Subhash Ghai: I couldn't open a film school in Haryana because of political reasons

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai has a deep connection with Haryana. "I spent my formative years ' from 17 to 21 ' studying B.Com in Rohtak," he told us, "Since I was a hostel boy, I created a cultural club in my college. I started writing plays and began acting in them. I have observed Haryanvi culture very closely. In several of my films, you can find Haryanvi characters. Haryanvis are very straightforward people.The moment you bring a Haryanvi character in a film, the whole colour of the scene changes. I love Haryana, aur iski mitti ki khushboo hamesha mere saath rahegi."

Ghai, who runs a film and acting institute in Mumbai, wanted to start a similar one in Haryana, but that couldn't happen. "I was given land in Haryana in 2007 to build the institute. It's sad that it could not happen because of political reasons. Apparently, the land had been acquired by some wrong mode, and so I gave it back," he said.

Ghai added, "For me, the institute was a way to give something back to Haryana, and not a business proposal. I hope that the present government will take steps to promote cinema here. The reason a regional film industry has not grown in Haryana is because the people here don't understand how a film industry functions, and secondly, they are not willing to trust the experts."

Ghai was speaking to us at the recently-concluded Gurgaon chapter of the Great Indian Film and Literature Festival. He remembered how he had visited Gurgaon from Rohtak a few times during his college days. 'It used to be a village back then, in the early 1960s. Every city develops with time, but I had never imagined Gurgaon to have such infrastructure decades later. Now, I often come to Gurgaon on my Delhi visits. I have seen this city grow, but still it amazes me how it became one of the few smart cities in the country," he told us.
At the sidelines of the festival, we also spoke to the doyen of Malayalam cinema, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, about his first visit to Gurgaon. On being asked how regional cinema could grow in Haryana, he replied, "With two prominent languages ' Hindi and Punjabi ' being popular here, the scope for Haryanvi is little. The film industry can't sustain itself with such a small-sized audience. But individuals can make efforts to make Haryanvi films because now you don't need big budgets to make films, thanks to technology. They may not be blockbusters from Mumbai, but you can still make films."