A Do-Gooder's Movie Mania

If you’re a movie junkie and a multiplex regular, you've probably wondered on more than one occasion who Devendra Khandelwal is. Before showtime, the name unerringly pops up on screen, as the man who made the two-minute public service advertisement you gagged on—Keep The City Clean messages depicting Mumbaiites spitting, littering, urinating and doing other unpleasant things in public.

“To be Prahlad Kakkar is easy, but to become who I am is difficult.” That's how you get introduced to Devendra Khandelwal (47), producer and director of more than 500 commercial ad films and, his unique specialization, public service advertisements.

“In 1999, the Supreme Court passed a judgment stating that all theatres must screen at least one documentary film, not necessarily from the Films Division of India. Thus, the idea of making documentaries and short films on small budgets struck me,” says Khandelwal. Today, his production house, Indian Infotainment Media Corporation holds a place in the Limca Book of Records for being India’s biggest producers of short films. These ads are screened at almost 100 multiplexes in Mumbai.

Talking about his company IIMC he says, there has been no looking back since he began to do what had been a Films Division dominion until then. While the company has made corporate promotional advertisements including those for Vicco, JK Cement and Birla Cement, his favourites remain those on subjects like domestic violence, AIDS, anti-smoking, etc.

His scripts are straightforward, almost too simple sometimes, as are his actors and production values. “I have often been criticised by filmmakers and journalists that my ads are not technically sound. To a certain extent, I agree with them. But to make a film in a very limited budget is a huge task. It is simple to make films with Rs 20 lakh. If the same message is to be delivered in a tight budget of a few thousand rupees, it takes a lot of talent and skill.”

The demure Khandelwal says he may not have “the money to make what Yash Chopra makes”, but is quite happy if viewers respond to his exhortations. Khandelwal also doesn’t believe in approaching NGOs for funds; their money is better spent at the grass roots level, he believes.

“Ad film makers these days don’t know the art of film making. To make a hard-hitting advertisement all you need is conviction, to reach out to your target audience. The budget doesn’t really matter, what matters is a simple concept that makes sense,” he says. That’s why, getting the opportunity to make a clean-city advertisement for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation was a huge honour, he adds.

A low profile producer-director, Khandelwal is a voracious reader, spending five to six everyday with his books. A post-graduate in business management from Himachal Pradesh University, he decided to join to opt for an internship with director Basu Bhattacharya.

“Soon after finishing my course, he offered me a role in his film Khatta Meetha, which later went on to become a major hit. I have acted in almost 16-17 movies as the lead. But I thought acting was too glamourised… There was also a lot of groupism in the film industry in those days,” he says, explaining why he didn't really fit into Bollywood.

“In those days advertisements were really long, they went on for a minute or more. I advised film-makers to introduce the small five-seconders and my advertisement for Parag Sarees thus set a trend,” he recounts. At the peak of his acting career he decided to take up direction full time. The big high, he says, came when he met Morarji Desai. After a lot of coaxing and convincing he finally managed to get Desai's permission to make a serial on him, which went on to receive many accolades.