Someone must have provoked Mahima: Ghai
Subhash Ghai has been around in the Hindi film industry for more than four decades now, and played a role in creating many careers. But recently, the filmmaker created headlines when actor Mahima Chaudhry, who he had launched in Pardes (1997), alleged that he had ‘bullied’ her during her initial years in the industry, and she lost out on films because of him.
Ask him about this, and he says, “Voh bacchi hai, bhool jao. Excitement mein keh gayi hogi. She had come to our film institute just last year as a guest lecturer, at least twothree times. We talk every eight-nine months, we keep joking with each other. Someone must have provoked her, and asked ‘kya hua tha’.”
The 75-year-old adds that he and Chaudhry also had a friendly chat after the recent allegations. “We share a bond. She is a very nice girl, mazaak mein bola hoga. When I read the news, I messaged her ‘mubarak ho’, and we laughed,” says Ghai, who recently released a translated version of Gayatri Mantra from Sanskrit to Hindi. He plans to release more, and says he wanted to do it for his students. “They are talented and need a platform to prove themselves. We can give you education, but it’s you who has to win the competition,” he says.
Talking about the ongoing nepotism debate in the industry, the filmmaker, who has launched many actors till date, says that the debate is “nothing new”. “This argument was there even when I entered films in 1965. There were established families of Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, and BR Chopra… but people like Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar still came right?” he reasons.
However, the Karz (1970) director adds that industry children have the interest of the public from the word go. He says, “Initial attraction is there but one-two films can work on the name. Only 20% of star kids are successful. Actors like Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan also came from outside.”