Reinventing Jugal Hansraj

He burst on to the scene in 1983’s Masoom, and then petered out into the vast Bollywood reelscape. But now, with the release of his directorial debut, Roadside Romeo, Jugal Hansraj proves that he's never really disappeared; he's simply been keeping himself busy…very busy indeed

What would you do if you were an actor, with almost 30 films to your credit, but were only remembered for a role you played when you were 11? If you had worked with the best film-makers in the business, and had nothing to show for it? If you began working at two, and still had a career that was defined by only three milestones, one of which was a song? Or if you were associated with two blockbusters — and in fact, gave one of them its super-hit title song (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) — but never really had one yourself?

If you were Jugal Hansraj, you would turn it into a joke. "I now tell directors not to come to me if they want their projects to see the light of day," says the actor, with a laugh. After his hugely-acclaimed debut in Shekhar Kapur's Masoom in 1983, Hansraj has tried many times to do an equally successful turn as an adult, but never managed it. In the last 12 years, he has signed about 21 films, but only eight were actually released. Most didn't even make it to the floors, while others got canned mid-way and had film-makers, who had rushed to sign him on, backing away because he was no longer "commercially viable". Only Yashraj Films' Mohabbatein, did any justice to this talented actor.

Hindi films should have a term for it, because it's so common. But the thing that appears to have struck Jugal is the curse of the child artiste. "Not true," he says promptly, even before I've finished the question (clearly a touchy subject; you wonder how many times he's been asked about this). "Hirthik Roshan had a great role in Bhagwan Dada. Neetu Singh played a double role in her first film, Do Kaliyan, the Hindi film version of Parent Trap. Sridevi and Kamal Hassan were both in films as kids. Aftab Shivdasani may not be in the top rung today, but he is a busy actor…," Hansraj rattles off a clearly-rehearsed list. But has he forgotten the Masters…Raju, Mayur, Alankar, Bittu, Satyajit, Baby Guddu or even Hansika Motwani? Does he not know that (to modify an old saying) there's a Baby light for every failed child-actor in Bollywood?

So far, Hansraj is in the ranks of those who didn't make it: All because of an unfortunate combination of bad planning, bad timing and bad luck. When it was time for the winning combination of Shekhar Kapur and Hansraj to come together again with Mr India, Jugal missed the role that would've eased him into adulthood, by a whisker. He was slotted to play the oldest kid in the group of orphans, but by the time the shoot started, Hansraj was 14 — about four years older than the boy he was to play. "I had begun to sprout some facial hair, so Shekhar took one look and said 'I don't think you can do it any more',"says Hansraj. As consolation, Kapur named the kid after Jugal. A teen love story called Anmol, an 80s Bobby that was to be Hansraj's first film post-adolescence (with Mala Sinha's daughter Pratibha), never took off. His first solo hero project after Mohabbatein, a Rajshri Productions venture called Hum Pyar Tum Hi Se Kar Baithe, sank without recall. Hansraj signed four films on the strength of just one song in Papa Kehte Hain, but not one of them even reached pre-production. And the cruelest cut? Jugal's first release as an adult, Aa Gale Lag Jaa, was with his Masoom co-star Urmila Matondkar. He bombed, she became a bombshell, and that was that.

These days Hansraj is busy with cameos — and is clearly none the worse for it. There isn't a trace of wistfulness or a what-if air about him. Doesn't he sometimes look at Urmila and wish he was up there instead? "Of course I wish it was me, but I'm glad that at least one of us is up there," he says. "The thing is, in the last 12 years, I have never really been without work. Except for one or two months between projects, I've always been shooting for something or the other. On paper, my resume looks very good." Hansraj has worked with directors spanning several generations. Raj Sippy, Ismail Shroff and Subhas Ghai cast him as a child; later, he signed films with Basu Chatterjee, D Rama Naidu, Romu Sippy, Mahesh Bhatt, Sooraj Barjatya, Mahesh Manjrekar and even Ram Gopal Varma. Hansraj is also proud of being directed by Manmohan Desai — albeit for a screen test — in true movie mogul style, with a lavish set, camera work by a well-known director of photography and dances by Saroj Khan. For a Mumbai boy who doesn't come from a film family — Hansraj never joined his family's business, but he's clearly inspired cousin and "kid brother" Chetan to take to show business as well — this wasn't a bad run.

While working on this piece, a lot of possible phrases to describe Hansraj sprung up, mostly from the ways in which he describes himself: Perpetual newcomer, comeback kid. My favourite is the great re-inventor. You have to admire his resilience and sheer staying power: From child star, to iffy lead, to meaningful cameo. And now Hansraj has taken on the challenge of trying to prove himself off the screen. This week cinemas played host to his directorial debut, an animation film called Roadside Romeo, produced by Yashraj Films and Walt Disney. "It was Adi's idea," says Hansraj, referring to his old friend — they used to catch a new release together every Friday — of many years. (Hansraj got to know him through college-mate and "bench buddy" Karan Johar). "He knew I was crazy about animation, so he thought I would be the best person to handle Romeo." It's one of the things Hansraj is "geekily into" (the others include downloading cookery shows and reading Anthony Bourdain's books; learning new things every time he gets a break, from photography to music, and watching at least one film a day).

Hansraj was the kid with the longest lunches — he would watch the 75-minute Jungle Book every day as he ate. He believes that the rat in Ratatouille should've got an Oscar, and dreams of one day visiting his Mecca, Pixar's office in Emeryville, San Francisco. For a few moments, as he talks passionately about his fascination with French and Japanese animation, and about all the books he's read and the films he's seen, he's a kid all over again. Only, this 'kid' is helming a two-year project involving a team of over 150 CGI experts, and several marquee stars like Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey. "I just told the team to go ahead and have fun, and put in whatever gags and graphics they wanted," says Hansraj. "And I told the actors to ad lib. We got some great moments out of that."

Romeo, says Hansraj, is a real film in a virtual space — the idea of which came to him when he was watching dogs frolicking at a traffic light. "It's like they have their own world, and are completely oblivious to ours. So I decided to flip the situation, and make a film from their perspective, set in a Hindi film." It was much more work than he reckoned, and Hansraj warns people against taking something like this on, unless they are truly devoted to animation. The process is back-to-front, and starts with the dubbing to which the graphics are set; requires immense technical expertise and knowledge and, among other things, allows you to see a the retake of a shot only after two days. "It has been a long and patient journey," says Hansraj about Romeo. Pretty much like his
career.
l_ghosh@dnaindia.net