'I'm a flop in Hindi': Vijay's father was hesitant to direct blockbuster Kudrat Ka Kanoon

Veteran producer KC Bokadia recently recalled his conversation with SA Chandrasekhar, father of Vijay, before producing his first Bollywood hit, Kudrat Ka Kanoon.

SA Chandrasekhar, veteran filmmaker and the father of actor and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, had a successful run in the South, but his Bollywood innings wasn't entirely smooth. After a flop directorial debut in the mid-1980s, he was hesitant to do more films in Hindi, until producer KC Bokadia stepped in.

How SA Chandrasekhar directed his first Bollywood hit

In a podcast with ANI, Bokadia recalled that Radhikaa Sarathkumar introduced him to Chandrasekhar. Radhikaa had worked with Bokadia in two films by then -- T Rama Rao's Naseeb Apna Apna and Sudarshan Nag's Asli Naqli, both of which released in 1986. The next year, Radhikaa headlined Chandrasekhar's hit Tamil courtroom drama Neethikku Thandanai.

The producer then bought the rights to remake that film in Hindi, and got Radhika and her mother to bring Chandrasekhar to his office. "I asked Chandrasekhar to direct it in Hindi as well. But he said, 'I'm a flop in Hindi.' He's an honest man," said Bokadia. Chandrasekhar made his Bollywood directorial debut with 1985 action film Balidaan.

Despite starring the hit duo of Jeetendra and Sridevi, who starred in K Raghavendra Rao's 1983 blockbuster action comedy Himmatwala, Balidaan turned out to be a bomb at the box office. It was produced by Salim Akhtar. "I said, 'You may be a flop with them, but you'd be a hit with KC Bokadia.' So, he did it, finished the film in 30 days, and Kudrat Ka Kanoon ran in cinemas for 25 weeks," added Bokadia.

Kudrat Ka Kanoon also starred Radhikaa, who reprised her double role in the Hindi remake. The cast also included Hema Malini, Pran, and Jackie Shroff, among others. It was such a resounding success that when Bokadia told veteran producer GP Sippy that he made the film within 30 days, he called for his son and legendary filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, since the latter would take 30 days to just shoot a song of his 1985 musical romance Saagar, starring Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, and Kamal Haasan.

When KC Bokadia met Vijay

SA Chandrasekhar would go on to helm another courtroom drama, Azaad Desh Ke Gulam (1990), a remake of his 1989 Tamil film Sudhanthira Naattin Adimaigal. While the original was headlined by Radhikaa, the Hindi remake's cast included Rekha, Rishi Kapoor, and Jackie Shroff among others.

Chandrasekhar also directed action film Insaaf Ki Devi, starring Jeetendra and Rekha, and romantic film Mera Dil Tere Liye, starring Mamta Kulkarni, in 1992. His last Bollywood directorial was Jeevan Ke Shatrang (1993), a remake of his 1989 Tamil film Rajanadai, starring Mithun Chakraborty.

While KC Bokadia didn't produce another film for SA Chandrasekhar, he invited the filmmaker to present the clap for the mahurat shot of his 1990 directorial, Aaj Ka Arjun, an action film starring Amitabh Bachchan. "Vijay had come with his father then to the set of Aaj Ka Arjun. He was a little boy then, maybe 16-17 years of age," revealed Bokaida.