Subhash Ghai on 41 years of ‘Karz’

On Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim-starrer ‘Karz’s 41st anniversary today, filmmaker Subhash Ghai goes down memory lane to write a first-person account of shooting with Simi Garewal for the film. Read on:
‘Karz’ is still as fresh as it was on its release date on June 27, 1980. I was more than happy the night when Simi Garewal got a Filmfare Award for her stellar performance in ‘Karz’, along with Laxmikant Pyarlelal for best music directors in 1981. I was the least disappointed when I did not bag one for my direction.

One might wonder why I did not feel disappointed about losing the award. It was because I was more than happy and proud for Simi ji getting an award; that’s was a greater victory for me as a writer and director as I had gone through a lot of inner pain to extract that performance from Simi ji who was already known as a great artiste on her own.
She was never convinced with her role of Kamini in the film despite the fact that I had pursued her a lot to convince her. She used to feel that she would be stamped as a ‘vamp’ in the industry and would never be offered positive roles in the future if she took up this one. It took me five weeks of visiting her home to convince her despite knowing that she was not interested. I kept pursuing her simply because my role demanded an actor with a majestic look and a royal carriage, who was a victim of circumstances and opts to do commit a horrendous crime.

As a writer, I had the tougher job to present such a woman as a criminal with dignity in the story. I was always under the edge of a sword while writing her character. Finally, I convinced her and she agreed to play Kamini, but the worst happened when we started shooting. As an artiste, she was always insecure or unsure of being presented as a vamp or just a negative character with a profound carriage. We both were on our guards while shooting most of the scenes; she trusted me but not her role. However, to my surprise, she gave every shot exactly the way I wanted but thereafter sulked. I loved her as a sweet person and an actor both, but was always unsure about her before the shoot. I would wonder if she would follow the scene or mood I had conceived. But she always did.
It was only one scene where we took each other head-on. This was the scene where she had to be loud enough to throw her in-laws out of the house. It was a bad moment for both of us and we argued in harsh tones. She left the set and it was pack up. But the next day she came to the set and did the same scene I had wanted. However, thereafter there was complete silence; it was like a boycott between us. She was upset; I was sad.

Anyway, we managed to complete the film and only a few shots of her in a song remained to be shot, when, one evening, her sister called me and expressed her wish to watch the film. I arranged for a private preview for her and her many family friends in a theatre. The next day when Simi ji came to shoot for the patchwork in a studio, she came to my room directly with a smile on her face, saying, ‘Last night I saw your film with friends and this morning I got so many flowers from my friends for my splendid performance in ‘Karz’!.

I was emotionally moved. She hugged me and said ‘Sorry, I could never think of such an amazing film you made’. I also apologised for my temper and we became good friends and continue to be to date. Now we both can laugh about it.

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