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The guiding stars

V S Srinivasan

There are many things you can accuse Bollywood of -- most of which would scandalise everybody from the housewife to the income tax official. But one thing you can't blame it for is falling prey to pernickety rationalism.

Hey, but superstition is built into most cultures, even many of those that cock a snook at the credulous.

If the average Indian is chary of annoying the gods, the Hindi film industry takes caution to ludicrous extents. Natural, really, this kind of care:

The industry does not know what will succeed and what won't. Worse, despite operating within some broad parameters, they don't know why anything works -- or fails. It's common knowledge that those at the mercy of factors beyond their control usually attribute them to sentient supernatural forces, which have to be dealt with very tactfully.

Which is why Bollywood has elaborate rituals surrounding every detail, right from the naming of the film to the time the film is released. And which is why stars get excited about details beyond the black cat and the sacred thread, the astrologer and the good luck charm.

Names people change

Take those weird film titles. According to Surendra Sharma, an astrologer and expert in Vastushastra, numerology has an important bearing on them, which is why they are sometimes a little hard on the ear. He says he should know since he's been consulted when many a new film is being named.

"See, it is important that a film's named properly, otherwise it will fail to have an impact," he says. "It depends on your stars and the letters that are good for you.

"For Rakesh Roshan, K is the only letter that makes sense sometimes. But then, he wants to keep making films. He should wait for the appropriate time. But he isn't always doing that. Which is why some of his films flop."

Rakesh Roshan's track record includes Kaam Chor, Karan Arjun, Koyla and now, Karobar. His film production house is named Film Kraft, named thus not because it is a natty new generation moniker but because it includes the magic letter.

"The letter K has been very lucky for me. I'll continue to name all my films with the letter K," the director says. But he denies he gets brother Rajesh Roshan only to compose music for him.

"No, it's not that I'm superstitious about Rajesh. He's a good music director. Why not let him to do the songs when he is so talented and from my house too?"

And because the industry has this thing about K, you hear of some odd-sounding films, Karishma Kudrat Ka, Khel Khiladi Ka, Khiladiyaon Ka Khiladi, Khatron Ka Khiladi... All reportedly very sound, numerologically speaking.

Producer Umesh Mehra is also obsessed with the letter K. So after Sabse Bada Khiladi and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi did well, he named his next film with Dilip Kumar, Rekha, Mamta Kulkarni and Mukul Dev Killa.

"Others in my family and a numerologist suggested I keep the name Quila, but then I had it changed to Killa since K is lucky for me." That didn't help because Killa flopped.

Subhash Ghai has no similar fetish for the letter K; for him, it's M that works. He believes any heroine he launches should have a name starting with the letter M.

So Madhuri, a small-time actress, did Karma and became a name to reckon with. Manisha Koirala debuted with his Saudagar. And there it was, another hit. And so when Ritu Chowdhary was picked to act in Pardes, he demanded that he change her name.

"I wanted to be called Riddhima. My cousin is called Riddhima. But Subhashji told me to change my name to something starting with M... Riddhima's younger sister is called Mahima. So I decided to call myself Mahima," says the actress.

Who's Who? Shabnam Raza -- Neha Rajeev Bhatia -- Akshay Kumar Jatin Khanna -- Rajesh Khanna Ravi Kapoor -- Jeetendra Shamsher Raj Kapoor -- Shammi Kapoor Balbir Raj Kapoor -- Shashi Kapoor Tabassum Hashmi -- Tabu Ritu Chowdhary -- Mahima

Ramesh Sippy, the man who gave us Sholay, tried out films like Shaan (also ran), Shakti (much acclaimed), Saagar (which was nominated for an Oscar), before he came up with Zamaana Deewana which did not start with an S.

And once the first letter is dealt with, the denizens of Bollywood move over to the rest.

Manmohan Desai, before his death, was told that the name, Akela, augured ill for his film. He was advised to change it to Akayla.

Like Ritu who turned Mahima, there are others who changed their names once they stepped into the industry. Ajay Sahni, Balraj Sahni's son, changed his name to Parikshit Sahni after a few films.

More famously, Mohammad Yusuf Sarwar Khan changed his name to Dilip Kumar and Fatima Bi opted for the screen name Nargis. Dilip Kumar found, though, that what worked in the theatre doesn't work at the polling booth. During the last general election, the polling officer refused to let him cast his vote when he said he was Dilip Kumar.

"The name of the voter is Yusuf Khan. You cannot vote," the thespian was told. It took some persuasion to convince the man that Dilip Kumar was indeed Yusuf Khan.

There was Sanjay Dutt who changed his name to Sunjay after a few films. But after being arrested and charged in the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts case, he switched back to the name on his birth certificate.

While stars may be worried about the implication of their names on the audiences, you'd think people in the music department aren't.

But Annu Malik, who ran into a lean patch after a good start, found Mahesh Bhatt who suggested that he check the numerological configuration of his name. He found he had to drop an N and change his name to Anu Malik. He even got the name changed on his bank passbook. You can say anything about him and the man won't mind; spell his name Annu anywhere and he'll blow a few fuses somewhere.

Mehmood, though, didn't mind the name he was born with, but preferred to be named Mahesh in every film. That, he felt, was particularly lucky for him.

Karisma Kapoor arrived in Tinseltown as Karishma Kapoor. Suddenly, it was Karisma everywhere. But that, we learn, had nothing to do with the alphabet being aligned in consonance with the stars.

"It's always been Karisma. People generally misspelt my name because of the Hindi word. I'm not superstitious about my name. But I'm very superstitious about my roles. I generally do not want to discuss them before the film releases," she says.

