Jeetendra Exclusive, Chetan's Revolution, SRK At IFFI

It was a huge pleasure and honour to interview Jeetendra sahab today. The moment he entered the room, I was awestruck. Extremely simple, humble and relaxed person. Films like Justice Chaudhry, Tohfa, Himmatwala and Mawali are some of the most succesful films of 1980s. Jeetu sahab said that he had produced a film 'Deedar-e-Yaar' in 1982. It was a big budget film that bombed badly. To get his finances back on track, he went to Madras and did one film after another (all four were part of that phase). He said that things were more organised down South then as compared to the Bombay film industry. What about the criticism that was meted out to these films for pots and pans and hundreds of dancers etc? "I was constantly shooting in Madras. I didn't even go for the release of my films to Bombay so I didn't know what is happening, what people are saying," Jeetu ji said.

I also asked Jeetu ji about his first film Navrang in 1959 where he had a very small role. His first film as a hero was Geet Gaya Paththaron that released in 1962. He seemed specialy proud of this film and owed his success to his director V Shantaram. Farz was a turning point in his career. Jeetu ji was obviously proud of his films with Gulzar sahab (Parichay, Khushboo and Kinara) specially because of the sensible themes and poetic songs. He cutely said that he told his then girl friend Shobha that if his film 'Bidai' does well, he'll marry her immediately. The film did well and within a few days of its release the two were married.

Before Jeetendra sahab, I interviewed Chetan Bhagat. It was a long interview. Somehow, I always enjoy chatting up with Chetan. He spoke on the film deal that he has signed with UTV for his latest novel 'Revolution 2020'. He also spoke about Ranbir Kapoor admitting that he has been approached for 'Two States'. I also told Bhagat what his critics had to say about his works. He patiently answered all the questions.

In other news Shahrukh Khan inaugurated IFFI in Goa today. The teams of Desi Boyz and The Dirty Picture are heavily into promoting their respective films. Puneet Issar's I Am Singh is also releasing on Dec 2. It is releasing with a lot of prints in North India especially Punjab. It wouldn't be surprising if it opens well at the Boz Office specially coz of the emotional issue it is dealing with.

So much for now. Spoke to my Dad a short while back. He is better. Please pray for his health and comfort.
Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone