I was mesmerised when I saw Raj Kapoor shooting Mera Naam Joker: Rahul

Renowned for films like Love Story (1981), Betaab (1983), and Arjun (1985), director Rahul Rawail was recently in Bengaluru to conduct classes at a Bengaluru-based university, where he is a professor of practice at its film school. In an interaction with Bangalore Times, the septuagenarian took us down memory lane. He also spoke about the current trends in Indian cinema and more. Read on:
‘While the story remains the same, the audiences’ sensibilities have changed today’I started working in cinema in 1968, as an assistant director. From there, I made my own films. In my journey of almost six decades, I feel the sensibilities of audiences have changed, though the story stays the same. I don’t think the way storytelling is done will change in India. Also, technology has changed manifold. But, my only concern is that technology is being misused in India. It is not being used the way it should be.

‘I wanted to be a nuclear physicist while growing up’My father, Harnam Singh Rawail, was also a director. But growing up, I never was keen on following in his footsteps. I actually wanted to be a nuclear physicist after the nuclear war. I was very keen on that. But, one day after school, the late Rishi Kapoor, my childhood friend, said ‘Let’s go to papa’s shooting set’. Over there, he (Raj Kapoor) was shooting a circus scene for Mera Naam Joker. I had been to a shooting before, but when I saw Raj sir shooting, I was mesmerised. This man was like a symphony conductor — he knew exactly what he was doing and 5,000 people were being controlled by him. I guess that one day changed my life.
‘The learning never stops’Over the six decades I’ve been in cinema, I’ve learned a lot. I’m still learning and that doesn’t stop. Even today, when I come and speak to students, I tell them that I learn more from them than what they learn from me. You see, learning has no limits. You keep learning something new all your life.
‘I might just direct a sequel to Arjun’After the success of Gadar 2, Sunny Deol asked me if I had plans of coming up with a sequel to Arjun. But I never gave that idea a thought, because I couldn’t find the story. I couldn’t relate to the character. But now, I have a small idea and I might just do it. I think I will place it out of the country and take it to either New York or Canada — a place which has a lot of violence, a lot of Indians and a lot of problems with the Khalistanis.