‘I’ll Think Twice Before I Make A Film Like Bombay Again’

‘Films
like

Roja
and

Bombay,
at
that
point
of
time,
were
not
something
about
which
I
would
be
too
worried.’
‘I
thought
if
I’m
honest
and
if
I’m
reflecting
what
a
normal
person
like
me
is
feeling,
then
that
honesty
will
come
through.’

Filmmaker
Mani
Ratnam
said
that
he
initially
thought
of
making
his
2000
hit

Alai
Payuthey
with
Shah
Rukh
Khan
and
Kajol
but
then
dropped
the
idea
as
he
was
unable
to
crack
the
climax
of
the
film.

The
Tamil-language
romantic
musical
starred
R
Madhavan
and
Shalini
and
was
later
remade
in
Hindi
as

Saathiya
with
Rani
Mukerji
and
Vivek
Oberoi.

The
film
revolved
around
two
young
people
who
elope
and
get
married
but
soon
cracks
start
to
appear
in
their
marriage.

“What
I
had
planned
to
do
with
Shah
Rukh
was

Alai
Payuthey.
I
wanted
to
do
it
with
Shah
Rukh
and
Kajol
and
I
told
him
the
story
and
he
agreed.
But
I
had
not
cracked
the
last
element
of
the
story.

If
you’ve
seen

Alai
Payuthey
it
is
built
around
one
day
and
we
keep
going
back
to
that
one
day,
and
when
the
accident
happens
and
the
wife
is
missing,
and
he
is
searching
through
it.
So,
that
element
I
didn’t
have
at
that
point
in
time.
So,
we
shifted
to

Dil
Se..,”
Ratnam
said
at
the
open
forum
of
G5A
Retrospective.

The
filmmaker
said
he
finally
cracked
the
ending
of

Alai
Payuthey
during
the
making
of
his
1998
film,

Dil
Se…
—
which
featured
Shah
Rukh
and
Manisha
Koirala
in
lead
roles.

“Once
I
was
finishing

Dil
Se..
I
was
able
to
solve
this
problem
(with

Alai
Payuthey)
,
and
I
was
still
interested
in
doing
it,”
Ratnam
added.

Saathiya,
the
Hindi
version
of

Alai
Payuthey,
was
directed
by
Shaad
Ali.

Mani
Ratnam
said
every
film
goes
through
several
changes
during
every
step
of
the
filmmaking
from
inception
to
casting
and
editing.

“You
are
never
sure
you
got
it
correct..
.
You
are
still
trying.
Even
when
you’ve
written
fully,
when
you
shoot,
you
are
looking
for
something
more
because
it’s
still
getting
constructed.

The
director
said
films
are
pieces
of
people
and
bits
of
life
and
one
tries
to
make
them
appear
like
a
reflection
of
entire
life.

“You
need
to
elevate
it.
Actors
have
to
come
and
make
it
alive,
if
they
don’t
do
so,
you
can
shout
at
them,”
he
said,
adding,
the
process
of
fine
tuning
continues
even
while
editing.

When
asked
if
it
is
possible
to
make
films
like

Bombay
or

Kannathil
Muthamittal
today,
Ratnam
said
he
will
have
to
think
“twice”before
making
one.

“Films
like

Roja
and

Bombay,
at
that
point
of
time,
were
not
something
about
which
I
would
be
too
worried.
I
thought
if
I’m
honest
and
if
I’m
reflecting
what
a
normal
person
like
me
is
feeling,
then
that
honesty
will
come
through.

“You
are
not
taking
sides
or
trying
to
propagate
anything.
It’s
just
the
angst
and
pain,
so
I
never
had
that
fear.
But
every
film
got
into
trouble
with
the
censor
(board

Ratnam
said
he
started
working
on
the
two
films,
he
never
imagined
that
they
would
face
any
kind
of
problem.

“Today,
probably
I’ll
think
twice
before
I
think
of
it,”
he
added.

The
director
said
“not
all
his
films
are
political”
as
he
chooses
to
weave
a
human
story
with
the
undercurrent
of
politics.

“It’s
not
just
politics.
It’s
politics
through
human
beings.
And
as
human
beings,
they
will
not
just
make
statements,
they
are
living.”

The
filmmaker
said
these
stories
explore
the
characters,
their
relationship
and
their
equation
with
family.

Citing
the
example
of
his
movie

Kannathil
Muthamittal,
the
director
said
the
mother-son
relationship
allowed
him
to
weave
in
the
perspective
of
the
people
of
Sri
Lanka.