Let's talk about your childhood?
I was born in Tilak Nagar, Chembur, where we lived in a concrete one-room chawl. In a single room we were three brothers, one sister, my parents and sometimes even my grandparents. We had two lavatories that were shared between 10 families. We lived there till I was 10. My father was an assistant to K Asif, the director of Mughal-e-Azam, after which he became secretary to Shammi Kapoor. In those days, your secretary was treated like family. So we were close to Shammi uncle's family and through him, Raj Kapoor's family. Shammi uncle used to stay at Deonar next to Raj Kapoor's house in Chembur. We had then shifted to Sion Koliwada from a single room to a double room till I was 14, when we shifted back to Chembur close to RK Studio, so that my mother and Krishna aunty could stay close to each other as they were inseparable sisters. They are still best of friends and we were like Krishna aunty's children. She is the only one who has slapped me as a mom and till today I feel extremely close to her.
Are you a trained actor?
I joined St Xavier's College, but was not interested in studies and wanted to be an actor. My dad had become a producer, but had heart- related health problems. I started helping out doing odd jobs with whatever I could in production. I have never failed in my life except once in the FTII written examination, where Girish Karnad was the principal. I went to him and asked him why a written exam was relevant for an acting course and requested to take my screen test instead. But he refused and said 'rules are rules'. I cried and was broken, but soon came to know that professor Taneja, who is a guru for many senior actors like Jaya Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha, was starting his own acting school in Juhu. I joined his first batch.
What drives you?
I have seen my dad struggle and not see the success I wanted him to see. He was hugely respected as a human being, but was an unsuccessful producer. After college, I had no work and would tag along with him to see him struggling in front of actors and financiers. Last minute, stars would cancel shooting and it made me sad. I felt more and more that I had to become successful. I had read autobiographies of actors, who had made it on their own and would always romanticise my dream of making it big on my own. I started with small roles believing that someone would notice me. And that's what happened. Shabana and Javed Sahab noticed me and Shabana started talking to everybody about me. There is no film office I have not been to.
Did you ever approach Raj Kapoor for a film?
I was an extremely serious struggler. There was a film Raj Kapoor was making called Param Vir Chakra that had three boys of the same age, each of them from one of the armed forces. I thought he can't cast all his sons in the film as they had to be the same age, and thought of how I should impress him. So I went to Khadakwasla near Pune to get an army haircut from the authentic army barber. I borrowed army clothes and got my pictures taken professionally dressed as an army, navy and air force person. I took my pictures and went to RK studio. I entered and went to the famous Raj Kapoor cottage, where he used to sit. I went many times before I had the guts to go inside. Everybody, including his own children, were scared of him and I didn't even know if he would recognise me, as I was amongst the 30 children in the family. One day I entered and showed him the pictures. While he did not say anything, I could see the admiration and happiness on his face for the effort I had taken to get the role. I had once performed on stage during my Taneja acting course, where he was the chief guest. He remembered that and said to me, 'You were extremely good.' Later his daughter Ritu told my mother that her dad was going to cast me in his film. That itself was a tonic for a year, even though the film never got made.
Within your family who were you most attached to?
I was most attached to Boney and even though there is an age gap of just one year between us, he has always been my elder brother. As kids, we didn't see eye-to-eye with each other, but we became attached from the time we started working together as both of us shared the same passion and motivation to make our family successful. When dad fell ill, we both started working at the same time. By nature, we are different. He has always had a bad temper. He would not know what he was talking or how he was behaving. I have never lost my temper and am always well-behaved and cool. We had a great working relationship even without communicating much. We are both busy in our fields today and are too self-respecting and egoistic to ask each other for help, but if we scratch each other, the emotion is the same.
You and Sridevi have acted in so many films. Did it make you feel odd when she married Boney?
With anyone else it would have been different, but with her my relationship was so unadulterated and clean that there was no problem. Sunita and I are both modern-minded people and we respected his decision. There are things that are personal and where you draw a line.
How did you meet your wife Sunita?
