Veteran director Subhash Ghai recently opened up about quitting making films in an interview with film critic and trade analyst Komal Nahta on his podcast Game Changers. Ghai, famous for his classic movies like Karz, Ram Lakhan, and Taal, shared that there was no passion and love in the industry that contributed to his choice.
When Nahta queried Ghai as to why he quit directing films, the director’s answer was based on disillusionment with the manner in which the industry had changed. He said, “It’s just one thing, I don’t see love among people, I don’t see love in the team. I see everyone just working, poor things.” He underlined the increasing commercialization of the industry, where creativity is overshadowed by deadlines and deadlines alone.
Ghai shared a particular instance in which he was collaborating with a writer on a project. He narrated, “I called a writer, gave him a story and asked him to write. He says, ‘Yes, I’ll do it in 15 days, submit the second draft in 3 days, then this and that.’ He set me all the dates and installments, ‘Your story will be out in the many days.'” Ghai jokingly supplemented, “I said, ‘Are you rolling rotis or what?’ as he told me the entire thing with dates and installments.”
The director’s words reveal his exasperation with the transactional and mechanical nature of contemporary filmmaking. Ghai reiterated that for him, filmmaking is a passion and love-driven art form, something he believes is becoming increasingly absent in the industry’s hectic environment.
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