Abhishek Bachchan’s 2003 film Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost has completed 22 years since its release. Directed by Apoorva Lakhia, the film explored the impact of electricity on a rural village in Rajasthan and featured Lara Dutta alongside Bachchan in the lead. Marking one of his early solo-hero outings, the movie continues to hold a special place in the actor’s heart.
After several multi-starrers you were in a solo-hero release?
Actually there were many heroes in Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost. But yes, I’m the only leading man in the film. And that did put an added burden on my shoulder. This time I bore the solo responsibility. So yeah, I did feel a bit more responsible, more so since everyone in the crew was young and new.
You were quite a veteran on the sets!
Ha ha. Not quite a veteran. But one of the older crew members, yeah. I didn’t want to let these guys down in any way. Everyone from producer Vicky Nihalani to director Apoorva Lakhia was new. They put in their heart and soul in the film. I must say the production was extremely organized. We all worked really hard in Jaisalmer. Apoorva Lakhia was so well-prepared, he made it all physically comfortable. I must say Apoorva is acutely dedicated. He’s the most organized director I’ve worked with. His clarity of thought and vision is unbelievable.
Did Lakhia’s Hollywood experience help him to be more organized?
Why Hollywood? He has inherited his organized nature from Lagaan where he was assistant. And it paid off a hundred percent. We finished Mumbai Se… in two months flat in spite of some setbacks, like the time I had to rush back home after my grandfather passed away. The film still finished on schedule and within the given budget.
Mumbai Se Aaya… is a satire on the urbanization of rural Rajasthan?
I think the word satire takes away from what Apoorva Lakhia has done. The setting is rural, yes. It deals with the impact of electricity on a village. In today’s modernized spirit of things it seems impossible to believe that there are parts of this country where electricity isn’t available. What helped me play my character Kanji was the fact that he had been making a living as a domestic servant in the city for ten years. Apoorva was sure he didn’t want to make my character totally rustic. The big-city charm does creep into my character. That’s what makes Kanji appealing to the villagers when he comes back to them. They keep asking him questions about city life.
The villagers came across as overly naïve?
While reading the scenes I’d constantly ask Apoorva if audiences would swallow villagers asking about what’s a car or a bus. Apoorva pointed out the irony of the fact that we were shooting in a locality where cars, buses and electricity were still alien. Whenever I found a situation archaic the answer was in front of me. I remember Lara Dutta and I were shooting for a rain song. I asked Appu if it wasn’t stretching logic too far to have rain in the middle of the desert. As luck would have it, four days later just when my father showed up on location it started raining.
How was Lara Dutta?
Seriously, I was surprised to see such dedication in a relatively new actor like Lara Dutta. She had just come out of shooting Andaaz. And then to plunge into Mumbai Se… where she had to play a completely different character, required some effort. And she has done it effortlessly. On the sets she’s a team player… and not just an actress. She turned out to be a great friend.
So would you say this has been an enriching experience?
Every film of mine is enriching. But yes, Mumbai Se Aaya… is close to my heart. I firmly believe if you make an interesting film people would watch it. It’s also a very dear film to me because it’s made by good people. I firmly believe good things happen to good people. Look at me. Apoorva wanted to do it in one schedule, no matter when we started. Hence this delay. I told him I could manage dates only at the end of 2002. Apoorva stood by me. In fact, he and the producer Vicky Nihalani fought for me to be in this film. Everyone wanted to know why they wanted to sign me when my films weren’t doing well. But they both said it was either me or no one else. I think it takes a new director lots of guts to go against what seems like the voice of reason. We shot the film at a 2-month stretch in Jaisalmer on a village set that had been constructed by the director’s aunt Meera Lakhia. Since it’s a fully functional village we finally handed it over to the District Collector.
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The Lagaan legacy?
Apoorva did assist in Lagaan, and there’s a lot of speculation about the similarities. But besides the fact that both films are rural there’s no similarity between them. Apoorva had not only assisted on Lagaan but also worked on various big Hollywood projects. He used that discipline and work culture to our advantage in Mumbai…. The atmosphere was extremely conducive to creativity. Once I was in costume and on the village set I remained in character throughout. I was living with Kanji 24 hours a day.
How’s Apoorva as a director?
Unique. His greatest asset is his preparedness. He knew every dialogue, shot and moment in his film from beforehand. I never felt the need to try and convince him to dissuade him. He saw his whole film in his head before on the monitor. Do you know what Apoorva discovered during his research? There are more than 80,000 villages in India without electricity. And we’re into the 21st century! We’ve located our film in one such village. Though entertaining, Mumbai… is a lot of things. But it isn’t frivolous.
You went through some personal upheavals while shooting this film. Did they add to your performance?
I’m an actor. I act. I’m paid for that. I don’t bring my personal problems on the sets. My father has taught me that. No matter what the circumstances outside, never bring it on the sets. I’ve seen my father work under the most absurd circumstances and still totally unaffected before the camera.
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