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The hit filmmaker who left it all to tend

cows
Last updated on: November 07, 2017 09:43 IST

'It's odd, I made Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar which is about winning, but
today I feel we live too much in a winning world.'
'Everybody wants to win.'
Mansoor Khan, the director who left Bollywood at his peak for a quieter
life, speaks to Rediff.com's Archana Masih at his farm in the Nilgiris.

25 Years on: Celebrating Aamir-

Juhi's romance in QSQT

IMAGE: Mansoor Khan at home in Coonoor.

Khan launched cousin Aamir Khan in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, and made Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar,

Akele Hum Akele Tum and Josh.

He left Mumbai in 2005. Photographs: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com

Mansoor Khan is an articulate and persuasive contrarian who can turn your
worldview upside down.

"We are blazing down a tunnel. Our understanding of reality is inverted. We have
destroyed half the planet," he says, pointing to elephant dung as he walks on the
lush green land, where he runs a home stay in the Nilgiri hills.

"We have to respect the land. There was a time the earth could give us more -- not
any more."

The filmmaker who directed the memorable Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta
A morning with the first Indian in
Wohi Sikandar turned his back on the movies nearly 15 years ago.
space
He moved to Coonoor, bought land and cows to set up home and barn, followed by
Acres Wild, a farm stay.
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The spot where he stands overlooks a valley; behind is a forest. Elephants come by
at times and walk through.
a dream cafe
In the distance cows graze leisurely; guavas nestle on branches and a local fruit is
scattered in little red balls on the ground.

Showing us around, he points to a bulbul bird, then the fennel plant with bright
yellow flowers that will be used for making cheese.

Secure your His wife Tina gives lessons to guests in cheese-making and has trained two local
computer against
sophisticated women to make cheese from the milk of their home-bred cows.
cyber threats.
There is a brick making machine where the bricks for construction have come from.
A slushy liquid trickles out of the gobar gas plant to irrigate trees and plants.
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Birds chirp, cows moo.

The sun sparkles in the waters of a natural pond.

Waterlogging, traffic snarls after
heavy rains in Delhi
Life here seems simple, local, fresh and drawn from the land.
When Khan moved here in 2005, the land wasn't as green, but years of nurturing
it based on what suits the local conditions has transformed the 22 acres into a green
paradise.

He has learnt how to bake bread and make soap.

He has also written The Third Curve, a book which argues that it is not money but
energy that runs the world.

Perpetual growth, says Khan, is impossible because the earth does not have limitless
resources to sustain that growth.

Panghal punches out Olympic champ The maverick shares his worldview with Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
to claim Asian Games gold
You left IIT, Cornell, MIT halfway, weren't your parents upset?
My father (successful filmmaker Nasir Hussain) was very happy.

He never wanted me to go abroad. He wanted me to make films, but at that time I

didn't want to do that.

I wasted a lot of their money, I feel bad about it. I had the most marvelous parents.
They did not put parental pressure on me.

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I always felt I would be uncomfortable in an industrial society that's why I left my

studies abroad.

I was anti 9-5. It might sound childish and puerile, but this is not what I wanted to
do.

I returned and didn't know what to do.

Football Briefs: Last-gasp Cutrone My dream was to live off the land. My thoughts were prodded out of me when my
goal gives Milan 2-1 win over Roma land was going to be taken away. I was angry.

Our land in Alibag was going to be acquired for an airport. 45 sq km, 14 villages,
30,000 people. It got me thinking.

Then I realised that there were others who were opposing it and one man Ralli Jacob
became my guru. He had already fought similar battles. He was a complete
contrarian and fighter.

I learned a lot. It completely inverted my world view. This was 2, 3 years just before I
made Josh. (Mansoor Khan also made Akele Hum Akele Tum and produced Jaane
Tu Ya Jaane Na.)
These boys quit school to pursue
sailing... and win Asiad bronze!

IMAGE: Mansoor with his wife, Tina. The couple run a homestay. Tina has taught over 200 guests

how to make cheese.

It needs courage to leave all the success behind and start afresh.
ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE It didn't take me courage to come here. It would have taken immense courage to
Dec 25, 1924 to Aug 16, 2018
remain in Mumbai (laughs).
More

Moving here came more naturally to me and fortunately my wife Tina agreed.

If I had a wife who was a city person and wanted to eat at a new restaurant every
evening, it wouldn't work.

Living in a non urban society is therapeutic.

Cities have buzz, but they are not human friendly. Cities take most resources and
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deplete the whole hinterland.

Have you watched Dangal?

I liked it.

It's odd, I made Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, which is about winning, but today I feel we
are living too much in a winning world.

Everybody wants to win these days.

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar is really not about winning, it is actually about character
building. It sprang out of my own experience.

I was a drop out, a waster, I didn't want to be responsible.

Sanjay Lal's character stemmed out of me. It shows how he becomes responsible.

The medium was cycling, but it was really not about winning the cycle race.

In my mind when Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak became a hit I didn't see myself as
being a winner, I was just happy.

