Sometimes I used to think, oh god I wish my movie had released here today
Our entire life is dedicated to the social media people are on it for 24x7
Half the job is on screen and the remaining half is on social media
Films did do 25 weeks
There used to be silver jublees
and they were achieved quite easily
Hi guys this is Himesh and welcome to Pinkvilla
Today we have with us someone very special
someone whose character can be termed as the soul of Gupt,
Kajol ma'am,
Welcome to Pinkvilla ma'am it's lovely having you here
Thank you my pleasure
25 years of Gupt, since the time you heard the script it must be
it must be close to26, do you remember your first reaction
when Rajiv Rai sir narrated you the script
I did actually, I was completely taken in, I loved the script
I remember thinking till today
WOW! What a script!
And of course, I was very excited because Rajiv was offering the film and I knew that
Rajiv would make a good film for sure
So, I was really really happy about that but
everybody in every which way, of course, I knew his father as well
He was a very good friend of my father so,
you know it was a family connection there was the fact
that he was a fabulous director of that time and space
and a good script, what more does a girl need
Yeah but you know,
were you sceptical at any point in time when he offered you the negative lead
like when-
Not at all Not at all
As I said I think I believe that cool was better than good at times and
I think this was one of those times
where I thought cool was better than good
Okay. But you know when Gupt released there were very few modes of communication
I believe newspaper and radio were the 2 mediums and tv
that is the reason why the mystery was intact till a long time
I remember my dad keeps telling me that
whenever someone used to say, we have seen Gupt
the reaction was don't say anything further
Do you believe in today's time it is difficult to keep that mystery
yeah definitely,
In today's time and date, and age of social media it's completely impossible
to keep the mystery because now when they're in the theatres
they're already filming and taking clips and video clips and
you know posting them on the social media
and most films right now, want that as well so...
yeah it is the mystery may be out but I think
the film would not have survived just because of the mystery the
the film had to be made very well, the songs had to survive I think the songs,
the music is one of the main reasons why the film is till today
considered, it's been remixed a few times as well
so yeah the music as well had a lot to do with why the film has survived
And do you believe music is one of the main factors that give longetivity
to the film? Any film.
Yes I do I do.
I definitely believe that... there are certain films that can survive
without music as well
but I think it definitely adds to it, there are no two ways about it and
as far as the
as far as like you put it, the longevity is concerned like even if the film is good and
it does well, you'll remember parts of it but if the music is fantastic
you will remember huge, big chunks of it
If we go through your filmography, you have so many hit songs
like every film has one song which is relevant even today
what role has music played in your life including Gupt?
I am lucky, I have been lucky I would say that
I've had some fantastic music in
all my films
So I think luck had a huge big deal to play with it
also I think the music of that time was really good
We came out of the 70s, you know disco-era to the 90s and
it was some really fantastic music was made at that time so
yes I'm lucky to be from there
And ma'am if we look at your films from 1995-98
you had Karan Arjun, Hulchul, DDLJ, Gupt, Ishq, Pyar to hona hi tha
Pyar Kya to Darna Kya?, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Wow! I really worked hard
That's, i believe one of the best phase for an actor ever
so many hits after hits and
how do you look back at that you know
I think at that time it was easier for a film to become a hit as well
I wouldn't take the credit away from us and say that we haven't made a good film
But still, it became a hit
I would say at that time films used to work because it was the only mode of entertaiment
there was only one thing that you could do
you could only go to the theatres to watch a film
there was no Youtube there was no you know
all the rest of your modes of entertainment that we have today
There was no ott!
There was no tv as well
So I mean that was the only thing that people had
so yes films did do 25 weeks, there used to be silver jubilee
And it happened quite effortlessly
I mean we had silver and golden jubilee often
I mean there were 4 or 5 them at least in a year
So I think as I said it was easier
People you know had a lot less to remember so they remembered it much better
And do you believe that with social media coming in
it has diluted the concept of stardom because a lot of people in today's times
it has become approachable, whereas in the 90s and early 2000s
it was like there was this
eagerness-
I wouldn't say the social media has diluted it so much as
the influx of the people on the social media has diluted it
Fame used to be you know
the only people who were famous were the people who were on the big screen
Now, fame has become something that you know you can be famous for
n-number of things, you can be famous for combing your hair in a particular way
You can be famous for your nails you can be famous for the way you talk or
the way you imitate an actor, so there are so many ways to be famous today
that fame itself has become a
a very used common pronoun I would say
Yeah true actually that
So I think that in itself and of course the fact that social media
If you have to be active on social media so, I am one of the least people on social media
But I think all
most people put on their entire life on social media
they are on 24 hours
Half the time they're on screen and the other half on the social media
and I really admire that, I'm not putting it down in any way
when I say that I truly admire it that they're able to put in that much time and energy for it but
yes it does dilute your
you know if you can see somebody on social media why will you go to the screen to watch them
That's my thinking purely my opinion
no one else is responsible for it it's completely my own opinion
And ma'am 25 years of Gupt aside this is also your 30th year in the industry
you made a debut in 1992, how do you view the journey the challenges
and how have you evolved as an actor in terms of selecting scripts and approach to acting
I think my approach to acting remains the same
I definitely want to have fun,
and I believe until and unless you enjoy what you do you cannot make good films
So, I want to work with good people I want to work with scripts that I like
characters that I like and I don't think that's going to change in the near future as well
I have always done that but I did it at a more
vaster scale.
I did more films but
yeah I think that, that's something
I want to work as long as I'm having fun
I think that's the main thing
And you're doing ott stuff as well how do you view the advent of ott
medium in today's-
Actually right now it's a fabulous time for actors, all over because
They're getting so much exposure
Everybody has so much work and I love the fact that ott has brought out some fabulous actors
you know you have people who are genuinely like fabulous actors getting a stage
and being able to show exactly what they are capable of and
becoming stars in their own right despite the fact that they don't
have a 24 inches waistline and you know
a 36 inches chest or whatever
46 inches chest
true and ma'am recently you were invited by the oscars
What does that feel like? That is a moment of pride for every Indian I believe
so how did you react to that and what did you have to say?
I am of course very very proud of that fact
I was a little taken aback, I was little surprised
but I think it's
I think it is something that I am very proud of the fact that as an Indian
I've been invited there and and that is like i said
I think it's a proud moment for everybody
And the last questions ma'am, you have films lined up for release
could you tell me something in brief about it
There is I think Salam Venky in which Amir sir and you'll be united
Yes,
I have Salam Venky also coming out, I cannot talk too much about the films right now
but when we come to the point of release I promise you that
I will call you and give you an interview
Perfect and one last question, you spoke of film premieres down there
do you miss the film premieres that happened in the 90s, grand
I do actually, I do because I think the premieres were
a way to connect the film industry as well
When a premiere was held everybody were invited
you know nobody was left out
So we all went and everybody wished everybody well
even though they didn't wish them well sometimes
in our hearts, we wanted our films to release there but
But outside, we were all well dressed and congratulated everyone
hey congratulations best of luck
and you know we would sit, eat we would enjoy, watch a film together and
you know so I think that in itself is a culture that is not there anymore
and that's sad, that's really sad
I wish that is one thing that I wish we had back in the film industry yes
Perfect, ma'am thank you so much it was lovely speaking to you
Congratulations for Gupt and 30 years
Thank you
I'm looking forward for your upcoming films
Thank you
Hi this is Kajol and you're watching me on Pinkvilla