Manmohan Shetty speaks to rediff.com

Transcripts of the interview with Manmohan Shetty

How did the world's biggest IMAX project start in India?

I have been seeing films in IMAX theatres whenever I go abroad. So I was wondering why doesn't somebody do similar stuff and bring it here. Eighty per cent of the existing 210 IMAX theatres in the world are owned by the state. In some places universities or science centers own them and in some cases amusement parks. So it should have been the science centre in Calcutta or Nehru Centre in Bombay who should have got IMAX here because these are educational films in a large format. But since nobody was doing it here in1998 I thought it was financially possible for my company to introduce it in India. So I decided to go for it.

Are there any filmmakers from India who will be making films on IMAX?

There are one or two filmmakers trying to do that. One is Bharatbala of Bharatbala Productions. There are quite a few films called destination films. On the IMAX format it looks very grand showing your country. I think it is time we make India destination films. However these films should be made not because there is a theatre coming up in India but for the world market. We should make IMAX films to be seen across the world

What is your opinion of the possibilities of IMAX in a country like India?

I think it should be there in every city of India. But I don't see that happening until the results of our IMAX theatre is there for everybody to see. I am sure it will be appreciated by people especially children. Businessmen here have a lot of money lying around without knowing which area it should be invested in; IMAX would be a good choice.

When and how did you start Adlabs?

I was working in a laboratory and I thought processing films is what I want to do. So I started my own lab in 1978. It was a very small lab processing only advertising films. That's why the name Adlabs. We found that as we did a good job the producers liked our work and kept coming back.

How did you become a producer?

One of the reasons was that we introduced this facility of shooting films in 16mm and providing prints in 35mm. It was called the blow-up facility. At that stage when we imported this facility, I thought people would not go for it because it was not a tried and tested method. So I thought why not produce films myself in 16mm and then blow them up to 35 mm so that others could see and follow the same kind of thing?

That's how I started the film Chakra. Around the same time, the National Film Development Corporation also started giving credit finance if the film were shot on 16mm. What I mean by credits is that they decided to start financing (the film) without any collateral. So I borrowed some money from them and hence Akrosh and 22 June were the first films to be released with the 'blow-up' facilities; Chakra came later.

The intention of producing films was to announce that we had new processing facilities. But since we got a good response from Chakra I thought why not produce more?

You share a very unique friendship with Govind Nihalini, being associated with almost all his films?

I think Govind uses me as a bouncing board to see how I react as a producer, and how hopefully producers would later react. So probably he gains the moral support that he needs to go to any other producer with a subject. Most of the time I keep dragging him back and tell him to make mainstream cinema. He has finally done that with Thakshak which has done pretty well at the box office. I think he himself needs to get out of his frame of mind to make a particular kind of film. That could be one of the reasons that his films have not come through as commercial cinema.

You have also backed a lot of new directors in mainstream films.

I did not get into making films as a moneymaking business. I had my own business in laboratories and that was going on pretty fine. As I meet these gentlemen (directors), we become quite pally. We discuss subjects and then something comes up and I say well why not back it? Every time I make a film, not that I have made many, it is more of backing a person than getting into the details of the scripts, the production or the budget.

Most of the films, which you have been associated, have violence as an underlying theme…

I don't agree with that. We have made a film called Hip Hip Hurray which was about school and sports. The violence in my films is because of Govind Nihalani's way of filmmaking. As I said I don't interfere. But nowhere does that make me a violent man! I like romantic films. But somehow things haven't fallen in place to make mainstream films yet.

How did Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na with Kundan Shah happen?

I was eager to do a film with Kundan Shah. He was not doing any film projects at the time; he was doing television serials. So we got discussing why don't we make a film. Then he had a subject with which we decided to go ahead. But the kind of plans we had was to make a very small film. So I decided I should not produce it at this stage-- I was already involved in mainstream films in the processing labs. So I told Kundan you start the film, and I will back you with my other producer friends. That's how it started. He took Shah Rukh. He could have taken anybody. It was his choice to select all artistes. It was to Shah Rukh's credit that Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa was released. For one he was in the film; and secondly he was my Bombay distributor!

What is your idea of a perfect film?

That's very difficult to say. As long as you keep me entertained for three hours it's perfect for me. The audience does not say what it wants to see. All they say is make me laugh, make me cry, scare me (that's why the horror films are working!). So the filmmaker has to decide what my audience wants to watch for two and a half-hour. If you figure that out you have a successful film.

What advice would you give upcoming filmmakers?

Don't make parallel cinema, make mainstream cinema. That is what will work. You can make a very good mainstream film-- you don't have to make a trashy mainstream film. The latest example, where I was part of the project, is Sarfarosh. Today the film has won a 'Wholesome Entertainment National Award'. And Sarfarosh is a mainstream film!

Produced by SoundPicture Communications

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