JP Dutta: We have become a passive nation

About his long absence from the scene, he says, "I had begun work on a film, which I shot in Switzerland, Italy and Rajasthan. It was in 2008 when there was an economic crises worldwide. The film studio cut my budget to 45 per cent. They pulled the carpet from below my feet. I am a passionate filmmaker and did not want to compromise. I told them our creator is also our destroyer. I had conceived the project and was also ending it." There was also a personal loss, when his dad (OP Dutta) passed away. "He used to write the dialogues for my films."

Dutta is also known to shoot most of his films in Rajasthan, which include Ghulami, Batwara and Border. "I am known as Jaipur Dutta. I like to shoot in stark landscapes. Someone referred to me as the filmmaker who shoots in naked landscapes like in deserts and mountains. It is in the nothingness that you feel close to God." Paltan, which stars Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Luv Sinha, among others has Dutta's daughter Nidhi looking after the production. "Luckily, there were no hiccups even though we shot at high altitudes."

About present day Bollywood, the veteran filmmaker says, "I belong to the generation when actors were men, there was Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna and the
heroines were women like Meena Kumari and Nutan. Today's actors, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, are boys. The heroines are girls. But then, things change." Dutta is already planning his next. "It could be a war film, something that touches me and everyone should know about," he concludes.

No comeback for Bindiya
JP Dutta's actor wife, Bindiya Goswami, has no intentions of facing the camera again. "They say once an actor, always an actor. But he has entrusted the production aspects and costume styling to me.

Bindiya Goswami

So I have enough on my hands, it's time consuming. There is no time to act," said Goswami, who acted in the '70s and '80s, and is best remembered for films like Basu Chatterjee's Khatta Meetha (1977), Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Golmaal (1979) and Ramesh Sippy's Shaan (1980).

On Junior Bachchan walking out of Paltan
Abhishek Bachchan had been cast by JP Dutta in Paltan, but at the last-minute, when the unit had reached Ladakh for the shoot, he decided to opt out. It led to a controversy as Dutta was taken by surprise and was left shell-shocked by the actor's sudden decision. The filmmaker and Abhishek go back a long way. Junior B had made his B-Town debut in Refugee (2000), which was directed by Dutta.

JP Dutta and Abhishek Bachchan

Sparks flew between Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek on the set of Umrao Jaan (2006), which was also Dutta's movie. When asked about the Bachchan episode, Dutta says, "We have an old association. I am his mentor, I launched him in Refugee. It was his decision. I am not a robot, I have emotions too. He never got back to me, but we have to respect each other. Let's maintain the status quo. But you need to ask the Bachchans about it."

Also Read: Paltan's new song Main Zinda Hoon will give you goosebumps

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