⁸Meet Ravi Chopra: directed most influential film Of Amitabh Bachchan’s Career “Baghban”
Ravi Chopra, son of legendary filmmaker B.R. Chopra, after a long hiatus, revived his banner’s cinematic success with Baghban. The film celebrated family values and resonated deeply with audiences, turning out to be a landmark in Amitabh Bachchan’s career.
Ravi Chopra bid adieu to the immortal world after a prolonged illness in 2014. His deft directorial ‘Baghban’ became a blockbuster before his death. His illustrious father late
B. R. Chopra,has given us reformist films like Dharmputra (about communal harmony), Sadhana (rehabilitation of prostitutes), Kanoon (loopholes in the legal system), Insaaf Ka Tarazu (aftermath of rape), Nikaah (Muslim marriage laws), and Aaj Ki Awaaz (crime and the common man). He comes in as the surprising winner of the year. Written off by cynical sections of the film trade in Mumbai Baghban, an ode to autumnal people, emerged as one of the most influential films in Amitabh Bachchan’s career. In an unpublished interview, Ravi celebrated his banner’s belated success and lashed out at unhealthy cinematic trends.
Baghban came as a boon for the production team.Though they continued to be a success on television, they haven’t been fortunate in cinema. In fact, they haven’t made a film in years. BR Films makes films for family audiences. The era of video in the 1980s diminished the impact of their films. They took a sabbatical from cinema to concentrate on television. But now back because the audience is back. It’s a euphoric feeling. The audience loved Baghban from Day 1. But a section of Mumbai’s trade insists on dubbing the film a flop even when he was giving them the correct box office figures.
Distributors in every corner of the world were already collecting their overflow cheques. Like it or not, Baghban is a super hit. Overseas, was one of the biggest successes ever. Trade experts in Mumbai don’t relish eating back their words.
What made you think audiences who enjoy watching 19-year-olds cavorting would love two senior citizens singing and dancing?
They had the script for Baghban for many years. Ravi’s father (B.R. Chopra) always says the subject is the real star of any film. No matter how many times he went through the script of Baghban, it never failed to move me. He new whenever they got back to feature films, it would have to be with this and no other film. In fact, one reason why they haven’t made any feature films recently is because he wanted Dad to direct Baghban. It was his dream project, but he wasn’t keeping good health. One day they decided there was no point in waiting any longer. So Ravi decided to direct it himself. They needed a 60-year-old hero. He didn’t want to dress up a younger hero as an old man. Originally, Dilip Kumar was in mind. But, Bachchan ji and Hemaji looked too posh to be persecuted parents!
But Baghban wasn’t the story of a down-and-out couple. It’s about one’s parental expectations being crashed to the ground. A lot of people believe it’s inspired by a Gujarati play, when in fact they looked only into an old Hollywood film called Make Way For Tomorrow. Baghban made a deep impact. All sections of people responded to the theme of the parent-child relationship.
News Edit KV Raman
