One of Bollywood’s most renowned filmmakers, JP Dutta, is celebrating a career milestone today, as his movie ‘Refugee’ has turned 25 years old. Reflecting on the same, JP Dutta in a candid conversation with us expressed, “Can you believe it! Time just flies. But memories of ‘Refugee’ are still fresh in my mind. I remember everything. It was not an easy film to shoot.”In all honesty, any of Dutta’s films has not been easy to shoot. The filmmaker himself confessed that he has a knack for putting himself “in gruelling locations, especially in the Rajasthan deserts.” Having said that, JP Dutta added, “But Refugee was not just a film. It was a responsibility.”He continued, “I was given the responsibility to launch Amitabh Bachchan’s son and Raj Kapoor’s granddaughter. When my friend Daboo(Randhir Kapoor) called to say he was handing over the task of launching his daughter to me, I groaned.” He explained that he was scared, what if something goes wrong? However, nothing of that sort happened, and the filmmaker said, “That was just luck,” before adding, “and of course Kareena and Abhishek’s talent. It was my good fortune that I was asked to launch two of the most talented newcomers of this millennium. You have seen what happens when the best of directors are stuck with dud debutants.”He concluded the conversation by sharing that both Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor are like his kids. “They are my bachchas. They will always be close to my heart,” the filmmaker said. “My heart swells with pride to see how far they have come in life. I always knew they were born to be stars. Even back then(in Refugee), Kareena and Abhishek had the passion to excel. I remember how they just surrendered to my vision. And yet they would ask a hundred questions before every shot,” he concluded.
