Subhash Ghai celebrated his 71st birthday last Sunday at Whistling Woods International. Over 500 students and members of the faculty were present. Among friends from the industry, there were many filmmakers but only one actor -- Jackie Shroff. Ghai has worked with many actors Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan.
Ghai explains their absence saying it was a private affair, "I had invited just six of my closest friends. Except Jackie the remaining five couldn't attend for various reasons. Amitabh Bachchan messaged to say that he was shooting in Kolkata, Shah Rukh said he was in London and would meet me in Mumbai post January 27 and Anil Kapoor was in Pune shooting for the 24 sequel. The only person who confirmed his attendance was Salman Khan, but he couldn't come as he was at his Panvel farmhouse. Hrithik couldn't come because he injured his leg. They all called me on the phone and wished me. Yes, I was expecting more people to come but I wasn't disappointed."
He hasn't worked with the younger generation so obviously they weren't on the guest list. Ghai smiles, "I guess the GenNext doesn't want to acknowledge me till I give a big hit (laughs). For them it doesn't matter what you did in the past. They don't realise that in Hollywood, many good directors are above 70 years. They are not my friends and also for most of them like Sonam (Kapoor), Sonakshi (Sinha) and Tiger (Shroff), I am an uncle. They must think inke saath thodi dance karenge. But they give me love and respect when they meet me and that's enough for me. It's not necessary that they have to come for every event of mine. I have done and seen it all."
This year unlike his earlier birthdays Ghai didn't announce his next directorial venture. " I have not announced my film this year because I don't have a script that has been completed to my satisfaction. If 10 actors love my script then only will I direct it. Today people know that Airlift is Akshay Kumar's film without knowing much about the story or director. If everybody feels that content is the king, then I do not understand why they ask for the stars. Yes, one should take a popular actor for the film as he carries the film better but he should suit the film too. In retrospect, I feel that Salman was miscast for the role in Yuvraj. I should have done an action film with Salman. I had even offered him one before Yuvraj, but because Salman was going through an identity crisis about what role suited him the best, he rejected that but loved the script of Yuvraj. Can you imagine Salman playing a violinist today? If a director makes this mistake he has to pay for it. With Vivek Oberoi too it was wrong casting for Krishna. Right casting is more important than star value. Salman worked the same year in Yuvraj and Wanted, which became a big hit. Now he's realised that his forte is action but at that time he was in a dilemma. Today I have developed an analytical approach about how to cast an actor and write a script. I will never make the same mistake of casting a star first and then fitting him into the script."
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