Alcoholism. Bankruptcy. Flops. Death threats. Political troubles. If director Hansal Mehta had a CV comprising his myriad struggles, it would make quite an impressive list. In an age where fans are manufactured at events and followers are bots cheering for you on social media with mindless hashtags to show how ‘popular’ you are, Mehta’s story is an important one. It serves as a guide to newcomers that life in the film industry isn’t lived only on social media, and every Bollywood biggie doesn’t need to buy mansions to have ‘arrived’.
Mehta still lives in a rented apartment, which makes us ask an obvious question — why does the director of arguably 2020’s biggest and most critically acclaimed web series, Scam 1992 The Harshad Mehta Story, not have his own pad? “I don’t want my work to be bogged down by the pressure of economics, of paying EMIs. I want my work to have the pressure of being able to challenge me, stimulate me, and make me proud of what I am doing. Because every day I spend on set is like a gift. And I have only gratitude for it,” the ace director said.
And a gift it most certainly is. Let’s go back to his comedy-drama Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! (2000) starring Manoj Bajpayee, Tabu, and Saurabh Shukla. Clearly not understanding the title of the film, a few weeks after its release a bunch of people led by a politician turned up at his office and demanded an apology from him over a certain dialogue. Long story short, Mehta apologised. Two weeks later, he got another call from someone who had landed at his office and demanded an apology. While reaching the scene, Mehta alerted the police station about the situation and that he would need protection. However, the policemen had no idea about the volume of people at the spot, with over three trucks of protesters being present. They threatened him, broke things in the office and vandalised the space.
Ultimately, after he stood up on a table with folded hands and asked them what they wanted, it was decided that he would have to go to their village and apologise to them. An actor friend from the industry who had stepped in saying he would help in talking to the villagers told Mehta they had started drinking outside his house, and had said they would burn his home down. Mehta went to the village without much police protection, as the force was tied up with some major demolitions that were happening on the same day.
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Manoj Bajpayee in a still from 'Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar' |
The dark comedy in the whole situation was that none of the protesters had seen the film. When Mehta arrived, a bonfire was on outside his friend’s house and politicians, hooligans and others were present at the scene, threatening and screaming at him. They finally settled with him touching the feet of the eldest woman of the village as a symbolic gesture, despite which they also painted Mehta’s face black.
No wonder then, that these experiences also made Mehta an ideal candidate to make Shahid (2012), which brought RajKummar Rao into the limelight, about the lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was killed in 2010. In 2017, after two of his films — Omerta and Simran — he ran into financial difficulties. Then, three years later came Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, and suddenly, Mehta and his protagonist Pratik Gandhi were the flavour of the season. But through all of this, what kept him going?
RajKummar Rao in a still from 'Shahid'. |
“One thing I had learned was never to give up. And I have always maintained that I have faith in my work and I do it with complete honesty. Even if the final output might not be liked by everyone, I put my entire might behind it. There is zero compromise on that. And I have faith in myself that I will overcome the circumstances. I think it’s just taking each day as it comes. I get up in the morning and decide I have to work. I don’t let these things bog me down. Just go, fight, and focus on your work. Also, I am fortunate to have a family that supports me and friends who stand by me. Many friends didn’t, but I have no grudge against anyone. It’s my battle and I have to fight it. I cannot tell myself that I have lost, and I can only say that if I can’t work from tomorrow. For me, that is my loss. Nothing else. I’ve had the most comebacks in this business,” Mehta shared.
And he’s quite right about the comeback part. Starting his career in 1993 with the cookery show Khana Khazana, which launched the TV career of celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, initially there were several apprehensions about the show. Later, his films failed and for a while, he went back to his village and lived there. He made a sex comedy (Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai?, 2002) way before such movies had garnered attention in India and a thriller, Chhal (starring KK Menon, Prashant Narayan), he reminds us on the day when the recent release, Kill (2024), is being lauded for its originality.
And then he sums up the above in one line — “So I sort of just got up and restarted. Restart. That is the story of my life.”
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