Interview: T-Series Head Honcho Bhushan Kumar on his new film Raid, Ajay Devgn and more

Shy and extremely reticent Bhushan Kumar is a force to reckon with in the Indian film and music industry. His music label T-Series has been at the top of its game ever since it was established by his father and music baron Gulshan Kumar. Not just in music production, T-Series is a leading name in moviemaking also with a plethora of award-winning films to its repertoire. After the humongous success of his recent production Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Bhushan Kumar is bringing his new film Raid, which enters cinemas on 16^th March. Ahead of the release of the much-awaited suspense drama, our Mumbai correspondent sits down with Kumar for an elaborate chat on his new offering, the changing landscape of music in Bollywood and much more.

Tell us something about your film Raid.

The movie is inspired from a high-profile IT raid and some real-life characters from 1981. It shows how the character conducted the biggest and longest raid India ever witnessed.

How hard is it to make a film based on real events?

Right now, the viewers are showing interest in reality-based cinema, and they have the digital medium full of information that they can receive on any subject. So, you must work a lot and hard to attract viewers’ attention to these kinds of films. In a fictional script, you can carve the story as per your liking and the director too can add some commercial angles but in a reality-based film, it’s very important that you study about the particular subject. If you don’t, the audience is aware enough to point out the shortcomings. So, an extensive study was done by the director along with his team including writer Ritesh and we tried our best to bring realism to the story of the film. But since it is a film, a few cinematic liberties are a must.

It’s been said in a press release that Raid is responsibly fictional, what do you have to say about that?

See, if we are making a film, it has to be responsibly fictional because if we film the events exactly as they happened, it would be a documentary and our audiences don’t like to see documentaries. Commercial films lead in theatre.

So the film is not a biopic?

We didn’t make the film in somebody’s name like that is done in biopics. This film is inspired by a character, whose main subject was a raid and the process opted by the Income Tax office during that raid. It’s about an honest officer who went too far to achieve his goals and fulfil his job.

What was the biggest challenge while making this film?

Every film I made had some challenges. The main issue I had with the film was to make it in a way that it does not end up being boring. The film is entertaining for the audience and since it is a period film, the setting needed to be fact checked. There was also a thorough research needed as it is based on real-life events. I had a great team that helped with the process as smoothly as possible.

How was it working with superstar Ajay Devgn?

He is a very comfortable person to work with. He embraces his character profoundly. He is very committed to his character, may it be in comedy, action or drama space. Even when you see the film, you will notice how he delivers the dialogues written by the writers and how he expresses his character. He brings his roles and character to life.

There are so many concepts to push. Events that have not been seen or people are not aware of garner people’s attention. There is an abundance of information on the internet but to see a talented actor like Ajay Devgn performing in a film based on one of those events is completely different and that’s our cinema.

You have recreated two classic songs sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in Raid. What makes you recreate songs?

Recreation we do as per the public demand. We are a music company also and now people are loving old songs which were not made before the digital era set in. Right now, we can provide a better sounding system to those old songs and nowadays when the music is streamed rather than having a physical copy, it is more accessible to the audience.

Is there any genre that you want to pursue in the future?

I think we have covered everything, but I have not produced a proper action film, so we will see what happens.

Is there anything special in the pipeline?

Actually, I started my career with direction. Producing movies is a family acquired skill. Almost nine years ago, I tried to pursue a short film but production took some time. There was a script but it was rewritten until everyone liked it. I am going ahead with that right now.

When you took over from your father, Gulshan Kumar, what were the things you kept and what changes you made in T-Series?

I have always followed my father’s footsteps from the beginning because there are many things that cannot be changed. The music that was chosen and made at that time was sheer melody. Whether it’s a dance track, or a slow track or a sad or romantic track melody always works. The melody you feel is the same and that is the reason right now recreated songs are being appreciated by the audience because the melody is strong. So while making music, all I just follow is my father’s lead.

Can you tell us something about the music in the film Raid?

Talking about the music in Raid, as you must have heard, we have recreated two of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s songs. Though Raid is not a musical film, the relationship between the husband and wife and the music and songs show the normality of a man who conducts raids in his job. So to signify their relationship, we kept songs which are doing very well. Both songs are super hit. The melody and some parts of the old songs have been retained. Their new versions are sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

In a single year, you deal with more than 12 films with different genres. How challenging is that for you?

The involvement of the company depends on the subject of the film. We only accept those number of films which give us the capacity to do justice to the work we do and the films deserve. This year we have ten releases but we have poured ourselves into them completely. We undertake projects that we can manage otherwise I have nothing to prove, hence no need to overdo it.