Saeed Jaffrey,Sunil Dutt, Raza Murad, Shobhana, Ram Mohan,Seema
Interview to Jackie Shroff -
Mr. Jackie,
What is the meaning of “Jai Ho”? The reason why you chose that song is also explained. You could have chosen any other song like “Ae mere pyar mein ho gaye”, but you chose “Jai Ho”. Tell us more about it.
I think I chose that song because it was a festive song and it was very upbeat. I was going to release this movie very soon, and I wanted to associate myself with the festive mood. However, I couldn’t choose an English song as the songs that were to be shot on this movie had to be done in two languages, namely, Hindi and English. I couldn’t find an English song that had the festive touch. It had to have the elements of festivity in it.
In the movie, Ajay Devgan was not at his peak. There are times when his performance is quite down, but there are times when he is very effective. How did you convince him to take up this role?
I felt that the character of Maqbool was not a role for Ajay Devgan, nor was it a role that he was ready for at that time. However, the director was adamant that he must play this character. The fact is, when one is coming out of a long hiatus, one mustn’t be thinking of what to do. At that time, he was only thinking of his comeback. I felt that my concern for his feelings at that time was justified. I convinced him to take up this role.
The film carries the feeling of the Shah-Nehru era. What was the atmosphere like while you were shooting the film?
It was amazing. There was a lot of sense of camaraderie in the film. Everybody was comfortable with one another. However, it was just a sense of camaraderie. There was no intimacy between anybody. There was none of the feeling of ‘I’m with you’ or ‘I’m with them’. For example, there was no close intimacy between Maqbool and Shah. It was like they were just acquaintances.
Some of the scenes in the film are quite shocking. Had you
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