Stupidity & foolishness...

Is what you need to make cinema, says Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Stupidity, madness and foolishness are needed to make cinema, says Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra who admits half his films have been “super flops” but believes there’s nothing like success or failure in the business of art and filmmaking. “You need foolishness to make cinema... Yeah... How to explain it... It’s difficult,” Mehra said. Elucidating, Mehra said, “I mean you need to chase a passion. And truly believe in it, in practice and in action. Sometimes I push it to the brink, but then somebody has to.”

Known for movies like Rang De Basanti and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mehra’s Aks, Delhi 6 and Mirzya weren’t very commercially successful. But hits and misses are a part of life, averred the filmmaker, who feels failures only make on stronger. “Because the harder you fall on your face, the stronger you will get... Because you will fall again, in one way or another. To say that life is going to be a smooth sailing, is a bigger stupidity... For making cinema, you need foolishness of a certain kind,” he added.

He believes films are a “beautiful amalgamation of art, and now commerce has seeped in”. “But for a moment if I keep the commerce away, it’s the coming together of artistes — a thinker, performer, clown, musician, poet, actors... So many people who have chosen a profession to express themselves... There’s bound to be a certain passion and intensity, at least in the cinema I follow. What a waste otherwise if one was only chasing the commerce... For me, it’s art first, but I now also know how to balance both worlds.”