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'In India, we have a hypocritical attutude towards nudity in films'Bombay, 24 May, 2001: Hollywood film-maker Jagmohan Mundhra insisted that he did not make pornographic films. In a Chat that covered topics from films to sexuality to defining pornography, he took pains to explain what his films were all about while also castigating the attitudes of Indians towards sex in films.
Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Hi folks, I am here!! hellosexy : Hello SIR..NAMASKAR..I hope u know hindi ..Why do you make porn classics with other heroines and heroes..Are there any porn videos in which you have acted...have you acted nude in any films... I am a gay...please reply at jollyboy15@yahoo.com Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I have never made a porn film; only erotic thrillers. I only say Action and Cut, I don't act in them. sarath : sir, can i know what ur next venture is? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : My new film is Bawandar (Sandstorm), with Nandita Das in the lead. coolguy : sir what do u consider ur classic? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I am very proud of my new film Bawandar. It has won the Best Actress award for Nandita in Santa Monica and won Best Picture in 3 international film festivals. SAM : where are you staying currently Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I divide my time between LA and Bombay. Currently I am in Bombay. ilove_monsoon : Dear sir How did you manage to make classics like monsoon and modern sex-tales like tainted love at same time Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I am glad u like Tainted Love and Monsoon; have you seen Shades of Gray and Improper Conduct. It is just like making any other film. You have to know the grammar of film making. It is like if you know the English language, you can read Shakespeare as well as the National Enquirer. Sid : hello, i really luv the way u portray women in your films Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I don't like to treat women as victims; they are in charge of their own sexuality. Darling Jagg : ARE YOU A GAY? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : No I am not gay. sanjay : sir your date of brithe? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I am a Scorpio, 29 October is my date of birth. sanjay : kya aap gana gaatey hai? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Nahi, soonne ka shaukh hai! Sid : do ur heroines sleep with u?? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Nahi, purdeh mein rehne do, purdah na uthao! chinni : what are ur upcoming films Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : After six months of battle with the Censor Board, I have gotten my film Bawandar cleared without a picture cut; with an A certificate. Anyone who goes to see this film will realise how I have pushed the envelope in Indian cinema. It's hard hitting, excrutiating, riveting, and complex. But you'll come out of the theatre a changed person. Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I would like to say that in India, we have this hypocritical attitude towards nudity in films. In American films, like Nine And A Half Weeks, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Disclosure; even well known stars do love scenes as the story demands it. Here we like to watch them but make snide remarks about them! Sid : no sir we are not being hypocritical, were telling u we luv it, sorry if it came across as anything else Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Thank you. Have you seen Wild Cactus, The Other Woman, The Other Man, Irresistible Impulse? These are some of the other thrillers I am quite proud of. On the other end of the spectrum; have you seen Kamla? Sid : sir, do u plan doing a movie with aishwarya rai?? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Everybody wants to do a movie with Aishwarya Rai. The relevant question is does she want to do a movie with me! talk : Hi!,Where are you headed from here? What do I get to see from you in the next few years? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : As Jagmohan, I plan to direct several socially relevant films in the next few years. As Jag Mundhra, I may have to do a few thrillers in LA to pay for the ones mentioned above. That is the reality of life. HariOm : When will u shave your beard Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I have only shaved it twice in my life! Once when I got married; and once when my grandmother emotionally blackmailed me into doing so. My daughter and my wife love my beard; they won't let me get home if I shaved it off!! talk : do you feel that socially relevant films have a good international market? I feel that good indian film makers donot have the skills to market their films abroad like the chinese do. What do you think? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : It took a long time for the Chinese films to be accepted in Hollywood. Indian cinema is on the brink of making that breakthrough. At least now people don't look down upon mainstream Bollywood cinema; they accept it as alternate cultural phenomena. piyush123 : sir who do u think is the most erotic heroine here in bollywood Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Let's just not confine ourselves to erotic because anyone looks erotic when you are in the right frame of mind. There are many beautiful actresses in Bollywood, from Nandita Das who I find extremely attractive to Aishwarya Rai who the whole world found beautiful. There are also pop singers such as Sunita Rao who are absolutely exotic. HariOm : Can we get to see the uncut version of Monsoon is it available on CD's Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : A director's cut of Monsoon will soon be availabe on DVD. drtushar : bawandar is indeed a bold topic good going mr.mundra but do u think siuch movies amke an impact on our uneducated masses? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : The impact has to be on a trickle down basis. I realise that the masses probably go for escapist entertainment; but cinema is too powerful a medium to only cater one segment. Cinema must also act as a mirror to the ills of society. We have to get out of the ostrich in the sand mentality. My hope is to make engaging cinema which will evoke discussion and not self important ponderous abstract so-called pseudo art cinema. By the same token, irrelevant timepass entertainment is also for me a waste of resources. sanjay : aap sigret petey hai aur daru ka seven kartey hai Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : ji nahi. Sirf khane ka shaukeen hoon. Krish : Your movies has always something related to sex....when can we expect some movie with family values from your side? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Family values need a family; there can be no family without sex! So get over it!! Parul : Hi, I just have a little query. why is it that our indian art ('serious'?) cinema, insist on using issues which are always if not mostly to do with the poor, the repressed etc? Granted they are rich in 'reality' and 'meaning' but let us not forget that the people who watch and appreciate these films are the elite. As for good cinmena is concerned, I can't recall the name of one director which has done original, creative stuff. Like Tavleen Singh had said in one of her articles (on arundhati roy) - the poor are the constituency to be won (in politics). in art, i think it is a ticket for being taken seriously. what do you think? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : There is truth in what you say. Even though my story deals with gangrape, there are many other layers in this story such as agendas of various people who come to either help the rape victim or hurt her. It addresses the issue which you are talking about without sparing anyone including me, the filmmaker. krasyran : sir, whyz sex a taboo in Indian Society ? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Because we are hypocrites who pretend to be holier than thou! We also think of sex as something to be ashamed of; the forbidden desire. This unhealthy attitude sex contributes to sexual crimes such as rape. J : WHAT PROMPTED U TO MAKE A MOVIE ON RAPE Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : I made this film because the rape victim became a rape activist and her courage inspired me. The film attacks directly without mincing any words the attitudes of feudalism, chauvinism, casteism, and political opportunism. In our country, we do lip service to calling women as 'devis' whereas we treat them like 'slaves'. rajesh : WE heard that Censor Board has finally cut only 1 scene from ur film, was it an important scene? will it have any effect on the story of the movie? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Every scene in my film is important to me. From 120,000 feet of film which I shot, I kept 11,500 in the final cut. However, I accepted an audio cut on a joke which some drunken men crack about rape, because the tribunal was kind enough and enlightened enough to pass everything else which the Censor had asked to cut. talk : Why have so few indian films made to the Oscars? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : For Oscar nomination in the foreign language category, the Film Federation of India has to nominate one Indian film every year. Sometimes their choices are very curious. Did you know Jeans was nominated for an Oscar from India? rajesh : HOW do you rate Nandita as n actress? Would you consider her in same league as Shabana Azmi or Smita Patil? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Nandita is one of the reasons why I chose to make a Hindi film on the lines of Kamla after 15 years. She is intelligent, articulate, spontaneous, and talented. I would say that like Shabana and Smita in their times, Nandita is a beacon of hope for realisic cinema. Other actresses who have similar sensibilities are Deepti Naval, Seema Biswas, Mita Vashisht, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Smriti Mishra, Raveena Tandon, and Karisma Kapoor. I am sure there are others who I don't know personally. J : DON'T U THINK THE MEDIA SHOULD GIVE MORE ATTENTION TO MOVIES WITH MESSAGE LIKE BAWANDAR RATHER THAN COMMERCIAL CINEMA.COMMENT?SIR? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : It is not just the media; I think the audience should patronise cinema which has something to say as opposed to only flocking for timepass. Time is too valuable a commodity to just let pass. krasyran : is pre-marital sex a crime or something that can be accepted by the Indian Society ?? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : It is not a crime. By the same token, any sexual relationship should not be taken casually and lightly because it has several emotional ramifications, especially for women. There is a famous saying: that women give sex to get love; men give love to get sex! In our Indian society, a man with pre-marital sexual experience is considered a stud, whereas a women is considered a slut. This bring backs to our theme of hypocrisy. coorgi : WHO WAS THE HEROINE OF YOUR MOVIE DIVINE LOVERS? Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : That is not my film. It was directed by B Subhash. Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : Good bye, time to go back to work. Don't forget to see Bawandar, which will release sometime in August. Mr Jagmohan Mundhra : You can check out details about the the film Bawandar on the bawandar website.
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