge the Kapoors' grandiose dream? Will Boney Kapoor's seven-crore gamble pay off?
It's pouring inside Famous Studio, Mahalaxmi. And Sridevi is prancing soggily in a red chiffon sari with pulse-pounding music in the background, Anil Kapoor is waiting, finding a temporary roof, ready to be enraptured.
Sri smiles, she sways, she swirls, soaked to her skin...
He is about to step out...
Director Satish Kaushik yells 'cut'.
The ambiance is nostalgic, though not the action, reminds you of another day, another song. The famous titillator from Mr India, I love you,.. But Satish clarifies, "It's the rain which is familiar... (laughs) the song is different... so is the scene... most of the action in this case takes place indoors, in the bedroom..."
Yes, it's Roop Ki Rani... again. And Anil Kapoor. And Sridevi. And Satish Kaushik. Rushing through "one last schedule."
"Don't tell us you are turning this film into a serial!" someone quips. "not a bad idea," Satish laughs it off. The throaty laughter. He can laugh his way out of any situation.
"This song," informs Anil, "is in place of another one, a duet [Main ek sone ki murat!] which we thought could be dropped."
Looks like this mega film has a mind of its own. it keeps negating all the plans of its makers. To begin with, "It was not meant to be a mega film. It was planned as a formula quickie to bring in some fast returns to push Prem which was conceived as a grandiose launching vehicle for my brother Sanjay," says Anil. "But as we started working on the script, we realised that it needed a much bigger canvas."
But what about the time factor? Doesn't a film look dated after a while. After all, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja was launched on December 4, 1987! And then the financial aspect: "If the figure quoted by the producer is correct, the film needs to gross about 1.5 crore to just about break even," says Vinod Mirani, editor of the trade weekly, Boxoffice. The 1 crore quoted per territory is the highest commanded by any Hindi film to date. "And a difficult price to make a profit on," says Mirani.
Anil Kapoor, who distributed Beta through his newly-formed Mr India Distributors and made a mega buck ("which proved very handy when we decided to add this new song') is holding two major territories of Roop Ki Rani- Bombay and Andhra.
But Anil doesn't look diffident. With characteristic flamboyance he says, "This film has to click... if it doesn't we can always go back to where we came from!"
But the trade doesn't consider it a laughing matter. "When a film like this fails to click, it sends shock waves through the trade. Even though in this case, a major part of the investment has come from the Kapoors' family sources," says Mirani.
Boney Kapoor, the producer of Roop Ki Rani..., justifies the time and funds pumped into the film.
When you have a script that demands 450 shifts of straight shooting with a major star cast, delay is inevitable. In '89, which Sri injured herself while dancing on a glass-topped table for one of Mr.Bokadia's films, a crucial 15-day schedule had to be cancelled. Then, in March '90, Anil met with an accident, fractured his leg, and was confined to bed for 65 days, upsetting another major schedule. We had planned to shoot continuously from August '91 and had half erected a major set at Filmistan, when Sri lost her father. Both Anil and Sri have been busy. When a schedule of either of them gets upset, it becomes very difficult to make up for lost time. Specially, when you have to co-ordinate with another busy star, Jackie.
"The dislocations upset the schedule considerably," says Anil. "We could hardly shoot for the first two and half years. All that we could can was a couple of song numbers by Sri. My doing Lamhe added to the hassles. Looking back, I feel it was a major mistake on my part to accept Lamhe. I was looking for a change of image those days and Yashji offered me the Lamhe role. I can't blame him for what eventually happened, because things didn't work out the way we had planned. In the middle of a London schedule Sri lost her father. Earlier Subash Ghai and later Indra Kumar, who had my dates, wanted co complete Ram Lakhan and Beta respectively. I couldn't hold them up for the sake of my home productions. Otherwise it would've led to a major controversy (laughs!). So the actual tempo was built up only in the last year and a half to two years, and that's why you see the team spirit so alive and kicking."
