Nida Fazli’s article earned me free publicity: Mashhoor Amrohi

Budding actor Mashhoor Amrohi, who is the grandson of legendary filmmaker Kamal Amrohi, feels he is getting free publicity from a defamation case filed by his aunt against poet-lyricist Nida Fazli. Mashhoor, the son of producer-writer Tajdar Kamal Amrohi, is set to make his debut with “Hum Sey Hai Jahaan” that is releasing Friday. Apart from acting in the film, the 24-year-old has also scripted and directed it.

“The entire controversy is becoming good publicity for my film,” Mashhoor told IANS when he was here to promote his film. Apparently Rukhsar, Mashhoor’s estranged aunt and Kamal Amrohi’s daughter, was livid when she chanced upon an article in an Urdu paper wherein writer Nida Fazil portrayed the legendary filmmaker as a vain and vengeful man with a weakness for women.

When she filed a case against the writer, a Mumbai tabloid did a two-page cover story on the issue. “I got a two-page coverage, which would have cost me Rs.200,000, free thanks to the controversy. I don’t know why my aunt picked up the issue around the release of my film,” Mashhoor said.

He added: “The funniest part about the entire coverage of the story in the newspaper was that there was a separate section which talked about ‘who was Kamal Amrohi’.” Even though he refuses to have anything to do with the controversy, Mashhoor is banking heavily upon his grandfather’s popularity.

This is evident from the trailers of his film, which begin with clippings of Kamal’s popular films like “Pakeezah”. “I think when one does not have a platform like Adlabs and UTV, the audience needs to be hammered. The audience needs to be told that I am from a family that has given quality films and entertainment throughout their career.

“Everyone has a lineage and I am just using it. In fact, everyone does it. Isn’t it?” Mashhoor maintained. Mashhoor is a great fan of the kind of films his grandfather made, but they do not inspire the young actor professionally.

“I was around eight to 10 years old when my grandfather died. I knew him only personally – just the way any young child would know. All I knew was that he was someone very known. I was never professionally attached to him.

“People wish to compare my work with his. But our cinemas are really different. He used to make grand and historical films, but my films would mostly be light and entertaining,” Mashhoor said.

He has earlier assisted David Dhawan and Sohail Khan in direction. On being asked whether he would ever make a typical Kamal Amrohi-style film, he quipped: “The day I get Rs.800 million, I would do it.”

— By Radhika Bhirani (IANS)