film-producers-from-india

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

"You create a work of art. You do not know whether it will get public sanction. Sometimes outstanding films do no business, and sometimes films which are not so good work."

"Don't be a follower, be a leader."

"If I wanted, I could have ruled half of Bombay."

"Motion picture making is a very, very involved affair. It is completely my baby. I'm a thorough professional. I plan films right from the conception of an idea to its final execution."

"Life is all about taking risks, if you never take any, you will never achieve anything."

"Life is too short. I don't have time to speak slowly."

"Does anyone remember who the chief minister of Maharashtra was during Mumbai riots, which were no less deadly than the Gujarat riots of 2002? Does anyone recall the name of the chief minister of UP during the Malliana and Meerut riots or who the Bihar CM was when the Bhagalpur or Jamshedpur riots under Congress regimes took place? Do we hear the names of earlier chief ministers of Gujarat under whose charge hundreds of riots took place in post-Independence India? Some of these riots were far more deadly than the 2002 outburst. The state used to explode into violence every second month. Does anyone remember who was in-charge of Delhi’s security when the 1984 massacre of Sikhs took place in the capital of India? How come Narendra Modi has been singled out as the devil incarnate, as if he personally carried out all the killings during the riots of 2002?"

"In recent times, media trials have become more important than trials in courts. Our objectivity has given way to systematic undermining of facts. It took us about five thousand years to create diverse and deeply profound versions of the Mahabharat and the Ramayana, but in our present era, dubious versions of each contemporary tragedy, or farce, are ready within minutes. Truth, at various levels, has been the first casualty of the media. Infact, reality gets distorted so rapidly that it becomes unrecognizable. ... However, in recent years, our politics and public life have become so polarised that people are not allowed to hear diverse voices. This is especially true with regard to Narendra Modi–who has emerged as one of the most controversial figures of our times."

"So much has changed in terms of the market; the audience has so many options, and you’re reaching for all kinds of attention when you’re making a film. I suppose when it’s really regressive sort of messaging, and it makes hundreds of crores, it hurts. Because you had the opportunity to push the needle in some direction and you didn’t. Those are the things that sometimes bother me. Having said that, every filmmaker has their goals."

"Those who speak aggressively on upholding Sanatana Dharma and Hindutva are not Hindus. They project themselves as contractors of Hindutva. We must tell them that they are speaking for furthering their political ill-intentions. People must understand it and I hope they will."

"Seriously trying to be more vegetarian.. have given up slowly, except fish right now...no prawn, mutton, lobster, crab. Suddenly going off chicken too. Ten years ago saw a little lamb being slaughtered... Cried my eyes out, and that was the last time (I) ate mutton. That thing has a life consciousness... Then saw how crabs and lobsters are cooked, put alive in boiling water. Inhuman...now slowly trying to give up fish too."

"Wearing shoes, clothes and other accessories made out of exotic skin is about as cold-blooded as it gets. These days, there's a wild kingdom of fake snake, mock crocodiles and python leather that pay tribute to the beauty of these animals without making them fashion victims."

"Do you eat your dog? Cows, goats, buffalos, pigs have the same emotions and intelligence level, they feel the pain, separation and torture. Go Vegan @devduttmyth everyone should, it’ll also save us from global warming."

"I am itching to get back to filmmaking. The industry has changed so much since I last directed a movie. Those days when my films like 'Ek Pal' and 'Rudaali' were so appreciated, now seem remote. We've gone from the era from Mahesh Bhatt to the era of Alia Bhatt. And I'm proud I know both of them as wonderful human beings. It's been a wonderful journey. I've enjoyed every minute of it. And I am not done as yet. (hopes of recovering from Kidney Cancer and returning to filmmaking after a long hiatus)"

"Bhupso (Kalpana endearingly addresses Hazarika as Bhupso) did offer to marry me two years ago, but I said no. May be he wanted to give me the status of wife, but I was not interested. For me, the relationship, the trust and the respect that we share with each other are more important than marriage. (discussing her unique relationship with Bhupen Hazarika)"

"I set out to assist two amazing filmmakers Sai Paranjpye and Kalpana Lajmi, both torchbearers of qualitative cinema. Through them I had a solid foundation to understand cinema and its intricacies. With Sai Paranjpye I learnt to use everyday humour, and with Kalpana Lajmi I learnt how to envisage a grand mise-en-scène. (After completing a course in film appreciation at FTII Pune)"

"Situations like the one showed in Ek Pal exist in the lower classes and the upper classes and are more easily acceptable. It is the middle-class who gets horrified. It is the middle class who wants to act out, but can’t. (discussing the themes of adultery in the film and morality of the middle class)"

"Well, my kidneys have failed. I haven't (laughs). (discussing her Kidney Cancer)"

"Strange. I have never been consciously feminist. I am more a humanist. I like dealing with the situation of the underdog and, somehow, I feel women are such a minority in this country. Also, I feel if my voice can be heard, why shouldn't I highlight their situation and create awareness and hope? I'm not consciously making women-oriented films. Maybe, subconsciously, the feminist inside me veers towards highlighting women's issues. (when asked if it was a conscious decision to concentrate on women-centric films)"

"Kalpana was an amazing raconteur, who brought any incident or story to life in front of your eyes. It was visual, you could sense it and taste it. A passionate person, who had a great sense of humour and enjoyed laughing at herself and her own foibles. She was a people’s person and loved to make friends. She filled the room with laughter and positivity. (As to how the prolonged illness had not seriously dented Kalpana's vivacity till the end)"

"Art has different meaning for different people. For some its realism, for some its escapism, and you have to accept that."

