Deepak Tijori on not asking Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan for help despite being a clan in the 90s: ‘The moment we move away…’

In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Deepak Tijori talks about the 90s phase, where he would party with friends Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, how the independent producers are struggling for distribution of the film and why he has never tried to use his access and pitch his superstar friends his scripts.

Edited excerpts:

Deepak Tijori.

What are your challenges to make your kind of films?

The main challenge that almost all directors face is that… The box office is run on the basis of the star system, which has been going on for 40-50 years. That hasn’t changed today. It is probably easier to make a film if you have the stars and the actors on your side. I have been an actor before, and I switched to filmmaking when I wanted to share stories. Because this star system exists, it becomes a tough situation…

The struggle happens at the time of release, when you have independent producers. National chains support studios, who are frequently giving them food to eat. So, they give priorities to studios, who are on a regular basis providing them content. Today, if you have a decent star on board but not a studio, even he can’t pull off decent showcasing in theatres.

So, the business has undergone a major shift, which has got nothing to do with content or quality, but just about who is giving you films every month. I realised it while I was with my distribution house. Although Panorama is a big distribution house, but in spite of that, I didn’t get a single evening show in the whole of Mumbai. My film is a whodunnit, the audience for it comes in the evening, but I wasn’t allotted a single show. So, my whole battle was who do I fight?  They expected people to go at 1 or 4 PM in the afternoon. Independent producers have to fight this battle a lot.

To fight for showcasing, was that a heartbreaking realisation?

Multiplexes have their own permutation combination, which is a situation you can’t fight. They are private owners, so we have to succumb to this monopolistic trade which is existing and co-existing f0r a long time now. The studios are happy with it. But this is a mode which has cropped up in the last ten years. Earlier, this wasn’t the case. They used to be fair, give each one a certain amount of share. Independent producers should get some decent showcasing.

A lot of people might wonder, just by the virtue of being in the industry for so long, you will have access to big stars if you want to pitch a film to them. How does that work?

They are still very sweet, whenever I come across Shah Rukh or Aamir or any of the guys I have worked with, they have been nice. We have been the best of friends then, but obviously over the years I made my choice of making independent films, which are not very conventional, my subjects are different. My debut film was about strippers! The same subject then came on screen years later with Desi Boyz! If there is a story, I feel I should go to Shah Rukh or Aamir with, I wouldn’t stop myself, but as of yet, no… I don’t want to ever be in a position where they think, ‘Achcha let’s think about this because he is a friend.’ No, only if I feel I have a worthy story for them.

How do you view friendships in the industry?

When we work together, we are the best of friends. The moment we move away, we still remain friends, but it is not like we are meeting each other every day for parties. That happens when you are in a clan. There was a time when we were in a clan, the whole of 90s, we used to party together, whether it is Shah Rukh, Pooja (Bhatt), Raveena (Tandon), Ashutosh Gowariker, Rahul Roy, all of us used to party. We don’t remain the same age, so we obviously grow. When we start growing and living in our spaces, the fact remains that when we meet, we go back to how we were. I am fortunate enough to have created this bond with most of the people I have worked with, whether it is the 90s or now.

 

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When you were at the peak of your fame, how was the phase like? Did you feel you won’t be able to handle it?

Not really. I struggled a lot to get my first break, it wasn’t something that happened overnight. I had terrible five years, to the extent that I would have gone back and never been in the industry at all. Until Aashiqui happened to me. I could never get over the fact this is transitory. But, again, the 90s was a wonderful time for me as an actor, but my desire was changing, and I wanted to try and make film I shifted gears purely out of my choice.

A lot of people say the industry doesn’t have the same family bonding it used to have earlier, especially in the 90s. Do you think that genuine camaraderie doesn’t exist anymore?

No, I feel it is the same. See, we used to party together, if there was a party at Shah Rukh’s place, Pooja or me, we all would assemble and invite others. I don’t know these young actors, but I do see Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kiara Advani and others of this generation going out, partying together. They are there in Manish Malhotra or Karan Johar’s parties. They are working together. We want to work in an atmosphere which is comfortable. I made Pehla Nasha with Ashutosh Gowariker, and I got Pooja and Raveena because they are my friends. It was a picnic on the sets.

When we were making Kabhi Haa Kabhi Naa, it was party time for us. We used to continuously work together because it was fun. The boys and girls also have good camaraderie. Karan has his people who he works with again, Sajid Nadiadwala is a friend of Salman, so he keeps working with him on and off. That is part and parcel, which has been going on for many years. Amitabh Bachchan used to work a lot with Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai, who would also cast same actors. That is because you become a group when you enjoy working. The younger generation is doing the same thing.