Director Mehul Kumar Celebrates 31 Years of Raj Kumar–Nana Patekar’s ‘Krantiveer’ News24 –

Mehul Kumar, who was the only director to bring together two temperamental—
It doesn’t seem like that long. When we were making Krantiveer, we were not thinking of how far it would go. Thirty years later, it is being talked about. At that time, the directors used to select the actors themselves. There were no casting directors at that time. We just went by instinct. We knew Nana Patekar was fit for the role. So we had to cast him. I had a friend during my college days who just spoke and spoke about the ills in the country, like Krantiveer’s character. The number of such people—social grumblers—was more that time. So I told him, you say so much, why don’t you do something. He said, ‘I have not taken a vow to make this country better. I say what I like.’ He said, ‘If you like it, then do something.’ So that character was in my mind, that a good story could be written on it.”

Mehul reveals Krantiveer was triggered by the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
“After Babri Masjid episode, riots broke out. After that I thought that a film on the subject of Hindu-Muslim relations can be made. I thought perhaps the public would not be able to digest it. So I thought that this point should be included in the story, and a story should be made in such a way that whatever we want to say should be said in the climax or by writing some powerful scenes. Then I wrote the story.”

Raj Kumar came into the picture after Nana.
“Nobody has done three films with Raj Kumar. Even with Nana I did three films. So in that case, I consider myself lucky. They were both a pleasure to direct. Raj Kumar was a very educated, very composed person. If you narrate the story to Raj Kumar properly and then give him the script in Urdu, he was very welcoming. Raj Kumar knew Urdu. However, he was highly educated in English also. Urdu was given a lot of respect. Dharam ji has given me four films. Dharam ji also had to be given scripts in Urdu. Since this corporate culture has come into our cinema, it has made our industry a business. Creativity has ended. Earlier, it was the value of the author. Because of this, our culture has been marginalized. Our festivals have been sidelined. We don’t see Holi, Diwali or Eid on screen. And where do the parents live? Parents don’t live in our cinema any more. They are missing.”

Speaking on the temperamental twosome, Mehul says,
“Raj Kumar Sir and Nana Sir have the same nature. If you narrate the story properly, discuss the costumes, then I used to give them the outdoor-indoor chart. So I never had any problem. I won’t reveal the name, but a very famous producer came to me and said, may God give you the strength to deal with these two actors.”

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