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Mommy Dearest

Sawan Kumar Tak

It looks like a waiting room in a clinic -- quiet, white, with intimidating sheets of gleaming glass contributing to that clean, sterilised touch. The only thing missing is the patient.

Five minutes tick away before the final requirement is fulfilled. Saawan Kumar Tak shambles in, sniffing, complaining of bad health, and apologising for being at home and not at office.

It's a Sunday, you remind him. He looks at you blearily, then assures you that he goes to the office every day, Sunday being no exception. And on the days he shoots his films, he slides behind his desk sometime later in the evening.

These days late evenings are the norm: he's making his new film, Mother. Name a trifle trite? No matter, it's a change from his Souten, Souten Ki Beti and Souten Ki Souten...

This movie apparently signals a breather from his love affair with soutens and associated persona. Er, any reason for picking the name, 'Mother'?

Rekha and Rakesh Roshan in Mother. Click for bigger pic

It's a secret apparently, for he promptly tells you he won't divulge the details. Almost immediately, he relents. "It's a story of a modern mother. A mother who has a conflict with her daughter over her past." Without delving into exactly whose past was causing all the hoo-hah, we inquire who gets to play the momma.

Rekha, we are told. At the risk of sounding repetitive you ask him why Rekha? Why not Sulochana, maybe even Lalitha Pawar? "Because she suits the role," he says, which, of course, makes everything nice and clear.

And, pray, what according to him is a 'modern' mother? And he goes on a tack most feminists quit years ago.

"See, we have these village women who bend their heads and nod affirmatively to everything the men say. My woman is modern in the sense that she has a career, has brought up her daughter single-handedly and has everything she wants. She lives with dignity and honour. The whole subject has been dealt with humour though. It's a light-hearted film where people will laugh," he says.

Click for bigger pic

He hasn't essayed comedy before; his earlier films were melodramatic, dealing with extra-marital relationships, guilt, thwarted and sated passion. Of course, Tak can't do without all those elements. "Later, it (the film) becomes very emotional. But on the whole it's very entertaining," he assures you before stepping on the verbal gas.

"The script of Mother is very powerful. Never in the history of Indian cinema has there been such a film." He slides earthward again to add, "Whether it will work or not, I am not sure."

Rekha has been a prominent fixture in four of his films. She suited all those roles too, he says. "The first film she did for me was Sajan Ki Saheli and the last film was Souten Ki Beti."

He had suggested the role to Rekha 15 years ago, but then she'd said, no, thank you.

"She told me to wait 15 years before she consented to do this film. I did and now she is ready" says Tak happily.

Jeetendra, Randhir Kapoor, Rakesh Roshan and Rekha in Mother. Click for bigger pic

His films have a conflict of interests between two people as its leit motif. "The conflict comes when there is a third dimension to the story. Only then does the story move forward. It can be between anybody. Husband and wife, two friends, boyfriend and girlfriend." Another similarity you point out is that every film of his is woman-oriented.

"Women," he explains, "have been a great source of inspiration to me. Between the three important things -- which are wealth, land and woman -- a woman is definitely the most important," he says.

For Mother, Tak has also signed a few other old-timers -- Randhir Kapoor, Rakesh Roshan and Jeetendra. Also, television stars like Nishigandha, Navni Parihar and Prabha Sinha.

At a time when even Amitabh Bachchan can't guarantee a hit, it looks dicey, picking such a cast. "Who can guarantee a hit film anyway?" he asks pertinently. "Look at the big budget films. Most have flopped. They all had big star casts. It's the price that makes a film fail. The stars are charging so much today that the films are over-budgeted," he complains.

Click for bigger pic

Tak feels performers like Urmila Matondkar and Aishwarya Rai don't deserve the prices they charge. "Why is Ash Rai charging 60 lakh (Rs 6 million) for a film? Her film in the south has flopped, still people are ready to pay her so much." He dismisses a suggestion that it may have something to do with her Miss World status. "So what? Has she proven herself an actress first?"

"I don't agree with the prices the stars are charging," he says. "I like to have stars who are available too. Rajesh Khanna was available when I made Souten, and now Rekha is. That's how I work."

Both Randhir Kapoor and Rakesh Roshan, despite involvement in their own films, have made time for him. "When they heard my script, they readily agreed to do my film," Tak says, a little smugly.

Some of his recent films have taken a beating, like Sanam Harjai and Salma Pe Dil Aa Gaya. "You come to know they were mistakes after you release the film," he says.

Tak thinks that films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge are flukes. He attributes their success to good music. "Let us see what Aditya Chopra and Sooraj Barjatiya make next. Then we will decide if they know film-making."