Sunita and Reema Jain were friends and I met her in college. I first fell in love with her voice and then with her. She was a banker's daughter with a steady life, whereas I had a highly speculative life and was a struggling actor. I had decided that I would not get married till I made it. Those days Subhash Ghai was the biggest filmmaker and I still consider him the biggest. When he signed me for Meri Jung, I knew that nothing could stop me now and went and proposed to her. We have been together for 40 years now and are best friends.
Your mother-in-law is a special woman. Let's talk about her?
She is extremely broad-minded and her thinking influenced Sunita and my children. Sonam and Sunita get their aesthetics from her, be it interiors in the house or her personal style.
The film industry is a competitive place. Do you get stressed for Sonam?
I would like to be her friend, but she treats me like her father. I sometimes wish she were a normal girl and not an actor and do get emotionally disturbed and stressed for her. I have gone through that stress earlier in my life and it has now come back to me after 20 years, through my children. That's frustrating. I always say, 'God why are you doing it to me again.' I just want her to become strong. She is sensitive, intelligent and is well-read. She has many friends and is too generous. I always tell her your IQ may be great, but my EQ is much better. I get anxious about my films too, but the anxiousness that I had when I started my career is what I have for her. I went to her room this morning and she was thrilled with the reaction her film Raanjhanaa had got. Even if her film is a super hit, but if I find her depressed, it will destroy me. While outside the house she is strong, poised, disciplined and professional, more often I have seen her more upset than any of my other children. In the house, she has a bad temper like my wife and she screams. I just shut myself at such times. But what makes her beautiful is that within five minutes she will come and say 'dad sorry'. She will kill me when she reads this, but whether she becomes a big star or not, I want her to just be happy.
Any aspirations for you professionally?
Now my mind is on the global stage and without sounding arrogant, I'd like to be like Morgan Freeman or Ben Kingsley. also, I'd like to work with Zoya Akhtar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee and of course Raju Hirani. If Raju Hirani and I were to do a film together, that would be his best film.
I was born in Tilak Nagar, Chembur, where we lived in a concrete one-room chawl. In a single room we were three brothers, one sister, my parents and sometimes even my grandparents. We had two lavatories that were shared between 10 families. We lived there till I was 10. My father was an assistant to K Asif, the director of Mughal-e-Azam, after which he became secretary to Shammi Kapoor. In those days, your secretary was treated like family. So we were close to Shammi uncle's family and through him, Raj Kapoor's family. Shammi uncle used to stay at Deonar next to Raj Kapoor's house in Chembur. We had then shifted to Sion Koliwada from a single room to a double room till I was 14, when we shifted back to Chembur close to RK Studio, so that my mother and Krishna aunty could stay close to each other as they were inseparable sisters. They are still best of friends and we were like Krishna aunty's children. She is the only one who has slapped me as a mom and till today I feel extremely close to her.
Are you a trained actor?
I joined St Xavier's College, but was not interested in studies and wanted to be an actor. My dad had become a producer, but had heart- related health problems. I started helping out doing odd jobs with whatever I could in production. I have never failed in my life except once in the FTII written examination, where Girish Karnad was the principal. I went to him and asked him why a written exam was relevant for an acting course and requested to take my screen test instead. But he refused and said 'rules are rules'. I cried and was broken, but soon came to know that professor Taneja, who is a guru for many senior actors like Jaya Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha, was starting his own acting school in Juhu. I joined his first batch.
What drives you?
I have seen my dad struggle and not see the success I wanted him to see. He was hugely respected as a human being, but was an unsuccessful producer. After college, I had no work and would tag along with him to see him struggling in front of actors and financiers. Last minute, stars would cancel shooting and it made me sad. I felt more and more that I had to become successful. I had read autobiographies of actors, who had made it on their own and would always romanticise my dream of making it big on my own. I started with small roles believing that someone would notice me. And that's what happened. Shabana and Javed Sahab noticed me and Shabana started talking to everybody about me. There is no film office I have not been to.