"Naturally, with the passing of time, the 'image' of the project changed, expectations began to rise, hum apne aap ko phailate gaye... [we spread ourselves thin]... The original script underwent a major transformation, a van robbery to be shot on the set change to a train robbery to be shot on location. That sequence is a major highlight of the film today, it will keep people on the edge of their seats. We hired a complete train with 18 bogies, a pantry car and first class carriages and used two helicopters, one for us to shoot the sequence, the other for the hero to land on the train. And we used the Panvel Nhava-Sheva track for the shoot. The idea was villain ko marna hai toh achi jagah maro [if you're going to kill the villain, kill him at a great location!], the audience will get a special thrill every moment. Anil hit a tree unexpectedly and that is also on film. We hope he was not injured," adds Boney.
Roop Ki Rani.. is not a film meant to strain anyone's intellect. It'a fun film which goes all out to entertain." His attitude to film-making, confesses Boney, was inspired by two people he admires most. "Raj Kapoor, and little below him, Manmohan Desai." That is why he has no compunction whatsoever in admitting that Roop Ki Rani... is a heady peg of wold wine, a "1950s subject presented in a slick, modern, glamorised form."
'Formula smells abut formula sells'. Keeping this in mind, Boney went all out to pour millions into the venture to ensure that it didn't lack technical finesse, epic sets, lush locales, exorbitant costumes, and slick action, because that's what makes the audiences come back to the theatre again and again.
"The package we are offering cannot really fail," Boney adds confidently. "Though we didn't visualise this film on such a big scale, from the beginning I was clear that it was going to be a high-voltage entertainer. Because I wanted it to be a money-spinner. People thank Mr India was a major financial success, but do you know what the business statement says? It grossed barely 1.25 to 1.5 crores while we were expecting 2.5 and above. It certainly did well in the 'A' and a few 'B' class centres (big cities and towns) but took a backseat in the 'C' class areas, because the small-town audiences could not make much of its sophisticated comedy. That was when I made up my mind to make a a "thos" commercial film. I know the subject of Roop Ki Rani... has been beaten to death, but I still think it has what it takes to deliver the goods. Manmohan Desai rehashed a theme a dozen times and every film of his was a success, the only time he changed tracks and made an Aa Gale Lag Jaa, he came a cropper. A Deewar or a Don makes more business each time it is re-released. That is why I feel the time is ripe for another Don or a Sholay."
Will Roop ki Rani.. be another Sholay or Don? The trade isn't sure. Experts in the film trade feel this film can never really make the mega bucks which Boney apparently had in mind while launching the film. Nothing but a miracle can take it beyond the 'coverage' point.
This is the kind of film which, if it hits the right spot, will take the nation by storm, otherwise... Well, we are keeping our fingers crossed," says Anil with a grin.
Adds Boney, "We have gone for everything big, grandiose. Every song in this film - and there are 9 of them, retained from the original 11 - has taken about 20 shifts to shoot. The climax song went for 32 shifts. When you don't have a subject which is novel, you have to be innovative in its presentation to make sure that the film is a visual treat. Even the credits roll on to a rap score - you have never seen anything like it before. " But then pop music changes with the wind, and so the six-year stretch has caused major changes in the music score - one song deleted, two dropped, one added. Boney dismissed this as "incidental, when the stakes are so high."
"When we started Roop Ki Rani.., music wasn't considered all that important for a film like this. It needed appropriate music that's all. But since then, the importance of music has been growing. All the recent hits have had extremely catching music. This did make us include a few trendy numbers. Like the one which we are now picturising," says Satish.
About why the team has not broken up with the indifference which should have been a natural outcome of working in fits and starts over six years, Boney says, "Look, we have shot almost 500 shifts over 1200 working days in the last four years. In between, we have done 100 shifts over 200 working days of Prem. Which means, in effect, the unit has been getting together for one reason or the other - scripting, revising, shooting, editing, dubbing, sound recording etc etc - almost every other day. So where is the question of any indifference creeping in? On the contrary, they are competing with one another, which pushes us to greater heights with every take."
