Sujoy Mukerji

'I started out as an' actor at the age of 17 - and I think it was a big mistake!' - Sujoy Mukerji

Filmalaya Studios’ director, actor, producer and director Sujoy Mukerji in a super candid interview talks to Sumita Chakraborty about producing and directing films, getting into films too early, depression and more.

He’s the son of the legendary Joy Mukerji. Not only that he comes from a family of legends - Sashadar Mukherjee, Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Kajol, Rani to so many others – who have made an indelible niche in the Hindi film industry.

Sujoy Mukerji who started out as an actor at the age of 17 but moved to be a producer and director over the years, did everything on his own steam. He went on to produce hit serials like Aye Dil-E Nadan, Apne Paraya and Gustakhi Maaf for Doordarshan. He then directed an award-winning documentary on Shivaji Maharaj. After which Joy Mukerji’s unreleased film featuring his maternal uncle’s Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar ‘Love in Bombay” under Joy Mukerji Productions was released on the great occasion of 100 years Cinema by his brother Monjoy Mukerji and him. After which, Sujoy made a poignant song Humhara Hindustan which he composed and sang - this song was officially selected by the BJP. The icing on the cake was his first short film Ab Mujhe Udnaa Hai which went on to win 40 Awards all over the globe including the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the best Short film of 2019. Furthermore, he showed his prowess as a director in another short film Zindagi Anmol Hai which has won 29 Awards till now.

But the pull of acting brought him back into the spotlight with Bombay 5. Here Sujoy talks about his father Joy Mukerji, award winning films, how he rues the fact he became an actor too young and more… Read on…

Sujoy, you come from an illustrious Bollywood lineage and you are a third gen film-maker now, but you’ve always done things on your own steam, how has the journey been till date?

My journey has been very nice. In fact, I’ve been doing things on my own with the blessings of my father of course - because my dad is no more with me. But I’ve learned a lot - because when you lose your father, you tend to realize about life a lot more. He and I were very close and I learned so much of filmmaking through him, and that learning process helped me to stand tall on my own and to do something more in my life.

Yes, I wanted to ask you about the serials that you’ve produced… You have done a lot of good work from producing serials like Aye Dil-E Nadaan, Apne Paraye & Gustakhi Maaf for Doordarshan to directing a critically acclaimed documentary on Shivaji Maharaj… Tell us about these?

There was a mega serial called Aye Dil-ENadaan when I made it for Doordarshan which I even got an award for. They had given me a time slot of 2 p.m. which is not prime slot and which wasn’t working for Doordarshan. But when I made this mega star serial, where I got in Vivek Mushran, Avinash Wadhwan and so many other talented artistes, it became a big hit. So the time slot of 2 p.m. they gave us went on to become very popular because of our serial. After that I was into producing and even became a creative director of many projects, and that gave me a confidence boost. After that, I said, Let me try my hand at filmmaking. So that’s how Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara happened. Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara was being directed by my older brother Monjay and I was the Associate producer in this film. I learnt a lot during this time. I had the experience because I also produced a lot of TV serials. I remember we wanted to shoot at a hill station. So the first thing that came in our minds was Kashmir. Here, I’m talking about 2016-‘17... Kashmir had problems. But we didn’t get scared and took a decision to shoot there. There was another reason because 50% to 60% of my father’s films were shot there. It was a great learning experience shooting that film.

What are the challenges that you have faced being a star kid?

After making this film as an Associate Producer, I wanted to direct a film, so I wrote this script Ab Mujhe Udana Hain which was totally on women empowerment. I read a lot of incidents about molestation where girls who are molested go into shock and depression. There have been so many cases, in fact even of cases of public molestation, and when I was studying this subject, I realised that girls in most cases tend to go into depression, and 49 lose their confidence. So I made this film to give a message that they should fight it out and face the world. The scenario in our country is that most of the times, the parents get the girls married off. My film shows how this girl who gets molested, gets up again on her feet and flies again. Coming back to your question, the challenges that I faced was that a lot of times when I was approaching people for this film, I was told “don’t do it; you want to get into direction… don’t start with this.” Despite the fact that even though I had immense experience because I had directed this show Shivaji Maharaj which was critically acclaimed. In fact, before that, I did a lot of serials where I was a creative director, but of course, I was not a director but I had a lot of experience. But since I felt so strongly about it - I tackled the challenges and the film was made. I was planning to put it in at film festivals, but I was on my own, because I did not have my father with me. But I went ahead and made the film.

