The recent past has taught me to not get caught up in the little challenges of life: Mehra Rakeysh Omprakash

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra had a busy 2020. He worked on two scripts and finished the edit of his next. “There was a lot of confusion earlier and later, the idea was to adapt and live in the moment,” says Mehra adding that fortunately, they had wrapped up the shoot of Farhan Akhtar-starrer Toofan before the lockdown. “So, we worked on the edit of the film and completed it. Being a writer and a director, my writing didn’t stop. In fact, it accelerated as I had more time on hand,” he says.

Ask him about reports that he is working on a film starring Shahid Kapoor as Karna and he says, “I am not ready to talk about it. I believe that a film should talk for itself.” On the release of Toofan, he shares, “No one is wiser as of now. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that people come back to the theatres when it is safer for them.”

Mehra admits that he kept a positive mindset last year. “We have all come out stronger. I hope this experience makes us rise up from petty issues which have been plaguing us for donkey’s years. We can become global citizens and make this world a better place. Yes, there will be differences but we can always agree to disagree. What last year taught me is to not repeat our mistakes. It gave us time to pause, rethink, and work towards a better tomorrow. I learnt to not be caught up in little challenges of life.”

Praising the resolve of health workers, he says, the work that they put in can’t be for money or career. He says, “There is something more. It was demonstrated when the common man rose up to the occasion to fight Covid-19.”

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Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas has revealed that she was once asked to leave a film when she spoke up about getting a ‘nominal’ paycheck compared to her male co-star. At the time, she decided to accept it because it was drilled into her head that this is how the industry works. The incident took place early on in the actor’s career.

On a podcast, Chopra Jonas said, “I have been kicked out of a movie once… Or told that I should leave. I wasn’t kicked out of it because I decided to stay and suck it (up). The producer told me that there are so many other girls who will take this opportunity and women in movies are interchangeable.”

Chopra Jonas said that she did not raise objections at the time because she ‘had to work within the system’ as she was led to believe that this is the ‘only way’ to work in the industry. “It took almost 15 years for me to get to that place where I could stand my ground,” she added.

What last year taught me is to not repeat our mistakes. It gave us time to pause, and work towards a better tomorrow. RAKEYSH OMPRAKASH MEHRA,

love remakes of my films. It could be that their behaviour, costume, way of talking etc., change from the original movie.

PHOTO: AMAL K S/HT Filmmaker

PHOTO: JON KOPALOFF/AFP