Vogue has drawn a list of 38 best thrillers of all times, Rajiv Rai’s Gupt is no.25.
Rajiv Rai is elated. “I thank whoever has penned that article and made a list for thinking about Gupt and I’m grateful to everybody in Gupt my cameraman Ashok Mehta who’s not here obviously . He was an integral part of Gupta and he contributed heavily and very strongly to the film because when you do a mystery film the camera’s role is very strong ….you know with the contrast lighting or with the shadows or the way the camera moves so you’re very dependent on camera work and Ashok Mehta is very fondly remembered and he was I think our best cameraman in Bollywood one of the best and at that time he was the best and I’m glad he acknowledged and kind of agreed to do this film though he was a dear friend of mine and we had planned to work together so I’m happy it was Gupta that was the only film I did with him . I’m grateful to Viju for giving extraordinary music I think the music was absolutely fabulous it is one of my best soundtracks.
Rajiv admits it is impossible to do Gupt again. “ I don’t think I can ever repeat a Gupt I can’t do it again I mean I wish I can but I doubt if that can happen again . The score was absolutely phenomenal Everybody contributed you know .Shabbir Boxwala was with me and there was the cast Bobby Deol was a gem to work with Kajol’s performance was tops and best so was Manisha Koirala .Kajol really held it together and you know got into the role which was very beneficial to me and if I can say she is the true blue diamond of Gupt . How can we forget Om Puri and Sadashiv Amrapurkar? I was lucky to manage to put a great star cast and a team of technical people there the sound and the mixing that we did in the South and I think that’s what destiny is when things fall in place .So things fell in place and the dialogues were very good the writing was good you know everything was fine and I can’t complain and it’s very hard to recreate that magic again and I’m glad I did that and I don’t ever think of doing any of my films again so what’s done it’s in the past so try and do something different I won’t say better but something different in the future let the people judge at the audience judge what is the best and what is better so I will strive for that .I feel happy today.”
Rajiv feels Gupta was embraced by audiences from day it was released in 1997. “Gupt has been appreciated from the day it came out there’s a lot of appreciation. I personally feel the reason is not many directors producers actually try to venture into a suspense film or a whodunit or a murder mystery.The general belief in Bollywood is that if it’s a suspense film and people know whodunit they are not going to watch it or you lose the audience and people give away the suspense so there’s no thrill you see it once so you don’t see it the second time.I don’t think that happens if you make a good film no matter what the genre is, people will watch it again .With Gupt, it had very good music for repeat value; also the story was different it wasn’t ever copied or inspired from any film it was original subject with Viju Shah’s original music.It was a difficult film to make and to write and so I feel the reason it’s lived and has become a sort of evergreen cult film is due to the fact that not many writers and directors experiment with this kind of a genre subject.They generally stay away from suspense films or films where you’re guessing the murderer or the criminal or the person who’s doing the crime for me this is the best subject you can do.”
Rajiv Rai’s new film is also a suspense thriller. “ Yes , Zora which I’ve now made Part One and Two is also touching a suspense angle.It is a murder mystery but it’s totally different from Gupt.It has no similarity to what I’ve done in the past but it’s of this genre where you’re guessing the killer but it’s not it’s not the same kind of a subject at all so .Filmmakers find it scary or they find it they find it risky to make a subject of this kind so people don’t venture into it so I guess there aren’t many films . I think in the South do a lot of suspense I haven’t seen all of them but you know there has been like Drishyam if you call it a suspense film where they I think they reveal the suspense from the start, so it’s not really suspense but it’s treated differently as to whether Ajay Devgn will get caught with the crime he’s done. But Gupt is about guessing the killer’s identity …know it’s like you play with the audience’s mind and that that’s very interesting for me .
With Gupt, it had very good music for repeat value; also the story was different it wasn’t ever copied or inspired from any film it was original subject with Viju Shah’s original music.It was a difficult film to make and to write and so I feel the reason it’s lived and has become a sort of evergreen cult film is due to the fact that not many writers and directors experiment with this kind of a genre subject.They generally stay away from suspense films or films where you’re guessing the murderer or the criminal or the person who’s doing the crime for me this is the best subject you can do.Zora which I’ve now made Part One and Two is also
touching a suspense angle.It is a murder mystery but it’s totally different from Gupt.It has no similarity to what I’ve done in the past but it’s of this genre where you’re guessing the killer but it’s not it’s not the same kind of a subject at all so.”
My inspiration or my kind of drive or motivation to make a murder mystery ….I used to watch a lot of Alfred Hitchcock when I was young and I used to really enjoy and I used to admire Alfred Hitchcock and wonder how does he do it, and also there have been other Western directors that have done very good mysteries .There haven’t been that many in Bollywood I feel there are few and it’s all spread apart but I still feel that it is a subject that if you make it right it definitely works and the audience likes being tested when they’re in a suspense film about the killer’s identity.Thank you Subhash, for always coming forward asking me wonderful questions and putting pen to paper and getting the best out of me in terms of interviews nobody has done it better than you.To be truthful that I feel more honoured talking to you than anything else . Before we end I must mention Shabbir Boxwalla again for working very hard with me on this film. I remember we went down South and found Kodaikanal where I did a lot of work and that was an extraordinary location .I didn’t shoot Gupt abroad.It was all in India.”