Ketan Desai : “I took up dad’s proposal to Nandaji, because he was very shy”

At his spacious office in the suburbs, sipping a cup of steaming coffee, Ketan Desai, the son of the late filmmaker Manmohan Desai tells JYOTHI VENKATESH wistfully, “Manji, who is responsible to get me into this world as my father has been my guru outside my house on the sets, though he was like my friend at home. People used to tell me that I did not know the strength of the tiger, who my father was. It is like Amitabh Bachchan who is God to the industry but a father to Abhishek Bachchan.”

Ketan continues. “Actually I wanted to join films right from the time I was just 4. My dad supported me when I told him that I did not want to be a doctor or an engineer. Though my mom did not like the idea, my dad supported me and told my mom that if I become a doctor I will only kill my patients by prescribing the wrong medicines and if I become an engineer, the building I make will crash.

“My dad used to admonish me for not seeing any film on the day it was released unlike the fathers of my friends who used to punish them if they bunked the classes and went to see a film. My father sued to encourage me to sit along with him in his script sessions. His struggles became my advantages. Dad used to operate from home as he was very family oriented and at the age of 15, I joined him as his eighth assistant.

“My dad’s funda was very clear, He told me that if I opted for graduation, I will only end up losing four years of mine but if I join him I’d gain four more years as a director and I jumped at the opportunity to assist him in films like Amar Akbar Anthony, Chacha Bhatija, Parvarish and Dharam Veer. Dad told me that I was like his 24/7 Coffee Shop. I was working with him as an unpaid apprentice who was getting paid only my conveyance and observed him at editing, shooting, dubbing and recordings of music as well as background music recordings and maintaining the continuity in films, as there were no monitors to keep track of the costumes”.

“Dad said that I had to work my way from the bottom to reach the top and made sure that my ego was broken by asking that I serve tea to everyone in the unit and also get junior artistes to the picturisation of the songs. Dad promoted me as a producer with films like Mard and Coolie and then gave me Alla Raakha as a producer-director, following it up with Toofan and Anmol. Today it is lot easier as technology has improved. After I directed Anmol, dad passed away after announcing his decision to launch two films under our banner-one with me as the director and one with David Dhawan.

Ketan adds, “It is very heartening to note that many directors were following in his footsteps like David Dhawan, Anees Baazmi, Farah Khan, Sajid Khan, Rohit Shetty etc. David used to consider dad as his role model and hero worshipped him though they did not work together in any film. It was sweet on David’s part to agree to direct Deewana Mastana for our banner even after the death of my father though if he wanted he could have wriggled out as he was right at the top of the game.”

Ketan confesses that dad was like a huge tree and hence it was very difficult for him to get away from his shadow and comparisons were always there between both the father and the son though a director’s interpretation of a scene is very different from another director’s. Ketan cites the example of yet another brilliant director –Dabboo Kapoor, who was also always compared with his director –father Raj Kapoor. Ketan still remembers his dad always telling him that if he was not comfortable making films in Manji’s style, he should not try to make a film in his style and just follow his heart and do what he wanted to make. He said if I were to copy him, I should believe in what he does because only he could get away with blue murder especially because he believed in whatever he did, whether it was the blood transfusion in Amar Akbar Anthony or the statue of the horse running with the female horse in the middle of the road in Mard.

Rajji was a mega star when he agreed to work with Manji in his debut film Chhalia, which was the original version of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawaria. Rajji obliged my uncle Subhashji when he requested him to act in my debut film. When Rajji asked me if I was confident enough to direct a film at 24, my dad shot back and told him that even Rajji was confident of making his first film when he was only 24. My uncle told Rajji to shoot with my dad for a week and if he did not like what was shot, he was ready to replace him with another star but would retain his younger brother because he was confident about his prowess. Dad began the shooting of Chhalia with the song Dum Dum Bigha Bigha.

When Rajji asked him to engage his favorite choreographer Satyanarayan, dad refused and said he would do the choreography himself. When Rajji asked my dad whey he was making the steps similar to Rajji’s, dad shot back that since he was the leading man of the film, his steps also had to be like his. When Rajji suggested that he should ask his favorites Shankar Jaikishen to compose the music for the film, my dad said he would ask Kalyanji and Anandji to compose the music and Rajji was flabbergasted at the guts and confidence of my dad. The film turned out to be a super duper hit and the song even a greater chart buster and my dad was born as a hit director”.

Though we know that Manji had a great chemistry as a director with Amitabh Bachchan as an actor, Ketan shocks me by telling me that when Amitabh was working with Manji in Parvarish, he was at a loss to know Manji’s style of filmmaking and even contemplated on whether he should leave the film after compensating the producer. It was Jaya Bachchan who told Amitabh that in any case he was acting with directors who had different styles of their own like Yash Chopra, Prakash Mehra, Hrishikesh Mukerjee, he should work in at least one film to know what Manmohanji’s style of working was. Amitabh told her that he may not believe in the scene but surrendered to Manji by believing in his style.

Ketan admits that his marriage to Shammi Kapoor’s daughter Kanchan was arranged by his uncle Subhash Desai who was very close to Raj Kapoorji. “My uncle used to call Rajji as Raj Lal. Dad had directed Shammiji in Badtameez and Naseeb and both were very friendly though dad was a teetotaler till his last breath and Shammiji used to enjoy his drinks. Shammiji used to treat me more like a son than a son in law. Believe it or not, I was married off to Kanchan when I was just 21 1/2

Ketan confesses that it was he and his wife Kanchan who went to Nandaji with Manji’s proposal to marry her since he was besotted with her. “I was ready to do anything for my dad in the world. Dad was a romantic heart but very shy to express his love for Nandaji. In life you need a companion and it is not just about sex and woman. Every relationship has its own space as well as limitations. I felt dad needed a companion as he was very lonely. I told Nandaji that she would get along very well with me and my kids and asked her to marry my father. Nandaji was very dignified and graceful. The engagement of Manji and Nandaji was a very private affair with only family members from both the sides present and Manji lived for two more years after the engagement.

Ketan rules out any foul play in Manji’s death. “Dad didn’t fall down from the terrace by accident. He took away his life because the excruciating pain on his back was almost killing him 24/7 and he wanted a respite from that. He used to tell me that I can understand his pain but cannot go through it. I should not be saying this but the fact is that woh insaan choot gaya because he would have suffered if he had lived for a longer period.

Ketan has quietly completed the Marathi film Fifty Fifty directed by Rajesh Deshpande (who has also directed the Ghudgoos with Ashok Saraf, Sonalee Kulkarni and Subodh Bhave). He is planning to release his film this year. Ketan is also hearing a few scripts in both Marathi as well as Hindi as he is keen on reviving his banner MKD Films shortly.