It has recently been announced that Rajiv Rai, the famous producer-director known due to several masterpieces in Bollywood of the 80s and 90s, is returning to what he does best – making films. Having directed the blockbusters like Tridev, Vishwatma, Mohra and Gupt, Rai’s banner Trimurti Films Pvt. Ltd. dominated the box office with loud, yet dramatizing suspense and action films and extravagant productions. With his personal complications and an unexpected requirement to move abroad, Rai disappeared for a long time. But the master of action melodramas is in a comeback mode once again.
Rai’s return to directions is with the film Zora, a murder mystery thriller set at a fast pace, which is expected to hit the screens by the end of the year. Speaking about his comeback, Rai said, ‘Yes, I am back. I have completed the shooting of my new film Zora. It is now in the last stage of post production, which is almost complete. The basic difference this time around is that A.I Heera does not have big names or stars to boast of. Almost 40 newcomers from the northern Hindi belt have been featured in the film made on a shoe string budget. It’s my self-imposed mission as a filmmaker to make a film on thin budgets. But make it the most entertaining one out of all my films till now.”
Throughout his career, Rai has worked with young actors waiting for the big breakthrough. But went on to become big shots themselves as Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol most notably. Rai, however, has appealed to and nurtured new breed of actors. While explaining, he said, “If you carefully look back. I’ve never worked with the top stars of that particular era, though they all became stars later. I remember Asha Parekh, who is also in the book, was the actress I would think I would be working with rather than signing for. Kumar and Shetty were still rising when I signed them for Mohra. I signed Bobby Deol for Gupt while his first film was being filmed, Barsaat.
I have always liked new talent and I do not work with newcomers who do not have some form of potential.”
In a radical departure from his last two films stylistic and big budget musicals, joyously called, Zora, will not incorporate many chart toppers. “This time, there’s no scope for songs in the script,” said Rai. “However, there’s one song composed by the one and only Viju Shah. And a thoroughly engaging background score without a second’s pause,” he added smiling. Though the film has a limited budget, Rai believes a certain group of film goers would appreciate it. “I have made this film for the general public, especially for the audience of single-screen theatres whom I consider the primary audiences of this country.”
As for the transition to smaller budgets, Rai answered: “I have always made films for the general audience, and it will be hard for me to abandon them. No doubt OTT is here to stay and cinema is in dangerous waters. But Zora is a pure commercial mass entertainer and still, it’s been written and executed well. Though made on a tight budget, I’ve not let my skills or the general appearance suffer. It is an outrageous and captivating and yet healthy looking film. I must say that I have a feeling that people are going to brand it with a Rajiv Rai stamp.”
With Zora in the home stretch, Rai nevertheless entertains optimism toward audience response for it.
“Congratulations are in order in the way the project has turned out and in its final outcome. Like every filmmaker, I am also keeping my fingers crossed. In the same way all the directors do, I hope people will also appreciate Zora. All films are a labour of love, he concluded,” he recounted.
Rajiv Rai is gearing up to unleash Zora, and this is indeed a very exciting film by the looks of it. It will be something which bought him great success at the Indian film industry
