Jag Mundhra

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Jagmohan Mundhra's films like ‘Bawander’ and ‘Provoked’ have confirmed the continued rise of Indian filmmakers. They, like Namesake, Being Cyrus, Monsoon Wedding, Iqbal and others in their times have made the world sit up and take notice with their powerful renderings of various facets of our society’s consciousness. Life came a full circle for Jagmohan Mundhra when he drove through the old, familiar streets of Kolkata, surrounded by supporters and acclaimed as a filmmaker of repute, someone who had worked long and hard to reach his destination. It was a sea change from the life he had been used to in Calcutta that he grew up in.^[1] Early Life: Growing up in a Marwari locality in Calcutta, there were not many unconventional dreams that young Jagmohan was expected to think of. So, when, in a conservative family where films were frowned upon, Jagmohan secretly dreamed of becoming a filmmaker when others dreamt of being cricket and film stars, it raised eyebrows and elicited dismissive glances. Mundhra spent a tough childhood that many Indians regularly survive and learn from. He had to count pennies to take the tram to the other, affluent side of the city and grew up in a middle class neighbourhood in strict traditions. ^[2]

Says Mundhra, “The family was very conservative and my grand mother was very strict and we were allowed to see maybe a couple of films a year and that too of the Har Har Mahadev variety. As a child I never saw myself as a young Marwari boy but a lot beyond that. In those days, the word global citizen was not there, but inside I felt like one."^[3]

His Life at IIT What did he learn from his education at IIT? Says Mundhra, "I had studied in a Hindi medium school up to 9th grade and always admired people who spoke English fluently. IIT taught me a lot of humility. In my wing, there were students who were from different states, and as far as English went, this person from Bihar who couldn’t speak English to save his life outshone everyone else with his brilliance. I did well, but realized very early on while in IIT that engineering was not for me. I would be very unhappy if I was to live my life being an engineer, but I stuck it out because I didn’t want to let my parents down." He then decided to pursue an MS abroad in engineering. He went to Michigan to do MS in electrical engineering, but after one semester, switched to marketing. He realized that he was committed to pursuing his dreams. ^[4]

Journey to Being a Filmmaker Knowing what he wanted to do in life, Jagmohan wrote a thesis on marketing of motion pictures. He did a comparative study of marketing practices in Hollywood and Bollywood. He went to the Bombay film industry and met people. He got his PhD and taught for a year at California State University. Staying in California brought him closer to Hollywood. In 1979 he resigned and decided to become a full time filmmaker.^[5]

Bawander - the movie - is about the fight of a poor woman for justice. ^[6]After the film was released Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan called him and said "Aapke bawandar ne bada bawander machaya hai." He gave Rs 50,000 and land for Bhanwri Devi and also money for her son's education. Mundhra feels it's not just the story of Bhanwri Bai, but the story of the courage of a woman who was wronged, "It's not a movie about rape, but the empowerment of a woman. This character could be fictitious and yet the story would have had the same powerful message."

Mundhra, whose career began with serious films only to veer away into soft porn and return to a serious and powerful genre, shares with disarming candor how he was once labeled "the king of soft porn". He confesses he was "a professor during day, exhibitor at night." He tried and tried and never gave up. ^[7]

The professor who was told to pursue a research in films and who has dabbled in every kind of films amongst the 27 he has been involved in the last 25 years, has finally found his niche in India’s international cinema. It has also helped that Indian cinema is being noticed abroad now.