I didn't want to give my name to Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. I did not want to make
films forever.

I am very wary of the trap of success because then it becomes a drug.

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WATCH: Mansoor Khan about the movies he made and why he left it all behind. Video: Rajesh
Shopping
Karkera/Rediff.com

Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was a phenomenal hit and is a landmark

in Hindi cinema. When you are young and see such success, is it not
difficult to get swayed by it?

I was very careful that it doesn't go to my head and doesn't become a requirement.

I thought if I make another new film, it should be better.

I never went and enjoyed that success.

I am also not much of a movie person. The recent films I watched were Pink and

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Dear Zindagi. And I watched Memento again.

I liked the second half of Dear Zindagi and how Shah Rukh (Khan, who he directed
in Josh) handled his part.

What do you think of Aamir's work and the arc of his career?
Aamir is very successful, but he is extremely balanced. He is easily the most
successful person in the history of Indian cinema, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabhji
apart.

But I say most successful because he has done a diversity of things and a diversity of
never done things before.

Aamir is an exception.

IMAGE: Mansoor Khan has nurtured his 22 acre land into a green paradise. The 45 litres of milk

obtained from the cows make around 4 kilos of cheese every day. The cows graze by the natural

pond.
▲
What changed your world view?
My awakening came when my land was going to go away.

When your own land is being taken it makes you think, we are the beneficiaries, the
tribals are the invisibles.

We pretend that they are backward and need to be developed.

People will say Mansoor is a Luddite. Anti-progress. But this is commonsense.

You don't need to be a genius to understand that the earth is finite, but it requires
honesty.

It is really an honesty factor and our scientists are dishonest to their own science.

Modern science is a faulty mode, non-holistic mode of thought.

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People talk about subsidy, equity, liquidity, debt, interest. Arre, talk about energy,
resource, finiteness.

So your view is contrary to what the world thinks?

Totally. My worldview is very different from the conventional worldview. I disagree
with most things.

The beauty of mainstream media is that it subtly makes you form an opinion without
having given you any basis for it.

There will be an article on Elon Musk's Mars colony and you start saying, 'Well, we'll
settle on Mars yaar' -- when not a blade of grass can grow there because of its toxic
atmosphere.

We have got a beautiful planet where 9 trillion things are correct for life, where life
evolved, but people are talking about Mars! That's what mainstream media does. It is
very insidious.

My critique is of civilisation. The fundamental basis, paradigm, belief of civilisation

is itself faulty.

Which is why we are in the mess we are and have destroyed half the planet. Our
understanding of reality is inverted.

Part 'India is blazing down a tunnel'

Archana Masih / Rediff.com

Related News: Mansoor Khan, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Aamir Khan, Rajesh Khanna, Josh

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Total 56 messages Pages | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Older >

Another Hit by Mansoor

by Prashant Pandey (View MyPage) on Nov 07, 2017 05:43 PM

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9/1/2018 The hit filmmaker who left it all to tend cows - Rediff.com India News
This time Mansoor taught us the lesson of reality check. like his films he is a winner.

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Another Hit by Mansoor

by Prashant Pandey (View MyPage) on Nov 07, 2017 05:43 PM

This time Mansoor taught us the lesson of reality check. like his films he is a winner.

Reply Forward | Report abuse

Good article
by Pranjal (View MyPage) on Nov 06, 2017 11:54 PM

Good to see someone go this far... saving Earth is really a need of time and it can be done if everyone takes care
of their part..

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Best wishes to Mansoor and Tina

by RNarasimhan (View MyPage) on Nov 06, 2017 11:22 PM

When I read the heading, I never imagined it is going to be Mansoor. Best wishes to them. I am proud to be a
Rediff reader for many years!

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Shiffa Agro Farms,Coonoor

by Wahed Sait (View MyPage) on Nov 06, 2017 10:51 PM

Its our honour to be a Neighbor of Mansoor at Coonoor Near Acres Wild.

Reply Forward | Report abuse

Shiffa Agro Farms,Coonoor

by Wahed Sait (View MyPage) on Nov 06, 2017 10:50 PM

Its our honour to be a Neighbor of Mansoor at Coonoor Near Acres Wild.

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True Contrarian
by ganeshshankar raman (View MyPage) on Nov 05, 2017 08:03 PM

Kudos to Mansoorji and his life partner. You have proved to be a role model to the GenX by entering into a different
world in the same planet. It was great to read your perception of mundane, greedy life in cities running after
money. I live in Chennai and longing to pursue a true,sustainable life like this. I would feel extremely happy if
offered an oppurtunity to meet you in person to share perceptions of worldly life.
Thanks to Rediff for posting this motivational one.

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superb
by Baskar Babu (View MyPage) on Nov 05, 2017 05:14 PM

superb message for life. it came right time for me

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Good One.
by Abhishek jain (View MyPage) on Nov 05, 2017 02:41 PM

Nice Inspirational Article.......

Reply Forward | Report abuse

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