Special Interview with Director Rajesh Radheylal Gupta

“It is my regret to have not continued with Soorajji as his AD after Maine Pyar Kiya and opted to be an assistant to Kaveta Choudhary in her serial Udaan”

Says RAJESH RADHEYLAL GUPTA to JYOTHI VENKATESH

He has directed till date over 2000 episodes of TV serials for Doordarshan as well as other channels like Star Plus. Strange it may seem but the fact is Rajesh Radheylal Gupta had come to Mumbai actually to try his luck as an actor in films and not as a director of TV serials. In fact, way back in 1988 Rajesh Radheylal Gupta had joined none other than Sooraj Kumar Barjatya as one of his assistants on the sets of his debut film Maine Pyar Kiya which introduced Salman Khan as a leading man.

In a telephonic talk during the lockdown, when I asked Rajesh what made him give up his desire to take up acting in the first place and turn a director when he had come to Mumbai to become an actor, he had no qualms at all to admit that it was filmmaker Raj Khosla whose door he had knocked to seek a role in one of his films way back in the 80’s who is instrumental in making him change his track and opt for direction.

Rajesh reminisces about the day he had gone to Raj Khosla’s office for work. The moment Raj Khosla saw him walking his way through to his chair, he told him point blank on his face that he was not at all cut out for a career in acting in films because he lacked confidence and also the ability to carry off himself. Rajesh adds that he did not feel bad at all, because Raj Khosla did not make him feel small but also told him that he had also asked his own nephew not to take up acting in films because he did not at all quality for acting.

Rajesh confesses that earlier when he had gone to meet Johny Bakshi and Dheeraj Kumar etc, he was told more or less by them that he should have an alternative profession too because it was not easy for outsiders to try their luck as actors in Bollywood.

Rajesh also admits that it was a wrong move on his part to have not continued with Sooraj as his AD after Maine Pyar Kiya and opted to be an assistant to Kaveta Choudhary in the making of her serial Udaan. Nabh Kumar Raju, Rajesh added was also an AD along with him when he was assisting Sooraj Kumar Barjatya in Maine Pyar Kiya but he had chosen to direct films after Maine Pyar Kiya whereas he himself had chosen a different track- to direct TV serials after being an AD to Sooraj Kumar Barjatya in Maine Pyar Kiya.

Rajesh confesses, “I do not regret having assisted Kaveta Chaudhary in the making of her serial Udaan at that time because she is a great TV serial maker and I could learn a lot from her while assisting her in the making of Udaan but I regret having changed my track, ignored my career in films and taken to TV serials because even today I follow Soorajji’s principles to the T”

Rajesh says that he has directed as many as 35 TV serials till date. “It means that I have to my credit over 2000 episodes of various TV serials though as a filmmaker I do not have even a single film to my credit. I had of course produced a film in Bhojpuri called Saiyaanji Dagabaaz with super star Dineshlal Nirahua in the lead though I could not make any profit by making that film because it went over budget. Though I was told that I could get at least 1.3 crore by way for selling it, it was sold for only 30 lakhs because the market had shrunk by then.

Rajesh continues. “When I set out to produce Saiyaanji Dagabaaz with Dineshlal Nirahua, my idea was to make a series of films with him and in fact I had planned to produce my first film with him with the title Arjun Bhaiya Zindabad but it did not materialize and I had to title it as Saiyaanji Dagabaaz, though I found Nirahua to be a very professional and dedicated actor who was down to earth and did not have any tantrums at all throughout the making of the film”.

Rajesh had also assisted Danny Denzongpa’s nephew Ugyen in Nepali film Trishna and was also an associate director while making the bilingual film Bandhu for producer Romesh Sharma. It was made in Bengali and Hindi. Tapas Pal played the lead in the Bengali version. While both the versions which also starred Danny Denzongpa were released, the Hindi version was not released but converted into the super hit serial Ajnabi on DD Metro in 1993-1994.”

Though Rajesh says that he is happy with the way his career as a director has progressed as far as TV series are concerned, he is very keen on adding the names of films too in his career graph as a director in his repertoire. Rajesh is happy that both Arun Govil and Sunil Lahiri had entrusted him with the direction of a serial on old age home to him. I also had directed the TV serial Saraab for producer Navid Antulay.

I ask him to name the five best TV series among those he has directed till date and he rattles off the names like Maal Hai To Taal Hai, Hari Mirchi Laal Mirchi, Kabhi Saas Kabhi Bahu, Forty Plus and last but not the least Shikwa.

I ask Rajesh why he has to his credit mostly TV serials on Doordarshan and besides Maal Hai To Taal Hai, he has hardly any TV serial on any popular satellite channel and he retorts, “I had also directed TV serials like Yehi Hai Zindagi, Jeena Isika Naam Hai with Binduji and Shashikalaji and Beta Numbari Baap Dus Nambari with Dara Singh and Ashok Saraf but all of a sudden the weekly soaps started turning into daily soaps and I realized that I had been slotted as the director of comedy weekly soaps and no one had the guts to offer me a daily comedy soap.”

“Luck and destiny play a very vital role in shaping your career. I was actually asked by Anujji who was heading Sony SAB to produce a comedy serial called Ladies Tailor about a man who is surrounded only by women in his life at home, a few years ago but it was my bad luck that Anujji decided to quit Sony SAB TV after assigning me the task of producing the serial for which I had planned to cast either Rajesh Kumar of Sarabhai V/s Sarabhai or Rohitash Gaud in the title role. When the new incumbent joined the channel, I was asked to drop my proposal”, Rajesh wails.

Among the filmmakers who are in his wish list, Rajesh, who is right now busy working as an Executive Producer on a web series called Runaway Lugaai which will be streamed shortly on MX Player, says are Sooraj Kumar Barjatya, Rajkumar Hirani, Aditya Chopra, Nikhil Advani and last but not the least Ugyen.