"I never want to be on a pedestal. Because the same people who put you on a pedestal will throw you of it. I really don't want to be appreciated to the extent that I start living for their appreciation."

"I could actually tell stories and narratives which were little alternative and radical. For whatever its worth, you can support imperfection. (as an answer to the evolving tastes of the Indian Audience and the rise of the Digital Streaming Platforms)"

"When you're writing a character, you have to know where they're coming from. You may never use that information, but you have to know it. It just helps you mark the journey better."

"Bhatt sahib told me, “Yaar, I have never seen any other politician or chief minister act with such alacrity and determination anywhere else in India.” He openly praised Modi’s conduct in the Film Federation meeting saying, “one does not see any other state of India demonstrate such strong commitment to the rule of law.”"

"Unfortunately, some conflict entrepreneurs live off conflicts. Just as the war industries would cease to exist if human hatred evaporated, conflict entrepreneurs have a tremendous investment in this hatred. To keep the demon alive is to keep their God alive. They draw sustenance from this hatred. Those who talk of secular values need to go back and study the Mahatma because in the pages of the Mahatma, there is no concept of the kshatru (enemy)."

"“But if history is taught to people, facts are told to people then people stand up & they seek justice & that’s when governments bend down.”"

"Talking about the massacre of Sikhs that took place in Delhi in 1984, Vivek Agnihotri said, “It’s (1984) is a dark chapter of Indian history. The way the entire Punjab terrorism situation was handled, was inhuman & it was purely from vote bank politics & that’s why terrorism was cultivated by the Congress party in Punjab.”"

"Dear Wikipedia, You forgot to add ‘Islamophobia propaganda Sanghi bigot etc’. You are failing your Secular credentials. Hurry, edit more."

"They work exactly like religion. Most religious books are based on fear. If you do this, that will happen. Nobody knows what ‘this’ or ‘that’ is. Social justice, if it has to come, will come only from a free and fair market. Why didn’t our liberals tell us this simple truth? When agendas, vote banks, and self-delusion take over, reasoning and sympathy are needed to keep up a common conversation. Without it, there is aggression, deafness, and an obsession with purification; hence the divisive politics of Boutique Liberalism. Boutique Liberalism is an Indian tragedy and a very damaging detour into the quicksand of communalism. Indian Liberalism has come to mean the colour opposite of saffron. That’s their failure. In a desperate attempt, their new mantra is – ‘We don’t care if you are a murderer, we want to know whether you are a liberal or a Sanghi murderer?’"

"I didn't get up from the corner of my study couch until I discovered a unique and dangerous nexus between the Naxal mafia and middlemen disguised as intellectuals. Like Prasoon would have desired, I had inverted the pyramid of intellectuals. I had found the theme of the film: Intellectual Terrorists."

"A pattern is emerging. The Urban Naxals are installed in top institutes. Institutes which matter, which engineer the narrative. They are using these campuses as ‘intellectual training zones’. Like in the military, no point of view other than the combat is allowed to enter a soldier’s mind; in these campuses, no narrative other than theirs is allowed to pass through the minds of their intellectual soldiers."

"Discrimination isn’t always gender, race or colour-based. The most damaging discrimination is of the mind and ideology. I was discriminated against by almost all my Bollywood friends, whom I used to hang around with because, like them, I also believed in a certain ideology but found it fake and alienated from reality, and elitist."

"The evolved, enlightened and reasonable voice of India is absolutely absent from the national discourse. Who has divided us? Our society is divided into ‘overclass’ (as described by Michael Find) and ‘underclass’. Overclass has systematically siphoned off the national wealth, leaving the underclass to fight for two square meals. They either inherited or, in collusion with corrupt regimes, appointed themselves to positions of power and influence. With strong control over information, they kept the underclass in the dark. Their word was the final word. The biggest trick the overclass played on the underclass is keeping the hope alive that only they can get them out of this abject poverty. That we have problems and they have the solution. This is the same trick godmen and Satan play on us. This overclass with social, economic, and political clout has constantly shown disdain and contempt for the traditional social values and the underclass is now questioning their motives. If different ideologies, traditions and cultures co-exist and democracy finds popular favour, it’s not due to this narrow but influential elite. It’s due to the tolerance level of the underclass."

