Bollywood bawling

for any significant growth in life, we must face bitter truths. when my films failed to live up to the expectations of people, i began to see, that like any successful brand no filmmaker no matter how great he thinks he is, lives forever. any film-maker first 'takes off'then peaks and eventually stagnates and 'dies'. and in the world of films, euthanasia is often the best option for a film-maker who has stopped performing. but most film-makers wouldn't agree with me. they would rather spend crores of rupees to keep old brands of film-makers alive, rather then spend a paisa to create new brands of filmmakers, who have the talent and the spirit to outdistance and outshine the older ones. but i didn't want to make that mistake. i decided to pull the life line out my 25-year old directorial career and back the newer and younger film-makers who had already made their debut films from my production company. after my last film, the national award winner, zakhm, i decided to write and oversee the projects that vikram bhatt and tanuja chandra would make for vishesh entertainment. the maxim that our company would follow was, in the words of prophet mohamed: in an army if there are two generals, kill one. our company would be run on the vision and the conviction of these two directors and i and my brother, mukesh, would provide the infrastructure as well as the emotional support. but as soon as my work began, i realised that our company had hit rock bottom, economically. we were in the throes of a financial crisis. zakhm though a critical success had not contributed a paisa to our fast-depleting bank-balance. ghulam, which is believed by everyone to be a blockbuster, was in actuality an economic misadventure. moreover, ghulam crippled the company's self esteem by making the exploitative star system manipulate the company's decision makers. and to add injury to insult, this mega-budget film hurled the company, which had till then depended solely on self-generated finance, into an abyss of debts. having said that, i must add that although it drained us of our financial capital it enlarged our human capital. it gave the company a director like vikram bhatt who is our company's major asset. but the person who really steered the company through some very trying times is tanuja chandra. it was her underrated sangharsh, made in a bone-dry budget that helped vishesh films stay afloat in the treacherous waters of the movie business. that film, believed to be a flop, made money for everyone. and once again, the tide began to turn for us early this year with the success of vikram's kasoor. not only was the film liked by its target consumers but it also generated a sizeable profit. close on the heels of kasoor comes tanuja's yeh zindagi ka safar. the making of this film, despite several problems has been a gratifying experience. not only has tanuja made a marvellous film, but she has also pulled the company out of a debt trap. today, we in vishesh entertainment are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. and this is no ordinary achievement. especially in times when the rest of the film trade is seeing the tunnel at the end of the light. i am certain that tanuja's yeh zindagi ka safar and vikram's raaz, to be released in december will catapult us to greater heights. this 'safar' has just begun and the 'raaz' of our turnaround is that we believe in making films which are big in idea and and low in cost. and in this motto lies our future.