Anil agrees. "This film does not belong to the stars. We are like pygmies here, honestly. You see, when you make such a colossal film, its larger-than-life quality has to overpower individual effort."
Sri's going through the endurance test too. She has had to devote more time to the the film than she was originally committed to. "I know this isn't the right way to make a film, but then this is an exceptional film." she says. "And this unit has a pull of its own. Everyone has been caught up in the excitement of doing something different, and the tempo has prevented us from getting bored."
Was Satish Kaushik the right man - considering that he's yet to direct a film on his own - to handle a massive project of this nature?
"His light-hearted approach to life often makes people wonder if Satish is the guy to handle a mammoth project like ours. But people are in for a major surprise. He's brilliant. And its' amazing how he has coped with the pressures of directing a film of the nature and magnitude of Roop Ki Rani... Anyone else would have collapsed," says Anil. "He has been associated with us for years, on films like Hum Paanch, Woh Saat Din and Mr India. As he has assisted in all our previous productions, we were fully aware of his potential."
"I am nervous, tense, excited. On the face of it, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja is a simple story of two clever crooks trying to outwit each other. but it is the glamorous padding which has raised it to the level of a 'commercial classic', if I may call it that. That's what makes it beyond just a battle between a safe-cracker and a con-woman," says Satish.
Satish denies that the film was to be earlier directed by Shekhar Kapur, which whom Kaushik shared a special bonhomie and a guru-shishya working relationship for several years. Says he "After Mr.India, Boney had planned two films - Roop Ki Rani... to be directed by me and Prem to be directed by Shekhar. At that stage, Prem was to be the bigger film. But, somehow, it did not take off as scheduled. I would not like to comment on the misunderstanding between Shekhar and Boney. But I want to make one thing clear: Right form the beginning, I was to direct Roop Ki Rani, not Shekhar. I took over Prem when it was decided that Shekhar would not be doing it."
The incident did break up their friendship. "But not because of me," Satish hastens to clarify. "Shekhar sent a note to me saying, 'henceforth we should go our separate ways.' It hurt me no end. We were very, very close. I'd been like a member of his family." He doesn't want to say anything more about that "painful chapter" in his life, which resulted in his disassociating from Quasar Films, which Shekhar and he had formed together.
Kaushik does all the detailing on paper before a schedule. "But when you work with big stars who know the ropes, you always leave room for improvisation. I also believe in rehearsing difficult scenes. Once at Madh island we rehearsed a scene for two whole days."
Considering the amount of time, money and risk such megathon films need, will this rare genre die a natural death soon? "Not as long as the Subhash Ghais, Yash Chopras, N.Chandras and, of course, Boney Kapoors are around," feels Satish. His only regret as he waits with baited breath for the people's verdict on Roop Ki Rani... is - "I wish my father was live to see this."
Mood graphs vaccinate in the Kapoor camp as D-day draws near. "Boney and I always share our misgivings when we are climbing the staircase to our home . That is the moment when all doubts crowd in. Have we overreached this time? Was it right to pin all our hopes and stake our last shirt, as it were, like this? We wonder. But then, we tell ourselves - leke kya aaye the? We have known hard times, we have lived in a chawl in Chembur. So what if we return to square one? We are still in our thirties, and we are confident of bouncing back," says Anil.
What do you say to that Boney, I ask. If the gamble pays off. Anil will get yet another shot in the arm. Sri will continue as Queen Bee, Javed Akthar, Baba Azmi will get fresh kudos, there will be a rash of cover stories, a speedy hike in several fortunes and the chubby new director, who is nibbling to smother his nerves ("I've put on weight... I over-eat out tension") will begin to walk tall.
And if Boney's bonanza bombs? "You will find nine more people parked on the V.T. platform," grins the incorrigible producer...
