Adi and Me

Yes it has been a while since my last column, the film has released, not made much money at the box office, got great reviews from the audience and most of the critics (Except 3), but that’s not the topic of this blog.



For a while now there have been reports in sections of the media about Aditya Chopra and me having a fight, I generally ignore rumours about me, and there have been a few, but this is one I choose not to ignore.



Aditya Chopra is one of those people who very few know and even fewer understand. I have had the rare opportunity to have worked closely with him for the past 7 years during which we made 4 films. 2 of which have been super hit and blockbuster, respectively, Hum Tum and Fanaa. While Mujhse Dosti Karoge only worked in overseas, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic worked only mainly Kids ! We should’ve released the film in a holiday period, but then as they say hindsight, is 20:20, but the pain of that is something only Adi and me can understand and share.



After Mujhse Dosti Karoge, it was only Adi and me who felt the pain. Together we supported each other and helped each other come up with Hum Tum. Any other producer would’ve shaken my hand and said ‘bye bye’, Adi stood by me after MDK. When Hum Tum became a hit for a week we couldn’t believe it, finally when everyone started calling it a hit, we did too ! For Fanaa we went through a lot of heartache during the release with the Multiplex issue and Gujrat. The film was a huge hit and all the release pains were forgotten.



After Fanaa, Adi realized that the dream he had seen in 2001, wherein he sets up a director as a producer, create a genuine studio system, was finally ready to come true. He offered to set me up as a producer and within minutes we agreed on the terms. Of the 4 contracts I’ve signed with YRF I’ve never even read one, such is our comfort level and trust.



During the making of Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, the entire landscape changed, all prices, all deals, suddenly shot up, the deal that Adi had given me with the best of intentions suddenly didn’t look like what it did earlier, but that wasn’t the point, Adi’s intentions were always to give me a share. Yes we did receive very handsome offers from corporate houses, but Adi just couldn’t take them, that was not how he does business, that was not why he set up and almost single handedly created the studio system.



Whenever you tie up with someone, you choose his or her style of working, and that’s what I did. There is no wrong or right in that system, it is the way that person does business and you have no right to make him change the way he does business, otherwise you should do it yourself. You cannot tie up with someone and expect him to do business your way.



To even think that Adi and me will have a problem because of money is the figment of imagination of someones idle mind. I stand by every decision Adi took, not because he stood by me when I was down, but because I never doubt his intentions and fully understand them.