Did you ever approach Raj Kapoor for a film?
I was an extremely serious struggler. There was a film Raj Kapoor was making called Param Vir Chakra that had three boys of the same age, each of them from one of the armed forces. I thought he can't cast all his sons in the film as they had to be the same age, and thought of how I should impress him. So I went to Khadakwasla near Pune to get an army haircut from the authentic army barber. I borrowed army clothes and got my pictures taken professionally dressed as an army, navy and air force person. I took my pictures and went to RK studio. I entered and went to the famous Raj Kapoor cottage, where he used to sit. I went many times before I had the guts to go inside. Everybody, including his own children, were scared of him and I didn't even know if he would recognise me, as I was amongst the 30 children in the family. One day I entered and showed him the pictures. While he did not say anything, I could see the admiration and happiness on his face for the effort I had taken to get the role. I had once performed on stage during my Taneja acting course, where he was the chief guest. He remembered that and said to me, 'You were extremely good.' Later his daughter Ritu told my mother that her dad was going to cast me in his film. That itself was a tonic for a year, even though the film never got made.
Within your family who were you most attached to?
I was most attached to Boney and even though there is an age gap of just one year between us, he has always been my elder brother. As kids, we didn't see eye-to-eye with each other, but we became attached from the time we started working together as both of us shared the same passion and motivation to make our family successful. When dad fell ill, we both started working at the same time. By nature, we are different. He has always had a bad temper. He would not know what he was talking or how he was behaving. I have never lost my temper and am always well-behaved and cool. We had a great working relationship even without communicating much. We are both busy in our fields today and are too self-respecting and egoistic to ask each other for help, but if we scratch each other, the emotion is the same.
You and Sridevi have acted in so many films. Did it make you feel odd when she married Boney?
With anyone else it would have been different, but with her my relationship was so unadulterated and clean that there was no problem. Sunita and I are both modern-minded people and we respected his decision. There are things that are personal and where you draw a line.
How did you meet your wife Sunita?
Sunita and Reema Jain were friends and I met her in college. I first fell in love with her voice and then with her. She was a banker's daughter with a steady life, whereas I had a highly speculative life and was a struggling actor. I had decided that I would not get married till I made it. Those days Subhash Ghai was the biggest filmmaker and I still consider him the biggest. When he signed me for Meri Jung, I knew that nothing could stop me now and went and proposed to her. We have been together for 40 years now and are best friends.
Your mother-in-law is a special woman. Let's talk about her?
She is extremely broad-minded and her thinking influenced Sunita and my children. Sonam and Sunita get their aesthetics from her, be it interiors in the house or her personal style.
The film industry is a competitive place. Do you get stressed for Sonam?
I would like to be her friend, but she treats me like her father. I sometimes wish she were a normal girl and not an actor and do get emotionally disturbed and stressed for her. I have gone through that stress earlier in my life and it has now come back to me after 20 years, through my children. That's frustrating. I always say, 'God why are you doing it to me again.' I just want her to become strong. She is sensitive, intelligent and is well-read. She has many friends and is too generous. I always tell her your IQ may be great, but my EQ is much better. I get anxious about my films too, but the anxiousness that I had when I started my career is what I have for her. I went to her room this morning and she was thrilled with the reaction her film Raanjhanaa had got. Even if her film is a super hit, but if I find her depressed, it will destroy me. While outside the house she is strong, poised, disciplined and professional, more often I have seen her more upset than any of my other children. In the house, she has a bad temper like my wife and she screams. I just shut myself at such times. But what makes her beautiful is that within five minutes she will come and say 'dad sorry'. She will kill me when she reads this, but whether she becomes a big star or not, I want her to just be happy.
Any aspirations for you professionally?
Now my mind is on the global stage and without sounding arrogant, I'd like to be like Morgan Freeman or Ben Kingsley. also, I'd like to work with Zoya Akhtar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee and of course Raju Hirani. If Raju Hirani and I were to do a film together, that would be his best film.