David Dhawan says he made ‘Chashme Baddoor’ out of anger, laments actors today have no loyalty

Mumbai: Filmmaker David Dhawan said he made his 2013 comedy film, “Chashme Baddoor”, “out of anger” after sensing reluctance from top stars to collaborate with him.

The film, a remake of Sai Paranjpye's 1981 cult-classic film of the same name, featured actors Taapsee Pannu, Divyendu, Siddharth, and Pakistani actor Ali Fazal. The movie received a mixed response from audiences and critics.

“I made ‘Chashme Baddoor’ (2013) out of anger. Chintu ji (Rishi Kapoor) barely had a role in it and I insisted he do it for me. We had three new boys and a girl in it,” David Dhawan, best known for films like “Aankhen”, “Raja Babu”, “Hero No. 1”, “Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya”, “Partner”, and “Main Tera Hero” among others, said last evening.

The veteran director was in conversation with his actor son, Varun Dhawan, on the sidelines of the David Dhawan Film Festival. PVR INOX organized a special cinematic retrospective to celebrate the director's legacy of iconic Hindi comedies.

When asked about facing rejections from actors at a certain point in his career, Dhawan replied in the affirmative and said he could feel that the stars were “hesitant” to work with him, primarily because his movies were not doing well commercially.

“…Also, I wanted to get out of the rut of working with stars. If a director can write a good script, scenes, dialogues, and have a good song, why not make it with newcomers? Stars do interfere in the process of filmmaking and on top of that working with two actors isn’t easy at all,” he said.

The 74-year-old director has collaborated the most with the 90s Bollywood star Govinda. He directed the actor in 17 comedy films, including hits like “Shola Aur Shabnam”, “Aankhen”, “Raja Babu”, “Coolie No. 1”, “Hero No. 1”, “Partner”, and many others.

Reflecting on his long association with Govinda, Dhawan said he is the only actor in the industry who never worked with him based on the success or failure of his movies.

“There’s one actor who never looked whether my films worked or not, and that is Govinda. I remember when one of my films didn’t do well, I was upset, and he said, ‘Write a script, don’t be sad.’ Then I wrote ‘Shola Aur Shabnam’,” David Dhawan, who first worked with Govinda on the 1989 action-thriller film, “Taaqatwar”, said.

The filmmaker was blunt in his assessment of actors saying they aren’t “loyal” to anyone, underscoring a shift in actor-director relationships in Bollywood.

“I’ve worked with Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Raj Babbar, Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, and Salman Khan. Generally, it’s the actors who run a film. If your film as a director doesn’t work, the actor will move on to the next. This breed of actors is such that they belong to no one, they have no loyalty towards anyone.” Dhawan also fondly recalled his association with Sanjay Dutt, who gave him the break as a director with “Taaqatwar”, and Salman Khan.

While working as an editor on the film “Naam”, David Dhawan said Dutt suggested he direct movies and instantly offered him the chance to direct “Taaqatwar”.

“Sanju is a mischievous but lovable guy,” the director, who worked with him on films like “Chal Mere Bhai”, “Jodi No 1”, “Haseena Maan Jayegi”, said.

About Salman Khan, Dhawan shared behind-the-scenes anecdotes while they were working on “Judwaa”, and said that the superstar is often misunderstood.

He revealed that he would sometimes personally wake up the actor and take him to shoots.

“He had a double role to play in the film, it seems he is disinterested (in the film) but that’s not the case. I told Sajid (Nadiadwala, producer), ‘What is this style way of working?’ and he said, ‘He is like that.’ But then I developed a great bond with him.” Looking back at his early years, David Dhawan spoke about his time at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), where he said he was “ragged” by senior actor Mithun Chakraborty, and formed lasting friendships with batchmates like Satish Shah and Rakesh Bedi.

The festival serves as a prelude to his new directorial film, “Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai”. The movie stars Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur, and Pooja Hegde, and is set to release in theaters on June 5.

Dhawan said comedy films today face immense scrutiny.

“…You can’t degrade a woman in films today. If you do so, the censor board will give you a list of papers about its restrictions. So, I was a little careful and sensitive towards it (women characters), while with the men, I can do anything onscreen.” Despite over four decades in the industry, the director said there is no fixed retirement age in cinema.

“You get tired, but you don’t get tired of making films. I’m the guy who has made so many films, I can make another four films but sometimes health has to be looked at, and you’ve a family (to be with),” Dhawan said.