‘It Is One Of The Most Beloved Murder Mysteries’ 

Why is Gupta one of the most beloved murder mysteries?

Yeah, it is one of the most beloved murder mysteries. I do agree with that. I think there are many reasons. It’s not one reason. It is, of course, the story and the screenplay, the suspense and the way it’s treated. Also, it kind of keeps you guessing and it also shocks you in the end. So generally, a murder mystery will be respected if you can get better of the audience and you can defeat them. If they guess the killer, then they defeat you. So when you’re making a murder mystery, you have to be very sure that nobody will guess it because if they can, then your film will falter. So one of the reasons a film like Gupta stays on and is loved is because people were not able to guess the murderer.

In spite of the murderer being revealed after the first viewing, audiences keep going back to Gupta?

They see it again because of so many factors.The screenplay moves fast and the songs are engaging.There’s so much happening that after a while you forget the way the events occur, the way the film moves, you seem to forget the way the story is narrated or told and the way the events follow one another. So every time you see it, it looks like a new film, though you know the end, but it’s still you’re trying to probably figure out how come I couldn’t guess this and what was, could you have guessed it. So it intrigues you because it got the better of you and then because the music has repeat value, the acting is good, the location, everything falls in place. So you feel like watching it over and over again because it had in the first place bowled you over, it had gotten the better of your judgment. So you respect it. So I think that is with all murder mysteries, if I’m watching a film and I can guess the murderer, then my interest is lost. So one of the things is, again, the shock value, how it surprises you and you manage to kind of say, wow, that I couldn’t figure it out. Very few filmmakers make murder mysteries. So there aren’t many suspense films around in the world and people believe that if it’s a suspense film and if the people know the suspense, they won’t watch it. I never thought of it that way. I kind of thought it’s, you know, that won’t hinder the business. And I think I was right there and I took the risk.

Did you think of several potential killers?

Yeah, I tried to create all suppose suspicion on everybody and anybody. And that is an art. You know, you have to spend as minimum time and footage, minimal time and try to create like a confusion where people are guessing and without boring them. If you make it too long, then people get bored.So it has to be done with the correct editing pattern.

What about the stellar cast, were they all your first choices?

These were all my first choices. You know, I’ve had very few refusals in my lifetime. So whatever you see in the film are the people I approached and everybody said yes because they wanted to work with a good director, with a good production house. My father (Gulshan Rai) has been a big name.So why will an actor say no? He might say no if he doesn’t like the role or a script. Well, back then, you know, the script was narrated to just the top few people. We didn’t narrate the script to the rest of the cast. You know, most of the actors actually don’t hear it. They just kind of want the outline, not the script, page by page. OK, what are you making? What’s my role? And they get the gist very quickly. Well, you know how Hindi films are, they’re kind of all the same thing. I hate to say that. So the actors, though, they know, OK, they’re going to get paid and they’re going to enjoy and they’re going to get another film in their record that is a hit film. So they have no reason to refuse you because there aren’t that many good offers that are around at one given point of time.So I didn’t have any kind of, I didn’t have to run around. Though in Tridev, I had that problem in finding the third hero when I took Naseeruddin Shah.

How did you handle the stars’ egos?

Honestly speaking, when you’re working with a A-lister or a big star or you’re working with a person with a big name, honestly speaking, these people are on their guard. They don’t want to be insulted or screamed or shouted at or they’re just scared of being if somebody gets rude to them because they feel that, look, I’m so and so and look at the way I’m being spoken to. So as long as you’re dignified and you’re a gentleman, you know how to conduct yourself and you’re nice. I’m nice to everyone. It doesn’t have to be a main actor. It could be a light man or it could be a guy serving you tea or whatever. Generally speaking, you just have to be cool, you know, you’re cool-headed and you should just not throw your weight around. So as long as you’re polite to the A-listers and the stars and you give them the respect they deserve, they also deserve to be respected. So in return, they also respect you and they’re nice to you. So, everybody has actually been very kind to me. I can’t write a chapter in a book if I was to write my autobiography that I had this bad incident with any actor or a showdown or a rift or a conflict. People come and mind their business, as long as they’re given the comfort of being at the shoot where when they’re not required that they’re looked after, you know. So once they’re shooting, your mind is on the shooting so you don’t think of all this. What happens is sometimes you tell an actor to wait for a few hours and that’s the time you have to make sure that person is well taken care of because in idle time, every actor wants to shoot. Every actor wants to work. That’s why they’re there. So when you keep them hanging, they can get edgy. So you keep all that in mind that, you know, don’t waste their time and keep, you know, and just kind of let it flow in a good way without and if you get delayed somewhere and you’ve got somebody waiting, if you explain the actor the problem, they understand they’re all human beings. But sometimes if you don’t explain, then they don’t know. So it could be your fault, you know.

Did Kajol and Manisha Koirala have mutual problems during the shooting?

Kajol and Manisha had zero problem, zero issues, no egos, no loggerheads, no nothing, no issue with this scene or that scene or I’m doing this and you’re doing this. Maybe I was lucky. Maybe it does happen. I don’t say these things don’t happen between actors, but I’ve been lucky, I’ve never had this situation.

The music and locations played a big hand in the success of Gupt?

Now, the music and the locations were obviously the key to the murder mystery. It’s how you treat it, how you mount it, what is your visual, everything. Anyway, in a film is a visual medium, so you’ve got to make sure your visuals and your locations are all apt and they help the drama, you know, whatever drama you have that and so does the music. Music is very pivotal, especially background music. Now that the songs aren’t working, a lot of the audiences are noticing, oh, this film has good background music or that film. But in my case, from the beginning of time when I started working as a director, my background music was always appreciated and I worked very hard with Viju Shah on my background. So that is something, anything, if you want a result, Subhash, any result, I mean, if you’re going to write this article, even you have to work and make sure, okay, is this sentence right? Are there any grammatical mistakes? So in any job that you do, you have to focus very, very hard. Same thing goes with filmmaking, it’s nothing different. So if you really put your mind and soul to it, you put that extra effort and make sure that you’re not making any mistakes and blunders and you’re getting everything correct, then the end result will be very, you’ll be very happy, it’ll be very good and satisfying.But generally, when you do the music or you do the song, you’re not sure if it’s going to work. So what one does is puts his best effort, put your best foot forward, just do your karma and, you know, be there 24 /7 with the film. Don’t compromise. You know, don’t don’t get lazy, don’t get complacent. And you get a good result.And then people have kind of it comes through. So in my case, that’s how I worked. I try to work very hard and meticulously on whatever I’m doing, and double checking everything so that the so that people are satisfied with the film. And so that people don’t feel cheated. They are giving you their time, they’re giving you their money. So in return, you have to be honest to your profession and to your audience. That’s very important to respect your audience.

Why didn’t you do a sequel to Gupt?

I didn’t want to do the same thing again. Or a murder mystery again, like what Alfred Hitchcock probably did all suspense films in his life. I always wanted to try something new here there. But I think it’s thrillers, action, suspense, mystery is what I like as a director and a producer to make it.It’s fascinating to me. I enjoy it. And it’s something up my lane. Generally speaking, a director will try to make a film that a film, the kind of film he’d like to watch. And I do love murder mysteries or suspense or even action, or thrillers with twists and turns. And you can’t guess what the next scene is, you know. And I’ve always enjoyed that and tried to make a film that I enjoy, that hoping the audience will enjoy. So my next film Zora, which is coming out on 8th August is a murder mystery. It’s a very hardcore murder mystery. I would say, maybe a step ahead of Gupt. In terms of the story, not in terms of music, it doesn’t have music. It doesn’t have that kind of production value.