Krantiveer - The Revolution is youth-oriented: Mehul
On the eve of the release of his come-back film Krantiveer - The Revolution, Mehul Kumar tells correspondent that if a producer has a Shahrukh Khan or for that matter Aamir Khan in his project, he will immediately get a cheque for ten crores of rupees and will also be allotted a budget of seventy crores of rupees to complete the film.
Why
did
you
think
of
a
sequel
to
Krantiveer
as
Krantiveer
-
The
Revolution,
almost
a
decade
after
you
made
Krantiveer?
To
think
of
a
remake
or
a
sequel
at
that
point
of
time
was
simply
unthinkable,
because
the
audience
could
not
digest
the
idea.
I
thought
of
making
a
sequel
to
a
film
like
Krantiveer
because
I
felt
that
it
had
a
hot
and
contemporary
topic
and
hence
it
would
be
ideal,
now
that
sequels
have
started
being
made
and
people
have
also
accepted
sequels
as
well
as
remakes.
Why
did
you
not
think
of
remaking
Krantiveer?
I
think
there
is
absolutely
no
point
in
setting
out
to
remake
a
landmark
film
like
Krantiveer,
because
people
will
compare
it
with
the
original
version.
Only
if
you
do
not
make
a
sequel
with
a
hangover,
will
people
appreciate
it.
The
main
difference
between
Krantiveer
and
Krantiveer
-
The
Revolution
now
is
that
the
sequel
is
youth
oriented
whereas
the
earlier
one
had
mature
artistes
like
Nana
Patekar
and
Dimple
Kapadia
Did
you
launch
Krantiveer
-
The
Revolution
just
to
launch
your
daughter
Jehan
Bloch
as
the
leading
lady?
Contrary
to
the
notion
that
I
have
produced
Krantiveer
to
launch
my
daughter
Jehan
Bloch,
let
me
reiterate
that
I
am
not
the
producer.
My
daughter
Jehan
is
not
there
in
Krantiveer,
just
because
she
is
my
daughter.
Right
from
the
time
when
she
was
a
tiny
tot,
she
has
been
involved
in
each
and
every
film
that
I
have
made.
In
my
film
Paap
Ki
Aandhi,
she
had
played
the
child
Dharmendra.
Even
for
Krantiveer,
I
gave
her
ten
pages
of
dialogues
and
asked
her
to
face
the
camera
for
an
audition
with
different
scenes.
When
she
gave
the
audition,
she
did
not
tell
me
but
I
came
to
know
that
to
prepare
herself
for
the
part,
she
had
actually
watched
Krantiveer
on
DVD,
not
just
once
or
twice
but
twenty
times.
Did
you
advise
the
producer
not
to
invest
50
to
60
crores
in
Krantiveer
-
The
Revolution?
Yes.
I
told
the
producer
that
there
is
no
point
in
investing
fifty
to
sixty
crores
in
Krantiveer
-
The
Revolution,
because
there
is
no
hope
of
recovery
when
you
set
out
to
make
a
film
with
new
comers
these
days.
Instead
I
suggested
that
he
should
make
six
films
with
that
kind
of
budget.
I
told
White
City
Entertainment
Private
Limited
who
have
produced
the
film
that
we
should
set
out
to
make
a
film
and
not
a
proposal,
because
I
am
of
the
opinion
that
when
you
concentrate
on
the
stars
when
you
make
a
film,
you
tend
to
ignore
the
story
which
is
the
backbone
of
any
film.
I
got
total
freedom
and
there
was
absolutely
no
creative
interference
from
my
producers.
Why
did
you
not
cast
well
known
stars
in
Krantiveer
-
The
Revolution,
like
you
used
to
do
in
the
past?
I
have
always
cast
actors
who
suit
the
script
and
never
thought
of
the
star
before
the
script
is
finalised.
I
cast
Raj
Kumar
as
the
Don
in
Marte
Dum
Tak.
A
corporate
company
which
has
plunged
into
filmmaking
asked
me,
some
time
back,
to
direct
five
films
for
them.
They
asked
me
who
the
actor
I
had
in
mind
even
before
I
could
proceed
with
the
scripts.
I
asked
them
whether
they
wanted
to
do
a
proposal
or
a
film
and
refused
to
direct
for
them,
because
all
said
and
done,
though
today,
if
you
have
a
Shahrukh
Khan
or
for
that
matter
Aamir
Khan
in
your
project,
you
will
immediately
get
a
cheque
for
ten
crores
of
rupees
and
will
be
allotted
a
budget
of
seventy
crores
of
rupees,
I
still
feel
that
it
is
finally
an
industry
which
is
creative
and
needs
a
lot
of
patience
on
the
part
of
a
filmmaker.
