JOIN USVidhu Vinod Chopra’s last film as director was Eklavya. It released eight years ago in 2007. Not that the filmmaker has been resting on his laurels in the ensuing time. In the interim, between 2007 and directing his next film, Broken Horses, Chopra has produced some of Bollywood’s biggest hits — including 3 Idiots and PK.
Broken Horses, releasing on April 10, is Chopra’s first mainstream English language feature film based on a screenplay written by Chopra and Abhijat Joshi (PK, Munnabhai). Set in the shadows of the US-Mexico border gang wars, Broken Horses is a thriller that takes off from his own film Parinda (1989). Broken Horses is about the “bonds of brotherhood, the laws of loyalty, and the futility of violence. Shot in and around Los Angeles, the English language film stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Anton Yelchin, Chris Marquette, Sean Patrick Flanery, etc. Here the director of Parinda and Mission Kashmir talks about making his first Hollywood film, and more.
What has making an English language film in Hollywood meant for you?
It is, of course, a huge thing for someone who did not speak English till the age of 16. It’s a miracle that we managed to make the film and people got associated with it because of the script. Life is nothing without a challenge. The challenge with Broken Horses was to see if I could even pull it off, get the actors and the crew. In America, they only respect you for your work. Here we respect people because they have money. That difference is clear. It would have been easy for me to keep making sequels and blockbusters in Bollywood. After 3 Idiots, nothing excited me and I enjoyed the challenge of working in Hollywood where no one knows you.
Do you manage to keep up to date on cinema from around the world?
Staying updated is so much easier now. I have them on my iPad or in my car. I don’t go out much. I come to office to write, and spend time at home thinking, writing and watching cinema. There are times when I see my old films again, but I don’t believe in living in the past.
Are you going to direct your next film soon?
The next film I am writing is called The River, which I may make next year. I am also writing a Hindi film called Pachasvi Saalgirah. As producers, we have Wazir with Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar coming out later this year.
Which of your films are dearest to you?
Parinda will always be important as the breakthrough film, while Broken Horses will always be the first film written, directed and produced by any Indian in Hollywood, so for me it will always be very special. I am 62 (though I don’t look it or feel it) and this has been such a wonderful journey. I hope I never stop chasing excellence. I am very aware of my mortality and how important it is to have a good time while we are alive.