Ajay Devgan too thinks it is inauspicious to talk about his role before the film is released.

"It is not that I am secretive, but I generally tend not to talk about anything before I do it. Many things never happen if I talk about it to others," he tells you.

Giving the clap

Once the cast and crew have decided on their names, there are the finer points about how the muhurat (the film's launch) is conducted. Never, never, will a film be launched on the 13th day of a month. You can't just pick anyone to break the sacred coconut either. And rest assured, every producer, be s/he Hindu, a Muslim, Christian, whatever, will see a coconut broken.

Many film-makers believe a film will fall on its belly, if a muhurat is conducted at Filmistan Studios.

"Many films have flopped or have never been completed when the muhurat was done there. Barsaat was completed after five years. It spoilt Twinkle Khanna's career. Even Bobby Deol is not doing too well today,' says one film industry source.

"Any muhurat conducted at Hotel Leela Kempinski and Sun 'n' Sand always does well," says another source.

"My producers have always wanted to do it there, but we've avoided calling Amitabh Bachchan to give the clap. He's very unlucky for producers..."

Other producers agree with this.

"Amitabh has been very unlucky," says one producer, "but Dharmendra has proved quite lucky for me. If Dharmendra gives the clap even for a small budget film, it will definitely get back its money. The best thing about Dharamji is that he's very accessible."

The filmi fraternity is certain this applies to magazines too. When Amitabh was put on the cover of a new magazine, a public relations officer asked a staffer why they had put the bad omen up in the first issue. It was inauspicious, he said. And he looked pretty smug when the magazine closed down in less than a year.

Madhuri Dixit would perhaps scoff at such things, but she can't do without her secretary and mentor Rikku at every muhurat.

Once Rikku wasn't in Bombay when the muhurat of N Chandra's Parinda was scheduled. Madhuri asked Chandra to postpone the muhurat.... Chandra called up Rikku in Europe. He even paid his fare so that the lucky omen was present for the muhurat.

Omens Unlucky Amitabh Bachchan Sunil Dutt Anil Kapoor Dilip Kumar Dev Anand Lucky Dharmendra Bal Thackeray Rajendra Kumar Sunil Shetty

Many action directors like Guddu Dhanoa and Kuku Kohli are particular about shooting their climax scenes at Mukesh Mills.

"Not only is it a great place to shoot your action scenes but it is also pretty lucky. I shot the climax of Phool Aur Kaante there and, after that, I've consistently shot my climax scenes there. I even shot the climax of Haqeeqat there though it was not necessary for me to get India into the picture. I'd already shot abroad for a major portion of the film," says Kuku Kohli.

Guddu shot the action scenes of the Akshay-starrer Elaan, the Ajay Devgan-Kajol-starrer Goonda Raaj, and two untitled projects at Mukesh Mills.

Directors avoid shooting at night at this place though. They believe there's a ghost out there who ensures that the film doesn't do well. But a watchman there is a little braver before such bogeys.

"Sajjd Nadiadwala shot here for Jeet at night. However, the film was a big hit. But I do remember one man from Ken Ghosh's unit saying he'd seen a ghost." So maybe the ghost had taken the night off that Nadiadwala was working.

But Ken Ghosh, one of whose unit members claimed to have caught sight of the apparition, saw his video failing badly.

Distribution and other bogeys

Once the film's finished, there is still the distribution to do. And there, producers are unanimous that the Bombay territory has to be disposed of first, and not just because it earns the most money. It's also considered lucky.

"There are many from the north who jump when they hear about action films. But then producers have always tried to sell off the Bombay territory first," says Asif Rizvi, who was once chief assistant to producer Sultan Ahmed.

Then there is other odd behaviour that sometimes touch, and sometimes cross, the line of obsessive behaviour.

Anandji of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo makes sure he has a coffee during a recording. But with a difference.

Producer Ratan Kumar says, "I've observed him for so many years. I know them (Kalyanji and Anandji) long before time they did the music for my Madari. Thirty-six years back, he used to start off with this glass of coffee. He used to drink half and the rest he'd wait until it got cold and then drink it..."

Mithun Chakraborty always touches the feet of the senior-most person in the unit, even it he is a non-entity, before shooting for a film.

Govinda used to eat prasad given by his mother before shooting every day. The same rule applies to Akshay Kumar. In fact, Akshay Kumar only eats cooked food made by his mother.

"When I am abroad, I try and eat only fruits and fruit juices. I believe my mother is very lucky for me," Akki once said. Now he puts it down to health reasons.

"I always pray before giving my first shot. That's the only thing I am superstitious about," says Milind Gunaji.

Nana Patekar always touches the stage and brings his hands to his eyes, not just as a mark of respect but also because he is very superstitious about it. He is also believes one has to perform a Ganesh puja on the morning of the shoot.

Actress Mamta Kulkarni, though, has this thing about lavender costumes. She has to wear one during a film.

"I'm very superstitious about my costumes. I make sure that I do wear a lavender dress in every film. That was the colour of the dress I was wearing when I got a letter from Rajiv Gandhi in reply to a letter I sent him, congratulating him for becoming the prime minister in 1984.

"I was in standard five then. I keep wearing lavender dresses regularly, with the hope that my films would do well."

Yash Chopra has to shoot a small portion of his film in the mountains of Switzerland.

"It is a very lucky for him. Though we have to make food ourselves in some places, (we also take along a cook) we always shoot in that country," says a source from Yash Raj Films.

There are many more shadowy fetishes that the industry follow, few of which can be logically explained. But then, it's comforting to think you can woo the fates onto your side. And to hell with reason.