Vipul
Shah
is
a
successful
filmmaker
today
with
3
big
films
to
his
credit.
But
the
journey
till
here
wasn't
as
easy.
The
director
talks
about
his
start
with
drama,
stint
with
television
and
finally
his
foray
into
films.
The
theatre
life
Vipul
Shah
joined
theatre
at
the
age
of
19
and
directed
his
first
play
Aandhado
Pato
(Blindman's
buff)
when
he
was
21.
"I
did
theatre
at
Prithvi
where
we
never
got
paid
much.
If
the
day
turned
out
good,
we
use
to
get
paid
Rs.35
per
show.
That's
how
I
started.
For
almost
around
3
years
I
did
theatre.
I
would
say
that
was
my
training
ground
and
my
learning
experience"
Vipul
Shah
and
his
writer
friend
Aatish
Kapadia
started
working
together
with
the
play
Aandhado
Pato.
Apparently
the
two
had
been
familiar
to
each
other
since
childhood
but
for
some
odd
reason
hated
each
other.
Later
the
ice
broke
when
they
joined
Gujarati
theatre.
And
this
bond
of
friendship
still
continues
with
Aatish
writing
for
Vipul's
films.
Soaps
and
more...
"I
did
some
Gujarati
serials
for
Ahmedabad
Doordarshan.
They
were
made
in
Rs.
18,000
per
episode.
That
used
to
be
the
budget
of
the
entire
episode.
So
right
from
the
writing
to
direction
to
production
to
editing,
everything
had
to
be
wrapped
up
in
a
span
of
one
and
a
half
day
and
then
we
used
to
courier
the
tape
to
Ahmedabad
Doordarshan
ourselves.
There
was
no
infrastructure
so
we
couldn't
hire
anybody".
After
dabbling
in
Gujrati
theatre
and
television,
Sony
TV
asked
Vipul
and
his
partner
to
come
up
with
a
tele-serial.
One
afternoon
when
Aatish
and
Vipul
were
driving
down
the
familiar
lanes
of
East
Vile
Parle
they
saw
old
bungalows
being
turned
into
multi-storied
buildings.
That
was
the
trigger.
And
they
decided
to
do
a
serial
on
a
crumbling
joint
family.
"I
did
'Ek
Mahal
Ho
Sapno
Ka'
which
actually
became
the
first
serial
in
Indian
television
history
to
complete
1000
episodes.
Also
it
changed
the
way
television
was
done
in
India.
We
never
had
daily
soaps
on
prime
time
back
then
and
when
I
went
to
Sony
saying
lets
experiment
with
this
particular
show,
they
were
also
reluctant
about
it.
I
however
said
let's
try
since
its
not
going
to
cost
you
much.
If
it
works,
great;
if
it
doesn't,
we
will
pull
it
out.
And
I
am
very
happy
that
Sony
accepted
the
proposal
and
they
put
it
on
air
and
it
went
on
to
make
history".
With
a
brilliant
start
Vipul
went
on
to
make
a
number
of
path
breaking
serials
which
are
still
remembered
for
their
unique
storyline.
"Simultaneously
with
'Ek
Mahal
Ho
Sapno
Ka'
I
did
another
show
called
'Alpaviram'
for
Sony
which
according
to
the
channel
and
also
a
lot
of
people
is
one
of
the
best
shows
made
in
the
Indian
Television.
So
there
was
a
sense
of
great
satisfaction.
Then
I
did
another
show
for
Zee
TV
called
'Babul
Ki
Duwayien
Leti
Jaa'
and
now
I
am
doing
a
show
for
Sony
called
'Thodi
Khushi
Thode
Ghum'
which
comes
on
TV
from
Monday
to
Thursday.
I
have
received
some
fantastic
response
for
that
show.
It's
already
at
No.1
position
on
Sony.
So
that
is
going
quite
well".
From
theatre
to
films.....
The
director
who
ventured
into
making
films
in
2000
started
off
with
a
film
titled
Aankhen.
The
film
was
a
remake
of
his
play
Aandhado
Pato.
His
next
film
Waqt
was
again
based
on
a
play
called
Wahla
Phari
Malisu
(Goodbye
dear,
we'll
meet
again).
And
now
the
director
is
all
set
to
release
his
next
film
called
Namastey
London
starring
Akshay
Kumar
who
plays
a
Punjabi
all
set
to
woo
his
beautiful
NRI
wife
Jazz
in
London
played
by
Katrina
Kaif.
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