25 Years of Mela EXCLUSIVE: Dharmesh Darshan hits back at those who call the film a flop: “It was made in Rs. 3-5 cr; to collect Rs. 15 cr back in the year 2000 was not a JOKE” 25 : Bollywood News
Mela (2000) completed 25 years on January 7. Starring Aamir Khan, Twinkle Khanna and Faisal Khan, the film had all the ingredients of a wholesome entertainer. However, the film underperformed at the box office and later got its due on television and digital. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama on Mela‘s 25th anniversary, director Dharmesh Darshan expressed his reservation that the film is called a flop.
25 Years of Mela EXCLUSIVE: Dharmesh Darshan hits back at those who call the film a flop: “It was made in Rs. 3-5 cr; to collect Rs. 15 cr back in the year 2000 was not a JOKE”
Dharmesh Darshan said, “To collect Rs. 15 crores back in the year 2000 was not a joke! And it didn’t have a huge budget as it didn’t have any stars. It’s not like Singham Again with 5 heroes. It just had one star, namely Aamir Khan. Also, this was a time when Aamir, before Melahad failed in Mann (1999) and 1947 Earth (1999).” When asked how much the budget was, he replied, “I don’t remember but I guess it must be Rs. 3 crores or at the maximum, Rs. 5 crores.
Besides public reception, Dharmesh Darshan is content to see that even the media has warmed up to the film. A prominent box office website mentioned that Mela is the “most unsuccessful successful film of Bollywood”. Another website, which was once run by Anupama Chopra, mentioned Mela in the list of ‘Great films that flopped at the box office’ alongside My name is joker (1970).
Dharmesh is humbled by this gesture and also said, “There’s no comparison between My name is joker and MelaThe former was an absolutely brilliant piece of cinema. Melahowever, was a commercial potboiler.”
Mela’s Sholay connection
The film tells the tale of a village belle whose brother is killed by a dreaded dacoit. The girl runs away and meets two kind-hearted truck drivers. She seeks their help to finish off the dacoit. For many viewers, Mela seemed like a tribute to Sholay (1975). The villain Gujjar (Tinnu Verma) seemed similar to Sholay‘s Gabbar Singh and Roopa (Twinkle) was akin to Thakur who enlists Jai and Veeru, that is, Kishan (Aamir Khan) and Shankar (Faisal Khan) to kill the former.
Dharmesh Darshan smiled at this comparison and said, “The gender is also reversed in MelaSo, it’s also a case of gender equality. I have always done that in my films, sometimes in a subtle manner. And it’s not like I made heroine-oriented films. They were all heroes at the end of the day.”
When asked if he consciously paid this tribute to Sholayhe explained, “Consciously, it wasn’t there. Ram Gopal Varma faltered when he tried to do a SholayI feel that even Raja Hindustani (1996) can’t be remade, forget SholayI am a big fan of Ramesh Sippy and it could be that it was in my sub-consciousness. So, that’s how Mela had flashes of SholayIn fact, there’s also a hint of Caravan (1971).
Also Read: 25 Years of Mela EXCLUSIVE: Dharmesh Darshan reveals why it became the most ‘unsuccessful successful’ film: “Faisal Khan outperformed Aamir Khan; a RARE cinematic impossibility”
More Pages: Mela Box Office Collection
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