10 Questions

SUBHASH GHAI

With Taal, Subhash Ghai became the first Bollywood filmmaker to fully insure his movie. Now, he’s done it again — he’s the highest insured person in this country. He tells us why he’s creating more records with the insurance industry than the film industry.

Q: You’ve just been insured for Rs 18 crore. How did you arrive at that figure?
Actually, we applied for Rs 20 crore, but it came back sanctioned for Rs 18 crore. Apparently, they couldn’t go beyond that.

Q: You’re the highest insured person in the country. Does that also make you the country’s most valuable person?
(Laughs) After I’m gone, I guess! But no, on a serious note, the reason I decided to insure myself was because I felt there was some insecurity in the minds of the shareholders and investors of my company, Mukta Arts. I felt they were worried about the fate of this company in case something happened to me. Now that I’ve insured myself adequately, the company can take care of itself even without me. At another level, I feel mentally secure myself since I can now carry on with my own creative work without having to worry about the company’s fate.

Q: Since you’ve got yourself insured, do you fear for life or limb?
Neither. Getting oneself insured is more of an emotional act. It’s just a way of providing for the people who are going to survive after you. Insuring property or movies, on the other hand, is a means to cover the risk factor involved in your job.

Q: Did you approach the LIC or did they come to you?
A friend from my struggling days, Bipin Upadhyaya, who’s an insurance agent now, came to me with this scheme. After he convinced me, we proposed the scheme to my board of directors, who approved of it.

Q: Do you think foreign insurance agencies have a bright business future in India?
Why not? India is a developing country with a bright future. When we talk about globalising our economy, naturally the foreign agencies are going to arrive here. Competition is healthy. It will only benefit the people.

Q: When you insured Taal, you were the first person to fully insure a movie. Was it a wise decision?
Absolutely. See how many filmmakers are following in my footsteps now. When you insure your film, there’s a certain discipline that comes into your budget and your schedules. Your cast and crew have to give a commitment in writing that they will work as per schedule. A lot more care is taken to ensure that dates aren’t cancelled and that schedules don’t go haywire.

Q: Did you claim any insurance on Taal?
No. Although we did suffer some losses, our budget always includes a 10 per cent provision towards unforeseen losses, so we didn’t really have much to worry about. We didn’t claim insurance because we wanted to prove that we were honest clients. We didn’t want to abuse the insurance agreement.

Q: Is your new film, Yaadein, a remake of Fiddler On the Roof?
No. It’s true that there’s a father-daughter relationship in the film, but it’s entirely original. In this country, we have a tendency to draw parallels between every new film and those that we have seen before.

Q: Is it your best film so far?
How can I answer that? However, it’s looking very good. All my technicians and my actors who’ve seen the film say it’s my best work. For my part, I can only say I have made it from the heart.

Q: And is it Anu Malik’s best soundtrack?
Anu Malik certainly says it is. I can’t decide because I’ve been a part of the music-creating process and therefore I’ve lost all judgment.

— Rajeev Masand