If
people
remember
Mehul
Kumar
and
Krantiveer
even
today,
the
reason
is
that
filmmaking
has
always
been
a
passion
as
far
as
I
am
concerned
and
I
have
always
treated
it
as
a
creative
job.
A
creative
filmmaker
like
me
just
cannot
be
a
good
businessman,
though
the
fact
is
that
I
also
run
a
multiplex
called
Mehul
Cinemax,
which
is
not
a
part
of
the
chain
of
multiplexes
of
Cinemax,
in
my
home
town
Jamnagar.
In
what
way
do
you
think
filmmaking
has
changed
today?
Today
filmmaking
is
just
another
business
and
every
actor
is
money-minded,
because
today
they
decide
on
the
price
first
and
then
the
script
is
thought
of.
Most
of
the
senior
filmmakers
have
disappeared
from
the
scenario
today,
because
the
entire
scenario
has
changed
drastically.
Stars
who
were
charging
in
lakhs
now
demand
in
crores
and
single
producers
like
me
have
become
extinct.
It
is
quiet
sad
that
today
as
far
as
the
Bombay
Circuit
is
concerned,
there
is
not
a
single
star
whose
film
fetches
more
than
seven
to
eight
crores
but
the
stars
still
demand
several
crores,
as
their
remuneration.
What"s
your
mantra
for
survival
as
a
filmmaker
till
date?
The
last
film
which
I
had
directed
was
Jaago
six
years
ago.
Technically
a
lot
of
changes
have
come
about
in
the
film
industry
and
filmmaking
has
in
fact
become
easier
today
but
the
tragedy
is
that
the
technicians
have
become
laves
to
the
technique,
sidelining
culture
and
content.
The
films
are
good
for
the
eye
but
fail
to
touch
your
hearts.
I
have
managed
to
survive
because
right
from
Tahir
Hussain"s
bilingual
in
Hindi
and
Gujarati-
Phir
Janam
Lenge
Hum
with
which
I
had
made
my
debut
way
back
in
1976
till
today,
I
had
always
given
a
bound
script
to
each
and
every
artiste
of
my
film,
whether
it
was
the
late
Raj
Kumar
or
Nana
Patekar
or
Dimple
Khanna
for
that
matter
Sameer
Aftab,
Aditya
Rajput
Singh
or
for
that
matter
my
own
daughter
Jehan
Bloch
in
Krantiveer.
Is
it
true
that
Rajinikanth
refused
to
work
in
your
film
Tiranga
though
he
liked
the
subject,
because
he
did
not
want
to
work
with
Raj
Kumar?
Yes.
Though
I
was
lucky
that
Raj
Kumar
agreed
to
be
part
of
my
project
,
when
I
narrated
my
subject
to
Rajanikanth,
though
he
liked
the
subject,
he
did
not
want
to
act
in
Tiranga,
because
he
frankly
confessed
to
me
that
he
did
not
want
to
share
the
screen
with
a
stalwart
like
Raj
Kumar.
I
then
approached
Naseeruddin
Shah
who
also
refused
and
ultimately
I
cast
Nana
Patekar
in
Tiranga.
How
do
you
manage
to
convince
both
Raj
Kumar
and
Nana
Patekar
or
for
that
matter
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Nana
Patekar
to
act
together
in
your
films?
I
always
make
it
a
point
to
narrate
the
script
jointly
to
two
big
actors
who
I
cast
in
my
film.
I
have
never
narrated
the
script
solo
to
a
star.
I
remember
I
narrated
the
subject
of
Kohraam
to
both
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Nana
Patekar
at
Amitji"s
bungalow,
Jalsa.
How
tough
was
it
to
direct
the
late
Feroz
Khan,
who
was
a
director
in
his
own
right
when
you
cast
him
in
your
film
Meet
Mere
Man
Ka?
It
was
I
who
got
Feroz
Khan
to
act
in
a
film
after
he
had
established
himself
as
a
producer
as
well
as
director.
When
I
cast
him
in
my
film,
Meet
Mere
Man
Ka.
I
told
Ferozbhai
not
to
let
the
director
in
him
rise
to
the
occasion
when
he
was
just
acting
under
my
direction
and
he
sportingly
agreed
to
be
clay
in
my
hands.
What
next?
My
next
film
will
be
Hateley.
It
will
be
a
totally
youthful
film
with
two
girls
and
three
boys.
It
is
about
the
youth
today
who
want
to
live
their
lives
the
way
they
want
to,
in
keeping
with
the
changing
times
today.
The
film
will
drive
home
the
message
subtly
without
being
preachy,
that
we
should
not
forget
our
culture
and
tradition,
because
we
are
known
today
all
over
the
world
only
because
of
our
culture
and
tradition.