Subhash K Jha

I cannot recall when and how I got to know JP Dutta and his wife Bindiya. Perhaps it was when I saw his first film Ghulami, 17 years ago.

It was a momentous film about a reformist Rajput (played by Dharmendra) in Rajasthan. The film’s passionate radicalism created a bawandar (sandstorm) beyond Jagmohan Mundhra’s film. Thereafter Rajasthan and the Deols -- Dharmendra and Sunny -- became an integral part of JP’s films.

"I don’t know. Maybe I was born in Rajasthan in my last life," a faint smile would crack JP’s grim visage at the mention of his Rajasthan fixation. After Yateem(1988), Hathyar(1989), Batwara(1989), Kshatriya(1992) and Border(1998) JP has now moved on, leaving both Rajasthan and the Deols behind.

Neither of the Deols featured in JP’s last film Refugee. No Deol in JP’s new Kargil epic LoC which he is shooting at present in Simla.

Was this separation a natural progression in the lives of these personalities? The industry has seen many fruitful creative collaborations of the past which broke up when at full bloom.

Didn’t Nargis abandon the RK banner after Barsaat, Aah, Awara and Jagte Raho? Ironically she had to break free from the RK cocoon to blossom into the legendary actress of Mehboob Khan’s Mother India.

Over the years we’ve had such creatively rewarding cinematic sangam as filmmaker Chetan Anand and actress Priya Rajvansh (who came down to India from London to be part of his cinema and stayed on till the end), Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman, Urmila Matondkar and Ram Gopal Verma. More recently there’s Karan Johar who designed both his opuses with Kajol at the epicentre.

Male bonding in films is a separate matter altogether. Freed of the gender complexities, directors and stars often team up repeatedly without either party in the collaboration feeling threatened -- till they outgrow each other or move to greener pastures.

Director Suneel Darshan’s bonding with Akshay Kumar is undoubtedly special. Akshay came into Suneel’s picture after the director parted ways acrimoniously with Sunny Deol who starred in Suneel’s first film Ajay(which incidentally, is Sunny’s real name). The flashpoint occurred when Sunny got his director-friend financially, creatively and emotionally involved in his pet project, the doomed London.

Let’s not go into details. But Suneel and Sunny grew cold as London killed their friendship. Soon the director discovered a new collaborative spirit in Akshay Kumar, who came to him in the star’s darkest phase. On a hunch Suneel took him on for Jaanwar which turned out to be the surprise success of 1999. Now Akshay recurs not just in Suneel’s but also his brother Dharmesh’s projects.

"As of now, Akshay is like family. But who knows about tomorrow?" Suneel shrugs philosophically. He is wary, his fingers have been burnt once.

What then went wrong between Sunny and JP?

Apparently, Sunny’s company Vijayta Films wanted a financial statement about the foreign exchange earnings they earned from the equipment they had used for JP’s production company. Since JP himself owned an export company he naturally wanted to use the FERA benefits for his own company and declined to give the required letter to the Deols.

Five years after the incident, Sunny still cannot forgive nor forget.

Hurt by Sunny’s unwarranted outburst, JP shrugs off the incident. "Calling someone a liar isn’t the best way to keep a friendship going. What’s Sunny talking about? Thank God I wasn’t the one who withdrew the hand of friendship first. Now, Sunny has taken me on headlong. I guess he feels that everyone is expendable now."

Sunny says JP didn’t approach Sunny for LoC because he didn’t "dare" to. JP replies, "Sunny was never considered for any role in LoC. I’ve done three films with him. That’s more than enough. When I was shooting for Refugee, Sunny called me up thrice to invite me for the premiere of Dillagi. Had he forgotten about his grievances then?"

Another showbiz friendship goes kaput. That the duo will probably never work together again is tragic enough. More tragic is the fact that the industry has not seen any lasting relationship.

Earlier column