Could you tell us any anecdote about the film Ab Mujhe Udna Hain?

I remember I went to Kanwaljeet sir (Kukuda) – he’s such a senior actor. And when I narrated the script to him, he straightaway said, I’m doing this.” He essayed the girl’s fathers’ role. And he stood by me throughout. Then I took Mithun Chakraborty’s son Mahaakshay as a teacher. He came to meet me in Filmalaya, then I did a one-day workshop with him before the shooting because I knew he had a lot of talent in him and as a filmmaker, I wanted to capture and take out the best out of him also. And that’s how things started. I got a lot of support from people, but of course, there was some people who were negative too. But I just put them aside. I said, “No, I’m going to make this film, let’s see, what will happen.” And I introduced this new girl called Jasmine Grover. I needed a girl who was an excellent dancer. And when I saw her dancing, I said yeah, this is the girl. All thanks to Mr. Sunil Kapoor who also wrote the screenplay with me and Ashwini Sidwani, also a very good writer - Sunil Kapoor too is an award winning writer. I always believed your content is the biggest star. So I was working very hard on the screenplay, and the dialogues of the film. Once I shot the film, I came out with a footage of nearly 35 minutes. And on the editing table, I made it shorter to be a 24-minutes film. And I released it in all film festivals. And step-by-step the film kept on winning every festival and even bagged the most prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award. It went on to become the best short film of 2019. So as a filmmaker, the challenges were there. Being Joy Mukerji’s son - there were a lot of pressure to live up to expectations. But that pressure, I never allowed to get to me because I knew his blessings were with me. So I said no, I want to do everything on my own – I was confident because I had learned a lot from him. Everything I did on my own - from creating the whole unit to shooting, fi- nalizing the locations to everything. So that was the most challenging thing for me. I got great support from my team, the cameraman, the artistes to everybody. So it was a lovely journey.

You started acting at a very early age right?

I started out as an actor at the age of 17 - and I think it was a big mistake. I was launched by HS Rawail and not by my father or my family. I was launched in a film called Mehboob Meri Mehboob opposite Pratibha Sinha, Mala Sinha’s daughter. It was big news at that time. I was a sportsman and into athletics. I played table tennis, badminton, cricket etc. I always dreamt of becoming an athlete. But with the kind of personality I had, a lot of acting offers started coming to me from outsiders. At that point HS Rawail sir approached me for a film - and it was the decision of my life. My father in fact, asked me, “Boy, are you ready?” But I was so excited that I got carried away with it. And that was the biggest mistake of my life. Why? Because it was a mistake. I entered the industry too early and I feel guys should come into films only after the age of 24-25. When I look back, I feel I should have experienced life more. See, I didn’t properly plan things out. Though the film was received critically well, but it was not a commercial success. After that, I did two more films Pyar Pyar and Hum Hain Kamaal Ke, which was also appreciated by people. You’ll be taken aback to know all my heroines were older than me. I was also very innocent. So what happened was that though my films did well and I was getting offers, - I did not get offers that were suiting me. Also, the scripts were nothing great. So I was very disappointed. And that’s when it started affecting me and I went into depression. I stopped picking up work as an actor. I locked myself up - I was at a very low phase then. And then I started writing in the depression. My father was there with me all the time, supporting me. And I used to discuss a lot of stories with him. He used to help me put things into perspective and would tell me to go ahead and do it. And that’s how I got into production and then went on to make this very big serial followed by the others. After which I did a lot of corporate ads too.

Was it easy transiting from being an actor to getting into production?