"He quoted how Galileo was nearly killed for opposing a belief but in India, when Charvak, an atheist, challenged the Vedas with logic and rejected the idea of reincarnation, he was given the title of ‘rishi’. Indian thought isn’t about tolerance, it’s about acceptance. He reminded us that societies which champion the cause of human rights are the ones who started two world wars whereas India has been the most peace-generating country in the global context. He said, ‘I have absolute faith that the tapasya of thousands of years can’t be destroyed by you and me.’"

"Two phenomena disturbed this status quo. One, the advent of social media, and second, the rise of Narendra Modi. With easy access to social and digital media, the underclass started questioning the authenticity of information provided by the overclass. Suddenly, their statements are scrutinized, their credibility is questioned, their sinister campaigns and lies are exposed. Their dilemma is that if they quit social media, they lose their relevance, and if they stay, they lose their credibility. This war of intolerance isn’t between HDL (Hindu Defence League) and MDL (Muslim Defence league). This isn’t between the left and the right. This is between the overclass and the underclass."

"PM Modi gave an example of administrative intolerance. During the last days of the Vajpayee government, it was decided to build six All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The then health minister Sushma Swaraj named the Patna AIIMS Jaiprakash Narayan Institute, and similarly, the other five were also named after non-Congress national leaders. Vajpayee’s government lost the elections and the Congress-led UPA came to power. The UPA passed a Bill in Parliament and ‘banned’ these names to be used for any government project. That was the level of intolerance, he said."

"MAMI did two things for me: it gave the film the respectability it deserved, and it made me realize that my journey from here on was going to be lonely as Bollywood would only pull this film down. I had to find my audience. My market. My space. And my voice. All alone."

"He said emphatically, ‘If there is a loss to the country due to my mistake, please criticize me which you must… punish me… but just to oppose me or any other political rival, one shouldn’t forget national interest. This much intolerance is not good.’"

"The intellectual hierarchy has been demolished. It’s a sad commentary that in the world’s largest democracy, writers’ protest has become a subject of jokes. The power-hungry artists, writers, academics, and media-persons in India waste a huge amount of time making political statements to hide behind their lack of intellectual stands. Michel Houellebecq wrote Submission, a strong political statement; he didn’t get press coverage for returning some award. The lustre is gone from our intellectual discourse. Secularism has lost its ideological currency. Artists, writers, activists are all suspect. Media czars have lost their access to the corridors of power and to people’s hearts. It’s the overclass’ space that has been taken over by the underclass. Their discomfort is with the new order where the others are also heard. Hence, the feeling of shrinking space. They are intolerant of this new phenomenon – the emergence of the underclass. They try to devalue this new, empowered underclass by associating it with Modi and, therefore, Hindutva, and that’s a grave mistake. The universe that was full of their voice has expanded to accommodate this new voice. This is what they call an attack on FoE and growing intolerance."

"Everyone needs a villain and Narendra Modi became the media’s and the intellectual gangs’ main villain as 2002 was tailor-made to suit their agenda of secularism. Secularism was nothing but a ploy to attract Muslim votes and keep a control on Hindus from asserting themselves. In order to give it sanctity, the Congress regime under Sonia Gandhi patronized every creative and intellectual voice that helped her further her agenda against a potential contender, Modi, by giving them alms."

"I had given up on the Bollywood style of filmmaking. I had given up on mediocrity. I had resigned from Bollywood."

"That day I learnt that in the big fat world of Bollywood, the problem isn’t whether the pyramid should be inverted or not. The problem is there isn’t any pyramid."

"If it has any chance of getting financed, it’s going to be from someone outside of Bollywood. Bollywood can't finance this film for they have no clue about this dimension of India. It’s going to be somebody who is bold enough to disrupt the status quo of an agenda-driven narrative."

"Somewhere in the race to survive in Bollywood, I started telling stories that I believed people wanted to hear, and not the ones I wanted to tell. The ones which ought to be told."

"Little did Vanbala know that Naxalism is just a vehicle to take her from one hell to another hell."

"That day I saw the change with my own eyes. The MAMI organizers’ agenda wasn’t to promote these films anymore but to promote themselves. MAMI is just another club of the elites."

"I remember Prime Minister Modi sharing his belief that the cultural space shouldn’t be ‘rajya aashrit’, government-dependent, as it takes away the voice of reason but it should be ‘rajya puraskarit’, awarded by the State. And without ‘fearless cultural evolution’, we would be a robotic society. He clarified that he never received any request from any ‘kalakar’ to meet him. ‘One day I saw on TV that Shri Munnawar Rana was saying that if PM invites us, we’ll go and tell him about our concerns, so I immediately called my secretary and asked him to invite Shri Rana at his convenience but till date no one has come. As a PM, I can’t go beyond this. Home Minister Rajnath Singhji has publicly extended the invitation, twice, but no one has responded.’"

"I had spent years working on a superhero subject. It was a simple story, rooted in Indian mythology. And that was its biggest problem. There is a mindset in Bollywood that doesn't let Indic ideas flourish."