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Suparn Verma, writer of The Family Man and films such as Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena and Acid Factory, and director of the recently released Haq, opened up about how he bagged his first film as a writer with Hansal Mehta, the crucial role Manoj Bajpayee played in his career, and his unforgettable bond with the late legendary star Feroz Khanwho eventually made him write Janasheen for his son Fardeen Khan.
Recalling the earliest turning point in his journey, Suparn recalled meeting Hansal through Manoj when he worked as a journalist. He said, “Manoj Bajpai has come into my life various times in various phases of my life. Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar was about to release. I used to run chat rooms and Manoj Vajpayee‘s chat was going to happen, and at that time laptops weren’t there so you had to do it on a desktop. Manoj told me that he has a friend called Hansal (Mehta) and he has a desktop. So Manoj did the chat and went and Hansal, who used to read my movie reviews on Rediff, he and I started talking about cinema. And after talking for hours, when I was about to leave, Hansal asked me if I want to write a film for him.”
Suparn revealed that while he and Hansal first began work on a film meant to launch Abhay Deol, it never materialised, but destiny soon intervened. “Me and Hansel started work on Abhay Deol’s debut film, but that never got made meanwhile, his ADs read my story, which was a 10 page script of Chhal. A producer came to Hansal with Rs 1 crore and and asked him if he can make a film in that budget. He decided to make Chhal. I wrote the script in 15 days and that’s how I got my first film as a writer.”
Suparn Verma also recalled meeting Ram Gopal Varma for an interview, which unexpectedly led to him writing multiple projects for the filmmaker. He said, “I spent 7-8 months with Ram Gopal Verma and wrote 3-4 things. He is my film school. I learned script writing, staging, understanding cinema from him. He doesn’t teach you. He leaves it on you. If you want to learn you learn. He is living his life. If you want to learn, you learn from that and he is unapologetic and he is a genius. I learnt everything that I could from him.”
Through his association with RGV, Suparn also crossed paths with the iconic Feroz Khan, who at the time was searching for a writer for his son Fardeen’s next film. “Feroz Khan was looking for a writer, but at that time I was working with Hansal Mehta and RGV and I was also working with Rediff because of this I refused Feroz Khan.”
Suparn then recalled how Feroz charmed him with his warmth and generosity, gradually pulling him into the project without ever asking directly. “Feroz Khan laugh and said come next Sunday, I will cook for you. He made Afghani chicken for me. He made me hear his story, but he didn’t tell me to write the film. We ate and discussed cinema and I left. He called me next Sunday again and we again spoke about his film and I gave him feedback and he again cooked. He again called me next Sunday, but this time he gave me a cheque and said, ‘You are already writing my film, so take the money’. The kind of love and affection, he gave me, he kind of adopted me.”
Suparn said his bond with the Khan family grew deeper during the making of Janasheen. “During Janasheen shoot, I became good friends with Fardeen, Feroz Khan liked me a lot. Feroz Khan was the nicest human being one could ever meet. He was passionate, unapologetic, and he lived his life openly without any lies. He was the greatest gentleman anybody could meet. He could charm anybody – women from 80 to 18 would be charmed by him because he was respectful.”