No, it was not easy, because when you’re an actor, you’re there in the news – but in production, you’re behind the camera in the background. So you tend to be at times get very depressed but I’ve fought that out. I think my father and mother supported me and that 51 really helped me. I feel they allowed me to do something I wanted at that point, though my father kept telling me to take up films, act. He would tell me you are a good-looking boy. But I don’t know somewhere, filmmaking was waiting for me. So I got into production and direction, and buried the actor in me. It was somewhere in the corner. But when I started producing and making things, and becoming a creative director - acting didn’t come in my mind. Then I started forgetting about acting. I started observing and using little nuances of life in my films. For instance, in Ab Mujhe Udana Hain there is a breakdown scene of Kanwaljeet. He’s a strong man who never breaks down in front of people. But things reached a boiling point where he breaks down while writing algebra on the blackboard. This incidence I had picked up seeing my father - I’m sharing this with you for the first time, I’ve never shared this with anybody. My father never cried in front of any of us. But one day, I had quietly opened his room’s door, and he had tears rolling down his cheeks. It really shook me. But film making is what you learn from your real experiences. So I remember projecting this scene and it’s the most amazing scene of the movie.

You’ve won so many awards for this film. Why hasn’t it been spotlighted?

I tend to not get into the spotlight but yes, I need to come in the forefront. I will be releasing both these films in a very good OTT platform so I thnk the audiences will get to watch it more.

You’re at last starring in Bombay 5 in a very unique ‘dark character-hero’ way. Tell us about it… Why aren’t you directing it?

In Bombay 5, the script is the hero. It is based on real incidents which took place in Bombay. You know, that’s why it’s called Bombay 5. And it’s about these gangsters who want to get out of this system, but they are not able to do it. I loved the script so agreed to act in it. Ashmit Patel and my characters are really interesting. I play this man who is totally like a villain but when he later on wants to be positive, it becomes very difficult for him. The reason I’m not directing is because my

director K Hussain approached me for it. It’s his baby. I am just helping him build the infrastructure because they didn’t have a very high budget for the film. But the script as I said is the real hero and we’re planning to shoot from December. So I’m very excited about it. I’ve got a very strong feeling that people will love Bombay 5.

What are the projects you plan to do after Bombay 5?

I’m going to be very soon doing a short film, which is going to be about 45 minutes. It can turn into a web series also, because it’s about the Covid 19 warriors - doctors, nurses, civil workers and police - who have given up their lives for us. I think more than 700 people have died for us. So I’m dedicating this film to them. I’ve also been working on a script for the past year called Gutkha King. It’s about this boy who from five rupees can make 5,000 crores. The screenplay is shaped up so beautifully so this will go on the floors by March.

How difficult is it to run a studio, especially during these days?

it’s a blessing to have Filmalaya Studio because all my knowledge as a director and producer I got through this. My father had taught me certain things. But somewhere down the line my elder brother Monjoy Mukherji and my cousin brother Samrat helped me also to learn the ropes. We have all bonded so well and created a good place. Filmalaya has been doing really well and being in Andheri West, it’s very close to a lot of actors’ homes, cast and crew. So the studio has always been booked and has performed really well. Only during the lockdown, we lost a lot of business. So during this period, we as directors took a salary cut so that we could give full salaries to our staff. The best part about Filmalaya is that the staff has been working from my father’s time. And that’s why it’s a great team. Now once the lockdown, slowly opened up, business too has started coming in. Film shootings have started again, web series shootings are taking place. A lot of big stars have come in and shot again so Filmalaya is back again into business. Somewhere, I am blessed. The whole Mukherji family supported us - and my brother like Monjoy Mukherji and my cousin Samrat Mukherji and me are immensely blessed. Our staff too have been amazing – you are nothing without your soldiers, and they are my strength.

There is this raging debate on nepotism. What do you think of it being an insider who has done everything on his own?

Yes, I was never launched by my family as I said earlier. In fact, none of my family members have been launched by the family – Be it Kajol, Tanisha, Rani, Ayan or any of the others. So I’m so proud to have sisters like Kajol, Tanisha, Rani and brothers like Ayan and all the rest. They all made it on their own steam.