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BOI: How did Pooja Entertainment and Films come into being?
Vashu Bhagnani (VB): Pooja Films was born in 1993-94 in Metro Cinema in South Mumbai. I was not a movie-goer but I was there to watch David Dhawan’s Aankhen. And after watching the film, I felt this sudden urge to make movies. I called Ramesh Tauraniji (Tips Films) and told him I wanted to meet Govinda and Davidji (David Dhawan). I told him about my desire to turn filmmaker. It was during Dussera that I finally met Govinda and Davidji. I signed them, we finalised a date and Pooja Films was born.
BOI: How did your family react to your sudden desire to get into the film industry?
VB: We come from a very conservative family of businessmen and my wife was very disappointed. Even today, the four of us – Pooja, Honey, Jackky and myself – arrive at office quietly, work and go home after a long day’s work. It’s how we functioned before we got into films. People thought I had taken this step because I was enamoured by glamour and glitz but they later realised that this is a huge industry and different people belonging to different business work differently. Pooja Films’ first film was Coolie No.1 and it was a big success. Honey was born at the time.
Honey Deshmukh (HD): No, I was not a newborn then!
VB: Oh yeah, she was about 14 or 15.
HD: I was nine! (Laughs)
VB: That’s what I am trying to say. It’s been 19-20 years and a lot has happened in our lives since then. I have to thank Rameshji for having introduced me to Davidji and I am very happy I have had such a great journey. I have to salute my wife for letting me get into this business because she was opposed to this decision back then.
BOI: What was the journey like, from Coolie No.1 to date?Image may be NSFW.
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VB: After Coolie No.1, I decided to make a film called Hero but the title was already registered with someone else. So I called it Hero No. 1. People made fun of me, saying that just because my first film worked with ‘No.1’, I wanted to make another one with a similar title. And they were right. But I didn’t do it out of arrogance to teach these naysayers a lesson. I just wanted the ‘Hero’ title. By God’s grace, this film too became a super hit and that title ‘No. 1’ stuck with me.
Pooja Bhagnani (PB): We have become famous for these titles. Even shopkeepers began tagging their products with the ‘No. 1’ title.
VB: This trend continued for four to five years. They began calling Govinda, ‘Hero No. 1’ and Davidji, ‘Director No. 1’, and me, ‘Producer No. 1’. I went on making successful movies and earned fame and a reputation in the industry. After that, I went through a bad phase when three or four films didn’t work, like Jeena Sirf Merre Liye, Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein and Deewaanapan. Om Jai Jagadish was well appreciated and was an extraordinary film for television. Om Jai Jagadish released with Devdas, much like what happened with Chennai Express and Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara! I was in the doldrums. I was no longer ‘Producer No. 1’.
I took a break from 2002 to 2006 and then I launched my son Jackky with Kal Kissne Dekha, which did not do well. Then with his next film, F.A.L.T.U., we turned lucky. Right now, I have two films on the floors – Humshakals with Saif Ali Khan and Youngistan with Jackky. Midas touch bhi dekh liya, Midas touch lose bhi kar diya, I have experienced almost everything. I know now that, at the end of the day, the product should speak for itself. So if I come across a good script, I would be game to back it. Things were different earlier.
PB: Earlier we treated films like projects.
VB: Earlier we would take up projects where we would cast two top actors and one top actress and begin to shoot. People used to buy such films and talk about them. Today, content-driven films are called ‘projects’, not star-driven films.
BOI: Pooja ma’am, you have witnessed the ups and downs your husband has experienced. What did you go through during his journey as a producer?
VB: (Cuts in) I always consult my wife before I take up anything new. I am what I am because of her. In fact, if someone says to me, ‘Vashuji, let’s do a film with Shah Rukh Khan’ and my wife doesn’t feel it’s a good project, I won’t do it.
HD: But, Papa, if you get Shah Rukh to do a film for us, mom will definitely say, ‘Do it right now!’ (Laughs) VB: That’s just an example.
PB: I didn’t want him to join the industry because music director Usha Khanna was living in our building back then and she said to me, ‘Aaj hi bol rahi hoon, rok le. Tere haath se nikal jayega!’ I was clueless about the film industry and I grew very nervous. She told me, ‘Tera pati tere haath se gaya!’ I grew so tense that I told him he could do whatever he wanted but not make films. But, of course, over the years, I have realised that there is no truth to these things. It all depends on how you manage your life.