Shailaja Ganguly
Filmfare, October 1992
It's pouring inside Famous Studio, Mahalaxmi. And Sridevi is prancing soggily in a red chiffon sari with pulse-pounding music in the background, Anil Kapoor is waiting, finding a temporary roof, ready to be enraptured.
Sri smiles, she sways, she swirls, soaked to her skin...
He is about to step out...
Director Satish Kaushik yells 'cut'.
The ambiance is nostalgic, though not the action, reminds you of another day, another song. The famous titillator from Mr India, I love you,.. But Satish clarifies, "It's the rain which is familiar... (laughs) the song is different... so is the scene... most of the action in this case takes place indoors, in the bedroom..."
Yes, it's Roop Ki Rani... again. And Anil Kapoor. And Sridevi. And Satish Kaushik. Rushing through "one last schedule."
"Don't tell us you are turning this film into a serial!" someone quips. "not a bad idea," Satish laughs it off. The throaty laughter. He can laugh his way out of any situation.
"This song," informs Anil, "is in place of another one, a duet [Main ek sone ki murat!] which we thought could be dropped."
Looks like this mega film has a mind of its own. it keeps negating all the plans of its makers. To begin with, "It was not meant to be a mega film. It was planned as a formula quickie to bring in some fast returns to push Prem which was conceived as a grandiose launching vehicle for my brother Sanjay," says Anil. "But as we started working on the script, we realised that it needed a much bigger canvas."
 |
| Launch of Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja 1987 |
But what about the time factor? Doesn't a film look dated after a while. After all, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja was launched on December 4, 1987! And then the financial aspect: "If the figure quoted by the producer is correct, the film needs to gross about 1.5 crore to just about break even," says Vinod Mirani, editor of the trade weekly, Boxoffice. The 1 crore quoted per territory is the highest commanded by any Hindi film to date. "And a difficult price to make a profit on," says Mirani.
Anil Kapoor, who distributed Beta through his newly-formed Mr India Distributors and made a mega buck ("which proved very handy when we decided to add this new song') is holding two major territories of Roop Ki Rani- Bombay and Andhra.
But Anil doesn't look diffident. With characteristic flamboyance he says, "This film has to click... if it doesn't we can always go back to where we came from!"
But the trade doesn't consider it a laughing matter. "When a film like this fails to click, it sends shock waves through the trade. Even though in this case, a major part of the investment has come from the Kapoors' family sources," says Mirani.
Boney Kapoor, the producer of Roop Ki Rani..., justifies the time and funds pumped into the film.
When you have a script that demands 450 shifts of straight shooting with a major star cast, delay is inevitable. In '89, which Sri injured herself while dancing on a glass-topped table for one of Mr.Bokadia's films, a crucial 15-day schedule had to be cancelled. Then, in March '90, Anil met with an accident, fractured his leg, and was confined to bed for 65 days, upsetting another major schedule. We had planned to shoot continuously from August '91 and had half erected a major set at Filmistan, when Sri lost her father. Both Anil and Sri have been busy. When a schedule of either of them gets upset, it becomes very difficult to make up for lost time. Specially, when you have to co-ordinate with another busy star, Jackie.
"The dislocations upset the schedule considerably," says Anil. "We could hardly shoot for the first two and half years. All that we could can was a couple of song numbers by Sri. My doing Lamhe added to the hassles. Looking back, I feel it was a major mistake on my part to accept Lamhe. I was looking for a change of image those days and Yashji offered me the Lamhe role. I can't blame him for what eventually happened, because things didn't work out the way we had planned. In the middle of a London schedule Sri lost her father. Earlier Subash Ghai and later Indra Kumar, who had my dates, wanted co complete Ram Lakhan and Beta respectively. I couldn't hold them up for the sake of my home productions. Otherwise it would've led to a major controversy (laughs!). So the actual tempo was built up only in the last year and a half to two years, and that's why you see the team spirit so alive and kicking."
