Ashok Shekhar : An all rounder for forty years

He has been a producer of TV serials as well as films on his own right, besides being a celebrity event manager. Ashok Shekhar is the son of the 95 years old illustrious yester year actor Chandrashekhar. In this candid interview at his favorite joint The Country Club, ASHOK SHEKHAR tells JYOTHI VENKATESH about his journey and his current plans.

How did you start your journey in Bollywood?
You would not believe it but the fact is that I had begin my career as a guy writing vouchers in the Accounts Department of Shakti Samanta’s Shakti Films in Andheri at Natraj Studios way back in 1973. When Shaktida was making his film Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, I was made the Head of Production and flown to outdoor shooting with Amitji, Amjad Khan and Raakhi. It was for the first time that I went by flight in my life.

For how many years did you work with Shaktida and in how many films?
I worked with Shaktida for ten years in films like Ayyash, Main Awara Hoon, Khwaab etc as Head of Production but frankly speaking, I could not learn much with my stint there because Shaktida was a One Man Show and did practically each and everything on his own steam.

Who did you join after you left Shakti Films?
I left Shaktida and joined producer-director B.R. Chopra as an assistant. Later I joined producer Titu. With him, I worked for seven years in films like Mar Mitenge, Dav Pech, Amiri Garibi and Bhutacha Bhau in Marathi. After I took part in the mahurat of Pankaj Parashar’s film Rajkumar, I left Titu because I could not see eye to eye with Pankaj Parashar and did not like his way of working as he was too loud.

When did you join UTV?
Manish Popat approached me and asked me to join UTV. When I went to see Ronnie Screwvala who was heading UTV, he was impressed with my profile. Ronnie told me that he was into making several soaps and I wondered where I was heading because I did not know he was meaning serials when he said soaps. I joined UTV as producer.

How many soaps oops sorry serials did you produce for UTV?
I produced Parivartan with Bharat Rangachary as the director. It was the first ever serial shot entirely in a seven star hotel. The serial was a big hit. Except for Binaji, Pradeep Kumar’s daughter-actress, every one else including Prashant Narayanan and Govind Namdeo weer new actors in the serial. Then I produced Ayyash, Shagun, CATS, Sarhadein, episodes of Saturday Suspense,Rishtey and X Zone with UTV. I also made Namaskar with Anjan Srivastav and Shoma Anand. It was Shoma Anand’s first ever serial. It was his second serial after Wagle Ki Duniya. I also had produced the serial Bhabhi and lost 3 crores in it. It took me four to five years to come out of it as I had a prolonged legal fight with Ronnie Screwvala and UTV.

You turned to managing events after your stint with UTV. How and why?
I had met this guy from Holland when I was working for Titu. He wanted to do a show in Holland with Jeetendra and Rishi Kapoor. I told him to meet me at Titu’s office the next day when he met me at a bar in the night. He came to meet me the next day and left with me five lakhs of rupees in dollars and asked me to fix Jeetu and Rishi Kapoor as they were not in town. My stint started as an event manager with him for the next several years. Today as an event manager on my own merit, I send abroad celebrity stars like Priyanka Chopra and Parineeti Chopra. Last year I had sent Jackie Shroff for an event in Chennai in April. This year, I will be sending Bappida for the same event in Chennai

Why have you stopped making serials for TV?
My television career started with Ronnie Screwvala of UTV for whom I produced several serials as a producer as well as Line Producer. When I began as a TV serial producer, the channels used to give the money to producer to make the serial. Thereafter the producer was asked to make a serial, deliver it and collect his money. Nowadays you will have to wait for 100 days to get your money from the channel as the corporate has stepped in now. I did not enjoy my stint with UTV. I did 10 shows for them. Though I had invested nearly 4 to 5 cr in them, I did not earn anything at all and only lost money. I am happy doing events now. I have spent as many as 45 years in this industry and enjoyed my journey till date. I am happy I am still active and what’s more in the news too.

What are you producing for TV now?
I have pitched in a serial called Jazba Kuch Kar Dikhane Ka based on campus to Star Plus. I am also all set to produce a web series.

What about the film Padmavati that you were planning to produce?
Yes. I read about the controversy surrounding Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati. It struck me that I should make a real film on Padmavati I even got in touch with the gharanas of the Rajasthan family. I decided to take advantage of the publicity generated by Padmavati and even did the recce for Padmavati in Jaipur. I also met the Karni Sena chief. I will launch my film with new comers because I am confident that people will come to see my film though it will be made in 3 cr because Sanjay Leela Bhansali has made a mess of the warrior that Padmavati was. I was disappointed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s title of Padmavati as I feel that it should have been Khilji as it revolved more around Khilji than Padmavati. Mine will be more of a mythology on Chittoor Rani Padmini.

Why is there a delay in your project?
After the release of Padmavat, I was called by Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts who were keen to make the film on Padmavati jointly with me. I had to put in the money and Mukta Arts would put the infrastructure including the locations. Either I will make Padmavati with Mukta Arts or make two more films for them, one of them a thriller and the other a love story.

Your father is Chandrashekarji!
My father Chandrashekarji is not only a former actor but also a producer, director and social activist. He is 95 years old today. Dilip Kumar is only 6 months older to my father. I am very proud to be the son of Chandrashekharji. Besides my dad, I am happy that I have my nephew Shakti Arora who is a very popular actor in TV and my son Vishal Shekhar who directs ad films.

Though you do not wish to be a director, which are the directors who are in your wish list as directors?
I have always liked masala film directors like Nasir Hussain. Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra etc earlier and like Luv Ranjan now. The TV industry has become a money game today. Ravi Rai, Raman Kumar etc are nowhere today whereas Anand Rai who used to look after Ravi Rai’s production is at the top of the game in films today.

Do you miss the golden days of TV when weeklies were the norm?
Earlier, personal relationships used to count , whether it was the film industry or for that matter the television industry, whereas nowadays it is all about money. I miss the good old TV days. I was the first TV serial producer to take my unit to Mahabaleshwar and Goa to shoot my serials and invite journalists to cover shootings. In fact, I used to host Holi parties every year but discontinued when the underworld took note of it.