Ravi Baswani's last interview! Frank and hard-hitting

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In his last interview to Times Of India, actor Ravi Baswani had talked about why he is still remembered by Chashme Buddoor and Jaane Bhi..., but hasn’t been able to secure a permanent citizenship of tinseltown.

Your directorial debut revolves around a 10-year-old orphan. Why did you choose to write and direct a children’s film?
The child is in the desolate hills and his life revolves around his daadi and his friends. His life is a ball and then something begins to happen. Anything more would let the cat out of the bag. There is no rape, no mujra, no action. It’s a simple, innocent story. Let me clarify that it’s not a children’s film. Hopefully, it will appeal to everyone. It’s about how things affect children, a world that’s cut off, and how you aspire for things. There’s a big gap between the real world and such an innocent world. It’s a lost world that has four houses, no electricity and no room for a big bus.

The project has taken so long to materialise. After Chashme Buddoor and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
Ask ask, I know what you’re getting at...

Why do you not have a more stable and successful career graph?
Firstly, let me accept it. If you begin with cinema like that, where do you go from there? I was quite determined that if I was going to work, it has to be good work. Secondly, I don’t like the label of a comedian. We’ve done a lot of theatre; I felt that we were capable of doing, hopefully, all kinds of roles. I cannot play a villain for example. But I did some serious, emotional roles and I stuck to my guns. I will wait, I will die without making my film. But I will not begin with a compromise.

Om Puri remembers Amrish Puri - OLD FILMFARE MAGAZINE SCANS

ISSUE - MARCH 2005. Page no. - 118-119

Om Puri remembers Amrish Puri - OLD FILMFARE MAGAZINE SCANS

ISSUE - MARCH 2005. Page no. - 118-119

Om Puri and his wife on the Biography

Om Puri's Wife -

Is it true that Om Puri wanted someone else to write this biography but you insisted on writing it yourself? Did you feel you would be able to handle such a responsibility?

No, that is not true. I was supposed to write this book when I first met him in 1993. I had gone to interview him during (the making of) City of Joy. We weren't married then. But it did not work out. In 2002, I signed a contract with Roli Books to write Om Puri's biography.

This is my husband's biography, not Nandita's version of Om Puri. So it had to come out well. I started gathering everything on him slowly. In 2005, I published my book of short stories called Nine On Nine and after that, started work on my novel. By then, Om got upset with me and he asked me if he should ask someone else to write it.

A friend of mine, Dr Shozeb Haider, who had helped me with the research, told me that it would be a shame if anyone else wrote Om's biography since I had everything at my disposal. He said I was being lazy. That really spurred me on. I finished the book in a year and a half then.

Read more from HERE

Om Puri -

On wife Nandita Puri:

My wife studied in an English medium school while I studied in a Municipal school. One day, when we were fighting, she used the word 'zilch'. I said zilch kya hota hai [what is zilch]. She said zero. I said kya zero nahi keh sakti impress kisse kar rahi ho angrezi se [couldn't you just say zero? Whom are you trying to impress in English?].

I have known Nandita for many years now. We first met in Kolkata when I was shooting for City Of Joy in 1991. She was writing for Hindustan Times, The Statesman and The Telegraph, and had come to interview me. She never went back and stayed glued to me. I tried my best to separate but the Fevicol was very strong (laughs).

When she came to Mumbai, she didn't do anything for five years except meet friends and party. Then Gulzarsaab reprimanded her and asked her why she wasn't writing after leaving Kolkata. I coaxed her to write too. Eventually, she started a column on Mid-Day. She wrote a book of short stories and is almost done with her historical novel.

I told her to write my biography in 1991 but she has been sitting on it. Twenty years ago, Shyambabu [Benegal], who knew some of my childhood incidents, told me to write my autobiography because he could smell a film in it. Those words remained in my mind.

But my wife sat on it for 20 years. I had to threaten her that either I will write it myself or I'll get it written by someone else. Within a year and a few months, the biography was ready.

I asked Rensil D'Silva -- who wrote Rang De Basanti and directed Kurbaan -- what his discipline of writing was. He said that if he didn't write at least four pages a day, he would not get sleep. Gulzarsaab gets up early every morning and starts writing or at least reading. God knows what will happen when I go home today!


Read more from HERE

Om Puri and his wife on the Biography

Om Puri's Wife -

Is it true that Om Puri wanted someone else to write this biography but you insisted on writing it yourself? Did you feel you would be able to handle such a responsibility?

No, that is not true. I was supposed to write this book when I first met him in 1993. I had gone to interview him during (the making of) City of Joy. We weren't married then. But it did not work out. In 2002, I signed a contract with Roli Books to write Om Puri's biography.

This is my husband's biography, not Nandita's version of Om Puri. So it had to come out well. I started gathering everything on him slowly. In 2005, I published my book of short stories called Nine On Nine and after that, started work on my novel. By then, Om got upset with me and he asked me if he should ask someone else to write it.

A friend of mine, Dr Shozeb Haider, who had helped me with the research, told me that it would be a shame if anyone else wrote Om's biography since I had everything at my disposal. He said I was being lazy. That really spurred me on. I finished the book in a year and a half then.

Read more from HERE

Om Puri -

On wife Nandita Puri:

My wife studied in an English medium school while I studied in a Municipal school. One day, when we were fighting, she used the word 'zilch'. I said zilch kya hota hai [what is zilch]. She said zero. I said kya zero nahi keh sakti impress kisse kar rahi ho angrezi se [couldn't you just say zero? Whom are you trying to impress in English?].

I have known Nandita for many years now. We first met in Kolkata when I was shooting for City Of Joy in 1991. She was writing for Hindustan Times, The Statesman and The Telegraph, and had come to interview me. She never went back and stayed glued to me. I tried my best to separate but the Fevicol was very strong (laughs).

When she came to Mumbai, she didn't do anything for five years except meet friends and party. Then Gulzarsaab reprimanded her and asked her why she wasn't writing after leaving Kolkata. I coaxed her to write too. Eventually, she started a column on Mid-Day. She wrote a book of short stories and is almost done with her historical novel.

I told her to write my biography in 1991 but she has been sitting on it. Twenty years ago, Shyambabu [Benegal], who knew some of my childhood incidents, told me to write my autobiography because he could smell a film in it. Those words remained in my mind.

But my wife sat on it for 20 years. I had to threaten her that either I will write it myself or I'll get it written by someone else. Within a year and a few months, the biography was ready.

I asked Rensil D'Silva -- who wrote Rang De Basanti and directed Kurbaan -- what his discipline of writing was. He said that if he didn't write at least four pages a day, he would not get sleep. Gulzarsaab gets up early every morning and starts writing or at least reading. God knows what will happen when I go home today!


Read more from HERE