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BOI: So, what has his journey been like?
PB: It has been a very happy journey. Before I got married, I would tell people how much I wanted to meet Amitabh Bachchanji. After we got married, I kept telling him, ‘Let’s go and meet Mr Bachchan.’ We had been to a lot of parties and I would see Mr Bachchan there. But I insisted that he visit us at home. When Vashuji signed Mr Bachchan for Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, he would go to meet him at his house and I would want to tag along. But Vashuji was firm that I come along only if Mr Bachchan invited me personally. So one day, when Mr Bachchan told Vashuji, ‘Ek din le aaiye bhabiji ko’, I was so thrilled that I made it a point to tell him how badly I wanted to meet him.
BOI: How did you feel when your films flopped?
VB: When Om Jai Jagadish released, I had hit a low. I felt like the blood had drained from my body. Then I received a call from Ahmed Khan, who was making his directorial debut under my banner. He told me, ‘Vashuji, aap meri film mein interest nahi le rahe hain. Main producer change kar raha hoon.’ This was probably the first time a director had told his producer that he wanted to switch producers as I was not taking interest in his film. I slipped further into depression. The film had both my name and money and yet it had come to this pass. But I still love this industry. I look at it this way… when the time is not right, everything takes a fall.
PB: Ups and downs are a part of life. When you’re successful, people hanker after you; otherwise, you don’t exist for them. You have to take these things in your stride.
VB: When I was low, I didn’t speak to people or meet them. I used to keep to myself. I would attend press conferences and leave as soon as they ended so that I didn’t have to interact with the media. But God has been kind and I made it through those tough times and resurfaced.
BOI: As a child, Honey, how did you deal with your father’s success?
HD: When we were kids, we would go out on the streets and see dad’s publicity. We would often tell him. ‘Dad, we see posters of your films even on garbage bins!’ People would tell us that they had seen the writing of dad’s films even on garbage trucks! We were too young to understand what they meant but now, of course, we know that marketing is 50 per cent of your film. He was the only person then who took marketing so seriously.
He had made pencil boxes and diaries to be circulated. He was way ahead of his time and then it became a trend, whether promotions on television with GECs or publicity on the back of buses and autos. That’s why he became popular. Everyone says that.
BOI: What about his rough phase, and when he bounced back?
HD: He has always been my hero and he’s always been a very positive person. We, as his children, have not witnessed that part of his life because he has always given us the best. He’s the best. I saw his professional side only when I became part of Pooja Films, with Shaadi No. 1 directed by David Dhawan. I realised he was sound on paper. His documentation is so fabulous that he can give any company a run for their money. Once, while shooting in Italy, we had to suddenly shift to France. We had a crew of 70-odd people and dad simply said, ‘Pack your bags, we’ve managed to move the entire crew to France.’
VB: I had to book 40 rooms at The Hilton for the crew. And we only managed to get seven confirmed rooms. I was on the phone all night and I pulled all the connections I had to get more rooms. I finally managed that en route to France!
The next day, Davidji and I went to a police station to acquire permits for the shoot and we noticed the officer had pictures of Ameesha Patel and Zayed Khan in his office. It was a still from my previous film Vaada. When he got to know this, we got our permits very easily!
HD: Everyone was wowed by Dad.
PB: During Hero No. 1, we would simply alight from our car and start shooting anywhere. People would wonder how we got all these permissions to shoot at these foreign locales. We even shot on the Eiffel Tower. Vashuji was able to convince everyone with is charm.
VB: (Laughs) I am not very fluent in English. Luckily for me, neither are they in France and Italy! So it didn’t matter.
HD: Looking back, it’s hard to believe we pulled off so many things.
BOI: What is the charm of being a solo producer?Image may be NSFW.
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VB: Nowadays, all this is only a memory.
HD: But dad is so spot-on with his planning and execution even today. His documentation is at par with any corporate studio.
VB: One can’t function the way we did any more. A lot depended on rapport and relationships in those days. Abhsihek Bachchan shot with me for Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa, and we didn’t even have any of his dates for the film. We shot the entire film without being given a single date by him.