WHETHER it are the genes or just a coincidence one cannot be too sure, but veteran Indian actress and director Pooja Bhatt seems to have a lot in common with her father as far as her taste in movies go.
She wastes not a second in naming her favourite movie, which is exactly the same as her father’s — David Lean’s Dr Zhivago. She claims “I’ve watched it as many times as my father has! I think Lean was one of the finest directors the world has ever produced — he was so amazing in terms of being able to create an ambience in nature whether it is in Bridge on the River Kwai or Lawrence of Arabia.” The other movie Bhatt raves about, “from her growing-up days” is E.T. which she describes as a “classic”.
Not surprisingly, Bhatt’s favourite Indian movie is also the same as her father’s — Mughal-e-Azam — which she says she “re-discovered recently” when it was produced in colour and with Dolby sound. A film, that she feels affected her deeply, is Janam. Reminisces she: “I was very moved by the story and the fact that such a movie could be made in that time frame and with such limited budgets. Starring Kumar Gaurav and directed by my father, it was a simple yet hard-hitting film. The first television-film of India to be aired on Doordarshan, I remember it was regarded as a major event, and for the first time the prime minister actually pushed the News time as he didn’t want the film’s rhythm interrupted.
“The next day, when I went to school, our principal actually praised the film during assembly, which was a rare phenomenon indeed, and really made me proud of my father’s work.”
Bhatt says she tries to watch movies in cinemas as much as possible, and the only times she watches them at home is when she actually has no desire to see the movie, but does it just to keep abreast with her profession. However, from the recent crop of Hindi films she says there is none that she has seen of late that has really moved her. Almost as if thinking aloud, she goes over the names of some of the relatively recent movies that did leave some impact on her, and says: “I liked Satya very much. It’s Ram Gopal Varma’s only film that I have liked, for although most of them are hits technically, they don’t really touch you beyond a point. I loved Dil Walay Dulhanya Lay Jain Gay — it was a complete entertainer — whereas the end of Kal Ho Na Ho left me a little cold, for I am a die-hard romantic. But, I can’t really say that I’ve seen anything recently that has hit me like a thunderbolt.”
Bhatt claims she likes all sorts of music, but grew up listening to Pink Floyd and Eagles as that was what her parents used to listen to. “Hindi music was never played in our home except the ones my father would be listening to, and television was not big when I was growing up. So I grew up listening to classical rock bands and pop music. But, I love the idiom of film music and think there is a certain high that it gives you.”
Talking about ‘highs’ Bhatt digresses: “I think the first time I saw Nusrat ji perform live was one of the most electrifying moments of my life. As for Abida Parveen ji, I heard her live for the first time at the opening of the Karafilm Festival, and had no idea that she would be performing. It was so humbling to be there and to have such a great artiste actually come up and acknowledge our presence. I could understand her addressing my father and Om Puri, but not ME! I can’t imagine a legend back home acknowledging someone from the audience, even if it may be someone of the same stature as them.”
Bhatt claims that she likes simple melodies. She says: “I think there is too much of noise and music these days. I think it is very easy to be noisy and also to hide behind fancy words but actually say nothing. So, as far as I am concerned, I could enjoy an Abba song with as much relish as a Noor Jehan track, and I don’t think you can say one is superior to the other.”
According to Bhatt, she wouldn’t have survived for 32 years if it weren’t for books. “They were my best friends and my escape. I am a compulsive reader, and can even read the back of a water bottle, if I have nothing else to read. I can read an Enid Blyton with as much fascination as when I was eleven and enjoy cookbooks, too. However, I’ve never read a Mills and Boon in my life.”
One of Bhatt’s favourite books is Alice in Wonderland which she finds “beautifully written.” She also found To Kill A Mocking Bird very moving and thinks Ismat Chugtai is “amazing”. A very big Pablo Neruda fan, she loves all his works and says: “Neruda writes like a mad child and there is great abandon in his poetry.” Bhatt goes so far as to say that she feels Neruda has changed her life. In fact, she loves Latin American poetry in general and finds it very “alive. It’s all about colours and touch and smell.”
Over the years, Bhatt has learnt to appreciate poetry, although she recalls she hated it in school days and re-discovered it much later. He favourite poets also include Eliott, Tolkiens and Faiz.
Bhatt claims she read Moth Smoke a few months ago and loved it. Says she: “I woke up to it a little late but am glad that I read it after having visited Pakistan, for I feel much closer to it in a strange sort of way, reading about things I could relate to, since I had seen them for myself.”
WHETHER it are the genes or just a coincidence one cannot be too sure, but veteran Indian actress and director Pooja Bhatt seems to have a lot in common with her father as far as her taste in movies go.
