I choose not to run after money: Rajkumar Hirani
15 Dec 2014 9:25 PM GMT
In his decade-long career as a director, Hirani, 52, has made just four films -- Munnabhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai, 3 Idiots and PK.
Considered among the best filmmakers in Bollywood today for his knack of wedding social issues
with an entertaining storyline, Hirani says his success formula is just ‘patience and a lot of rewriting.’
“You keep battling your own work in a sense. There are two ways to look at this... After making a hit, I could make more money by signing five more films or try to better my previous work. I choose to follow the second path rather than run after money. This is the attempt always, whether I succeed or fail,” Hirani told PTI in an interview.
The director says he found the courage to stick to his convictions after the surprise success of his first film in 2003.
“When I made the first ‘Munnabhai’ film, I thought it would be a middle-of-the-road movie, would be liked but won’t be as successful as Yash Raj films or the ones that Karan (Johar) made. Fortunately, it was not only liked but did well commercially. That gave me confidence to stick to what I believe in,” Hirani says.
The director credits his writing collaborator Abhijat Joshi for not tiring as they struggle to come up with something unique with every film. “100 years of Indian cinema has happened. Anything you do, feels like it has already been done.”
Considered among the best filmmakers in Bollywood today for his knack of wedding social issues
with an entertaining storyline, Hirani says his success formula is just ‘patience and a lot of rewriting.’
“You keep battling your own work in a sense. There are two ways to look at this... After making a hit, I could make more money by signing five more films or try to better my previous work. I choose to follow the second path rather than run after money. This is the attempt always, whether I succeed or fail,” Hirani told PTI in an interview.
The director says he found the courage to stick to his convictions after the surprise success of his first film in 2003.
“When I made the first ‘Munnabhai’ film, I thought it would be a middle-of-the-road movie, would be liked but won’t be as successful as Yash Raj films or the ones that Karan (Johar) made. Fortunately, it was not only liked but did well commercially. That gave me confidence to stick to what I believe in,” Hirani says.
The director credits his writing collaborator Abhijat Joshi for not tiring as they struggle to come up with something unique with every film. “100 years of Indian cinema has happened. Anything you do, feels like it has already been done.”
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