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It used to be a hub of activity as the most sought after
destination of yesteryear Bollywood bigwigs like Dilip Kumar, Raj
Kapoor and Nargis. Today Mehboob Studio looks haunted and deserted.
Who would believe now that it is the same place where Hindi
cinema's landmark film "Mother India" was shot.
Nestled in the suburbs, it was built by the legendary Mehboob
Khan in 1954. Khan made masterpieces like "Aurat", "Amar" and
"Andaaz". In fact, "Andaaz" gave Dilip Kumar his first blockbuster.
But the studio has seen its fortunes slip away.
Mehboob Khan's children still live within its premises and rent
out the space to other production houses. Khan's sons - Ayub,
Iqbal and Shaukat - sank into anonymity after his death, unable to
make a single film due to paucity of funds.
"When my father died, he left a huge debt. It took us more than 12
years to pay it off. At that time, thinking about making a film was
not practical. Now we don't want to produce films because we
don't have surplus money to invest," Iqbal told IANS.
"The last film produced by us was 40 years ago. It was 'The Son of
India' that my father directed. It flopped and led to a financial
crunch.
"As a young boy I wanted to make films but nobody financed me. I
went through a lot of trouble - I mean the frustration of not
making a movie. Now I don't have any hope that I will be able make
a film."
The family rents out the six stages - some halls, some uncovered
spaces - in the studio to different filmmakers. The hit song
"Khaike Paan Banaraswala" was shot there. Currently set designer
Munish Sappel has erected a huge Portuguese Bungalow for Ravi
Chopra's "Bhootnath".
The Khans have no intention of adding any new wing to the studio or
completing the half-built structure that his father started
building before his death in 1964.
Recently, Chopra released the coloured version of his father B.R.
Chopra's black and white classic "Naya Daur", but Iqbal says that
he or his brothers don't have any plans to remake their father's
films in colour.
"You need a lot of money to colour the classics and we don't have
that kind of money. I would prefer to see the classics in black and
white. But some classics like 'Naya Daur' should be coloured
because its music is modern and it has drama.
"But my father's film 'Andaaz' music will not be appreciated
today. Modern youngsters may not be able to enjoy 'Andaaz'."
Iqbal, who is married to Dilip Kumar's sister, prefers the old
ways of the studio culture to the star system.
"The studio culture was better because everything was organised and
disciplined. Today stars may come and may not come. Films of that
era were much better because they had story, music and script and
the main thing is that they were Indian. Nowadays people are
influenced by Western culture. They go abroad and shoot there."
He believes the best cinema came from his father as well as Raj
Kapoor, Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt.
Among the current lot, he likes Nagesh Kukunoor's work. "I don't
see too may films. But from whatever I have seen, I found 'Dor'
the best. It is a good film."
Throwing light on Mehboob Khan's persona, Iqbal said his father
did not have much of formal education, was a devout Muslim and used
to pray five times a day. But he gave his children good education.
Iqbal feels his children might become the torchbearers of the
family's link with films. "My son Saquib is working as a movie
executive with Kamal Sadana. And my daughter Ilaham is into
scriptwriting."
There are others too who lament the passing away of an era as
reflected in the fortunes of Mehboob Studio.
Pandurang Narayan, who was a worker in Mehboob Studio for 57 years
and is in his 70s, calls him a messiah of workers.
"We used to do pooja and he used to sit with us and eat prasad. He
used raise funds for his workers' children's weddings," said
Narayan.
"Saab (Mehboob Khan) was a king. Nobody was unhappy when he was
happy. He never fired any worker. He came from a humble background
and was aware of the problems of poor people."
In fact, the filmmaker chose the hammer and the sickle as an emblem
for Mehboob Productions.
Sharing some anecdotes on the making of "Mother India", Narayan
said: "It was shot in studio number one. To show the drowning
houses in the film we had to go underwater and cut the wooden
panels to make them sink."
He says today's set designers put too much emphasis on small
details.
"We made the fort in 'Aan' with mud and cow-dung. In those days,
they never stressed on small details. We used to ready the sets in
two-three days but now it takes months to make a set."
By Arpana
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