"Naturally, with the passing of time, the 'image' of the project changed, expectations began to rise, hum apne aap ko phailate gaye... [we spread ourselves thin]... The original script underwent a major transformation, a van robbery to be shot on the set change to a train robbery to be shot on location. That sequence is a major highlight of the film today, it will keep people on the edge of their seats. We hired a complete train with 18 bogies, a pantry car and first class carriages and used two helicopters, one for us to shoot the sequence, the other for the hero to land on the train. And we used the Panvel Nhava-Sheva track for the shoot. The idea was villain ko marna hai toh achi jagah maro [if you're going to kill the villain, kill him at a great location!], the audience will get a special thrill every moment. Anil hit a tree unexpectedly and that is also on film. We hope he was not injured," adds Boney.
Roop Ki Rani.. is not a film meant to strain anyone's intellect. It'a fun film which goes all out to entertain." His attitude to film-making, confesses Boney, was inspired by two people he admires most. "Raj Kapoor, and little below him, Manmohan Desai." That is why he has no compunction whatsoever in admitting that Roop Ki Rani... is a heady peg of wold wine, a "1950s subject presented in a slick, modern, glamorised form."
'Formula smells abut formula sells'. Keeping this in mind, Boney went all out to pour millions into the venture to ensure that it didn't lack technical finesse, epic sets, lush locales, exorbitant costumes, and slick action, because that's what makes the audiences come back to the theatre again and again.
"The package we are offering cannot really fail," Boney adds confidently. "Though we didn't visualise this film on such a big scale, from the beginning I was clear that it was going to be a high-voltage entertainer. Because I wanted it to be a money-spinner. People thank Mr India was a major financial success, but do you know what the business statement says? It grossed barely 1.25 to 1.5 crores while we were expecting 2.5 and above. It certainly did well in the 'A' and a few 'B' class centres (big cities and towns) but took a backseat in the 'C' class areas, because the small-town audiences could not make much of its sophisticated comedy. That was when I made up my mind to make a a "thos" commercial film. I know the subject of Roop Ki Rani... has been beaten to death, but I still think it has what it takes to deliver the goods. Manmohan Desai rehashed a theme a dozen times and every film of his was a success, the only time he changed tracks and made an Aa Gale Lag Jaa, he came a cropper. A Deewar or a Don makes more business each time it is re-released. That is why I feel the time is ripe for another Don or a Sholay."
Will Roop ki Rani.. be another Sholay or Don? The trade isn't sure. Experts in the film trade feel this film can never really make the mega bucks which Boney apparently had in mind while launching the film. Nothing but a miracle can take it beyond the 'coverage' point.
This is the kind of film which, if it hits the right spot, will take the nation by storm, otherwise... Well, we are keeping our fingers crossed," says Anil with a grin.
Adds Boney, "We have gone for everything big, grandiose. Every song in this film - and there are 9 of them, retained from the original 11 - has taken about 20 shifts to shoot. The climax song went for 32 shifts. When you don't have a subject which is novel, you have to be innovative in its presentation to make sure that the film is a visual treat. Even the credits roll on to a rap score - you have never seen anything like it before. " But then pop music changes with the wind, and so the six-year stretch has caused major changes in the music score - one song deleted, two dropped, one added. Boney dismissed this as "incidental, when the stakes are so high."
"When we started Roop Ki Rani.., music wasn't considered all that important for a film like this. It needed appropriate music that's all. But since then, the importance of music has been growing. All the recent hits have had extremely catching music. This did make us include a few trendy numbers. Like the one which we are now picturising," says Satish.
About why the team has not broken up with the indifference which should have been a natural outcome of working in fits and starts over six years, Boney says, "Look, we have shot almost 500 shifts over 1200 working days in the last four years. In between, we have done 100 shifts over 200 working days of Prem. Which means, in effect, the unit has been getting together for one reason or the other - scripting, revising, shooting, editing, dubbing, sound recording etc etc - almost every other day. So where is the question of any indifference creeping in? On the contrary, they are competing with one another, which pushes us to greater heights with every take."
