Rohan Sippy loves item songs

Every woman knows how men think, says filmmaker Rohan Sippy, as he gives his take on his item song controversy, the Indian film industry and what he thinks of being Ramesh Sippy’s son
“Dum Maaro Dum” rattled even the state government...
I think for whatever reason, everything got blown up, and the government or anyone else, for that matter, haven’t seen the film, so they had formed the impression of the film over hearsay and just the promotional material, and not the film.There was a women’s organization that had objection to the “Yahan sharab sasti hai” line and that was changed, so that was all. Definitely, the intention was not to make a docu-drama. It was to finally just make a good Hindi film, upgrade it a little bit – in terms of making it in a new setting – using techniques that’ll make you feel you’re there.
But then, there were objections.
You know, I’ve started thinking of India as being more of a continent than a country. There are 1.2 billion people, so many diverse communities, and it’s obviously going to be difficult to get everything right for everyone. So, I think on the one hand, the Central Board is in a difficult position, I think they are being fairly responsible these days – they don’t demand unnecessary cuts, and give ‘A’ certificates. They don’t want to censor things anymore, just give the right certification, as a guideline for the audience. This is a very mature approach. We were happy to submit the scripts and we went ahead and shot the film, obviously with all the requisite permissions – and there was absolutely nothing that we were hiding.
So, you agree to whatever the CBFC suggests?
See, how it has been set up is that the chief alone can’t alter the guidelines, and it all works on a pre-set procedure. But at the same time, with the amount of corporate bodies that have been set up in the film industry, we also have a duty– like other companies have of ratings agencies, stepping up the forefront to help out on this, and either put in voluntary guidelines – like saying we will also put up a rating side by side or something, like that where we can also take up part ownership. We can’t always look at just the government to make things work – because there is so much going on, that some kind of self regulation also has to be there – which is how it’s done everywhere in the world, so I don’t think why we can’t. Earlier, there were only independent producers, but now, mostly it is corporates, and things are on a merger phase in the industry where film studios are making more and more films – and we can look to them to start putting that mechanism in motion and send out the right signals that we are also trying to give consumers information. There are certain national laws that you have to abide by, and the government can take care of that.
The behind the camera scene has seen so much of an age divide in the industry. Is it good for the industry?
On a larger format, it is the plurality of it all that is good. The fact that one doesn’t have to wait for a single film to deliver at the Box Office every year – the niche cinemas are doing their bit, there are fresh films and there are the biggies too. It does well for the industry to keep rolling like this. In the same year you had a “Band Baaja Baaraat”, you also had an “Udaan” and a “Dabangg”. It’s wonderful to see that there’s room for all of this to co-exist. But of course, on an individual level, all finally comes down to your conviction and the scripts that grab you.
So, the baton has been passed on successfully...
Still, in the industry, the big commercial successes will be the Dabanggs, and the Three Idiots which are very much designed or intentioned to play out to a very wide audience.
It really comes down to so many factors at the end of the day – filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap have created a niche for themselves, but the real breakthrough will come when their films put up numbers that suddenly grab you, because they compete with the big ones out there. Then, everyone will be sitting up and taking notice. The films are doing fine and they’ve gotten on, but once they begin to garner a 40 crore figure, then, wow!
You’ve had to live in the shadow of the Sippy who made “Sholay”. Do you feel any sort of burden?
Not at all. If anything, he, my dad, should feel the heaviness, because I am standing on his shoulders. It has been a privilege to be his son. I got my opportunity to be a filmmaker because of him. The genuine truth is that – it’s wrong to call it competition – but for the want of a better word, the competition around me all the time is to try and be as good as the filmmakers who make films in the weeks around you, in the months and years around you. You try to be the best, so that people appreciate your work.
Did he also, like you, succumb to the item number?
Me, succumb? I love it. If it can be put into the right place and can somehow further the narrative in whatever form it does, it’s fantastic. When we decided on it, I was very keen to do it, because I thought it’s a great opportunity. I love the fact that music is so integral to our films and I thought this is one chance in our films to do this thing because we’re doing a thriller with all grittiness and gore and this is one chance to have that – jo purane zamane mein hota tha – relief. You get that break – there’s this beautiful girl dancing, there’s the music, I loved it.
But the lyrics about the item, “Mit Jaaye Gham” had been debated about since it was first aired...
I intended it to be like that. Is it that dirty? Haven’t we moved beyond all that – like getting PILs for kisses, et al? In “Band Baaja Baaraat” there was a lovely kiss and nobody had an issue. It was handled nicely. Anyway, obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I loved the lyrics. It summed up the attitude I was looking for in the film and I genuinely think one of the reasons it has upset certain quadrant is because we’re comfortable while we’re looking at women as sex objects, we’ve a great amount of unease when she will tell it like it is. I mean, I think that’s really the problem. Here, she’s not playing a role, but were she to do that with lyrics that go, ‘You can’t touch me, but look at me’... what are we trying to say there? Those are great lyrics, waah! We’ve really uplifted women with lyrics like that!
Here, when she says it, and mind you, every woman knows how men think and that is exactly what they are thinking, and no man can deny that. In the bigger picture – this song is the anti-thesis of the movie.
What else? Plans, things you do when not making movies...
I am married and have several pets, large dogs, too. I hang out with my friends, who’re mostly from the business I do. We just keep thinking about making films if we’re not making them already. It’s a bit like counting frogs – you get 70, 80 or 99 of them together and one slips out and you’re back to where you started. So, there are lots of films that feel good at the idea stage, and for some reason or the other, you can’t make them into films, but you spend most of the time counting frogs. My wife is part of all this too.