Rajiv Rai: I made ‘Mohra’ to become the number one filmmaker – Exclusive! – Times of India

He is a recluse and a movie encyclopedia. A stark contrast to the pulpy entertainers that he made for the silver screen in the late ’80s and ’90s. Director Rajiv Rai, who hasn’t spoken out in the last few decades, took time and spoke to ETimes about his cult classic ‘Mohra’, which had its anniversary on July 1. Not just that, he revealed awesome anecdotes about his other cult creations ‘Tridev’ and ‘Vishwatma’. Read on to find out the never-heard-before stories behind the film that’s given Bollywood such memorable songs like ‘Tip Tip Barsa Pani’ and ‘Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast’. Excerpts:

‘I wanted to make a successful film for my father’

After ‘Vishwatma’ (1992), I was accused of doing another take on ‘Tridev’ (1989) although it was nothing like my previous film. In fact, ‘Vishwatma’ scored better than ‘Tridev’. I wanted to get out of the ‘Tridev’ and ‘Vishwatma’ mould so, I approached Amitabh Bachchan through Viju Shah (music composer). Amitji wasn’t signing films though. It was a very good script, but for some reason it didn’t materialise and I never made it. It was titled ‘Dada Thakur’ and I had worked on it with Anees Bazmee. It was the story of a grandfather and grandson and was a commercial film. I wish I had made that film.

I had a vision for ‘Mohra’ (1994). Suniel Shetty was my friend and got around to him with this idea. At the time, I thought that Suniel should work in one or two films and get a little seasoned before he works with me. I was taking a risk with all the actors in the film.

I had already signed Divya Bharati but I let her sign another film that was to feature Suniel. In the meantime, I wrote the screenplay of ‘Mohra’ and was very happy with it. It was a two hero story at the time, not the three hero film that we made with Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Naseeruddin Shah. That is the way I had penned it and it was very exciting. I felt that I had to only convince myself and write a script that I would not cheat on.

My father (Gulshan Rai) was fine with whatever I was doing. He was never a roadblock in my life. I wanted to make a successful film for my father and Trimurti Films, but there was always a thought, what if this is going to go down? I was always challenged with the films my father had made like ‘Johny Mera Naam’ (1970) and ‘Deewar’ (1975) and I was struggling to make better films than those. ‘Mohra’ in that sense was a very ambitious film.

I had ‘Tridev’ and ‘Vishwatma’ and now I was making a film that in my mind would beat my own creations. I had Akshay Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah and Suniel Shetty and really nothing much to go on, but I knew I was making a hit film.

‘Naseeruddin Shah was a commercial hero’


Naseer in my mind was always a commercial hero. But with ‘Tridev’, he created magic. I can take only a slice of that credit. Sometimes I feel that another actor would’ve spoilt that film. Naseer was a very strong force in that movie.

If you recall ‘Mohra’ there was a suspense angle which was beautifully done. I remember, I had gone to Naseer and said that I need a villain who is handicapped. He said to me that he had done this film titled ‘Chakra’ (1981) and had spent a month in Pune in an institute for the blind. He had lived with about 40 visually challenged people and when he came back home, for weeks he used to blindfold himself and become a blind man in his own house. He was confident that he could play a blind man very well. So, the blind man angle came from Naseer; it was not my contribution. The characterisation of Mr. Jindal in the film was 100 per cent from his side.

‘Tip Tip Barsa Paani’ is a bigger hit today than it was back then’


I really worked very hard on the music with Viju Shah. ‘Tip Tip Barsa Paani’ is a bigger hit today than it was back then. At that time, ‘Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast’ was a bigger hit. But people are grooving to ‘Tip Tip Barsa Paani’ even today, and I am glad that song happened.

‘My father said maybe I would bring some luck to Raveena’


The film had Divya Bharati but unfortunately she passed away. I had shot about 10-12 days with her and we had to reshoot that portion for the film. She signed up with me as I had introduced her in ‘Vishwatma’. She was a lovely person, a talented actress who gave me zero trouble. I kind of miss the fact that I did only one film with her in which she didn’t have much of a role. I was looking forward to a film in which she had a proper role. But unfortunately that never happened.

I had to immediately find a girl and my dad suggested Raveena Tandon because all of Ravi Tandon’s (Raveena’s father) films were distributed by my father. Dad said, ‘If you need a girl in a hurry go to Raveena’. But then I was of the opinion that her films didn’t seem to be working. My father told me that every Ravi Tandon film that he distributed ended up a hit. So, he said that maybe I would bring some luck to this girl. I called Raveena and went to meet her. She was also very excited to work with me and I signed her in 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn’t work with either of them again.

‘The ‘Mohra’ script had a blend of comedy, action, music and emotion’


Today, ‘Mohra’ is called a cinematic milestone because I managed to blend the script with comedy, action, music and emotion – the essentials of commercial films back in the ’80s and ’90s. I thank God and my father who gave me the opportunity to make this film. Dad would tell me to not worry about the money and just focus on what I wanted to make.

‘Everyone wants to be the next Satyjit Ray’


I grew up on classics. But what I did in ‘Mohra’ was completely the opposite. I did that to survive, trying to make a name for myself and become the number one filmmaker. Everyone says that they’re not part of the rat race, but that’s a lie. Everyone wants to be the next Satyjit Ray, Mehboob Khan and Raj Kapoor.

Whatever success I have got, I owe it to my parents and my craziness for cinema. I would go watch English films at Akashwani (theatre) from morning to evening. But I knew I would not be making those films. Because I don’t think there was a big audience for that kind of cinema in India. My audience was those who watched ‘Mohra’ and this is where my father’s advice helped me.

I was travelling in a car to the Modern Movies’ office at Lamington Road. At a traffic signal, beggars came to our car. I rolled up my window. My father said, ‘Tum yeh jo inn logon ko dekh kar window bandh kar dete ho na, yeh log hi tumhari audience hai. Tum unhe paisa doge toh woh khana nahin khayenge, balki film dekhenge (You always roll up your windows when you see beggars, but they are your audience. If you give them alms, they won’t eat food with it, they will watch films).’ Since then I have never refused alms to a beggar. I kept that lesson with me while making ‘Mohra’ and made it for that audience.

‘There was no controversy over the word ‘cheez’


Viju Shah found inspiration from a New York fashion show. He came back and we made this song. Also, unlike today, back then there was no controversy over the word ‘cheez’. You cannot do that with poetry, now. If you are versed with drunken poetry coming from popular shayars, you will have to censor the whole thing, especially the way they talk about a woman. I remember after ‘Oye Oye’ (a popular song from ‘Tridev’) folks in the real world would call girls using ‘Oye Oye’ and some were chased by the police, too. If you have a dirty mind, tum unn shabdon ka ganda meaning nikaloge agar nahi toh you will take ‘cheez badi’ as poetic (If you have a dirty mind, you’ll find innuendo in those lyrics, but if that’s not the case, then ‘cheez badi’ can be poetic). The song ‘Na Kajre Ki Dhar’ (hit song from ‘Mohra’) was a classic hit song, describing a woman poetically.

Raveena was a bit reluctant to do ‘Tip Tip Barsa Paani’. But we had become such good friends that she jokingly asked me, ‘I hope you are not making me do anything wrong’. I told her that this would be the best song of her life. ‘TRUST ME’, I had said.