Anil agrees. "This film does not belong to the stars. We are like pygmies here, honestly. You see, when you make such a colossal film, its larger-than-life quality has to overpower individual effort."
Sri's going through the endurance test too. She has had to devote more time to the the film than she was originally committed to. "I know this isn't the right way to make a film, but then this is an exceptional film." she says. "And this unit has a pull of its own. Everyone has been caught up in the excitement of doing something different, and the tempo has prevented us from getting bored."
Was Satish Kaushik the right man - considering that he's yet to direct a film on his own - to handle a massive project of this nature?
"His light-hearted approach to life often makes people wonder if Satish is the guy to handle a mammoth project like ours. But people are in for a major surprise. He's brilliant. And its' amazing how he has coped with the pressures of directing a film of the nature and magnitude of Roop Ki Rani... Anyone else would have collapsed," says Anil. "He has been associated with us for years, on films like Hum Paanch, Woh Saat Din and Mr India. As he has assisted in all our previous productions, we were fully aware of his potential."
"I am nervous, tense, excited. On the face of it, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja is a simple story of two clever crooks trying to outwit each other. but it is the glamorous padding which has raised it to the level of a 'commercial classic', if I may call it that. That's what makes it beyond just a battle between a safe-cracker and a con-woman," says Satish.
 |
| Anil Kapoor and Sridevi in Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja |
Satish denies that the film was to be earlier directed by Shekhar Kapur, which whom Kaushik shared a special bonhomie and a guru-shishya working relationship for several years. Says he "After Mr.India, Boney had planned two films - Roop Ki Rani... to be directed by me and Prem to be directed by Shekhar. At that stage, Prem was to be the bigger film. But, somehow, it did not take off as scheduled. I would not like to comment on the misunderstanding between Shekhar and Boney. But I want to make one thing clear: Right form the beginning, I was to direct Roop Ki Rani, not Shekhar. I took over Prem when it was decided that Shekhar would not be doing it."
The incident did break up their friendship. "But not because of me," Satish hastens to clarify. "Shekhar sent a note to me saying, 'henceforth we should go our separate ways.' It hurt me no end. We were very, very close. I'd been like a member of his family." He doesn't want to say anything more about that "painful chapter" in his life, which resulted in his disassociating from Quasar Films, which Shekhar and he had formed together.
Kaushik does all the detailing on paper before a schedule. "But when you work with big stars who know the ropes, you always leave room for improvisation. I also believe in rehearsing difficult scenes. Once at Madh island we rehearsed a scene for two whole days."
Considering the amount of time, money and risk such megathon films need, will this rare genre die a natural death soon? "Not as long as the Subhash Ghais, Yash Chopras, N.Chandras and, of course, Boney Kapoors are around," feels Satish. His only regret as he waits with baited breath for the people's verdict on Roop Ki Rani... is - "I wish my father was live to see this."
Mood graphs vaccinate in the Kapoor camp as D-day draws near. "Boney and I always share our misgivings when we are climbing the staircase to our home . That is the moment when all doubts crowd in. Have we overreached this time? Was it right to pin all our hopes and stake our last shirt, as it were, like this? We wonder. But then, we tell ourselves - leke kya aaye the? We have known hard times, we have lived in a chawl in Chembur. So what if we return to square one? We are still in our thirties, and we are confident of bouncing back," says Anil.
What do you say to that Boney, I ask. If the gamble pays off. Anil will get yet another shot in the arm. Sri will continue as Queen Bee, Javed Akthar, Baba Azmi will get fresh kudos, there will be a rash of cover stories, a speedy hike in several fortunes and the chubby new director, who is nibbling to smother his nerves ("I've put on weight... I over-eat out tension") will begin to walk tall.
And if Boney's bonanza bombs? "You will find nine more people parked on the V.T. platform," grins the incorrigible producer...
Shailaja Ganguly
Filmfare, October 1992
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