The ace journalist cum PR person who has also directed several short films and documentaries for youtube tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that it was not an easy task to make a documentary on the late singer Mohammad Rafi, called Dastaan E Rafi, which has been showcased at Knowledge Gate Literary Festival in Hyderabad and will be shown at Indywood Film Carnival at Ramoji Rao Film City, Hyderabad by the end of September.

How did you embark on the journey of coming up with a documentary on Rafi ?

In the first place, Sujata Deo, wife of my friend Amit Deo was planning to write a book on Rafi. We decided to join hands with one another without interfering with one another’s sphere creativity-wise. She wrote the book and I shot for my film titled Dastaan-E-Rafi.

Why did you choose to make a two hour documentary on the late Mohammad Rafi instead of K.L. Saigal, Kishore Kumar or say Mahendra Kapoor?

I chose Mohammad Rafi as my subject because he is one of the best not only in India but also Asia and besides being a playback singer of exceptional quality. When I started making the documentary on Rafi, I realized that Rafisaab has also been a great silent donor and philanthropist and a great human being.

What is your background as a documentary filmmaker?

I have directed around 400 documentaries and short films for different NGOs, besides having been a journalist. I was also associated with a leading TV channel as its Vice President. My stint as a PR person helped me get singers and music directors for the interviews for the documentaries and my stint as a journalist helped me interview people who were close to Rafisaab like Khayyam, his brother etc. I was also associated in Jayantilal Gada’s projects like P Se P M Tak in production. I share a very unique relationship with him for a long time and I may handle a project of his shortly.

Did you have the opportunity to meet Rafi in person?

I was very young when I met him at a recording of a song composed by Lakshmikant and Pyarelal as Pyarelal’s son Mahesh Sharma is a dear friend of mine.

Tell me about your documentary!

My documentary Daastan E Rafi and has duration of around two hours, though we shot for over 300 hours. It took me and my team around five years and 120 shooting days in Mumbai, Lahore, Karachi and Punjab to make this rare documentary , which will be released soon by Shemaroo guys who are very good friends of mine for the last several years. I would be failing in my duty if I do not make a mention of Shemaroo because without songs, a documentary is like a body without soul

How much of the footage did you shoot and how much did you get from various sources?

But for 10% which my co-director Vinay Patel and I obtained from sources like Doordarshan and Films Division, we have shot most of the documentary on our own, with Prakash Karlekar as the cameraman. Nothing was downloaded from the youtube. Though we tried to approach various legends including Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle and Dilip Kumar, unfortunately we did not get a positive response. We would have been happy if we had got their cooperation but now we have no regrets or complaints. May be they had their own reservations.

How tough or easy was it for you to select Rafi’s songs for your documentary?

It is 100% my team’s labor of love. We feel we have done nothing and it is just Rafisaab’s divine hands that goaded us to make the film. I did not have any hand at the selection of the songs for the documentary, though I like each and every song of Rafisaab as a Rafi lover. Only those songs were selected which were part of the requirement for the documentary as mentioned by Shammi Kapoor, Jeetendra etc.

What next, after Dastan E Rafi?

I am right now working on two different projects both of which are in the pipeline. One of them is a documentary on Avinash Vyas, who is a popular music composer of Gujarati films and another one is on the cancer specialist Dr Harikesh Booch