Different Strokes

After an animation movie,were you apprehensive about directing a movie with real people?
The technicalities are just the same for both movies. The camera angles,the production values do not differ. With real people there is more scope for spontaneity,which is lacking in an animation film. And sketching out animated characters takes longer,but with good actors your task is cut out.

Having worked with Yash Raj earlier must have made the process easy,right?
Definitely; with YRF,you are sure to get guidance from all quarters. Aditya was always there with his inputs which made life easy for me. Karan Johar also gave his inputs during the making of the movie and also after seeing the rushes.

The love story of a geek and a beauty has been heard and seen earlier. How differently have you doctored it?
I know that we have heard it in fairytales. But this movie is more conversational,and not with heavy dialogues. One can relate to every scene in the movie,because it is very real. It is not an exaggerated love story,but a simple one where people go through different emotions.

What,according to you,will appeal to people about PI?
The simplicity of the movie and the fact that it is a pure entertainer will go down well with the masses. Also,the entire cast and crew of the movie has been in the age bracket of below 30. So the youthful exuberance and

enthusiasm is bound to show on screen.

How come you haven’t considered acting lately?
Acting has always ranked way above everything else to me. And I would love to get back to acting as soon as I can. Soon after the release of PI,I am thinking of considering a few scripts.

While you were an actor,did you ever think of turning to other aspects of filmmaking?
I did not. All I wanted to do was act. It was Adi who after seeing my obsession with animation films,asked me to direct their first for YRF.

What’s next on the agenda?
I’m always raring to work. But I guess I will have to wait a bit after the release of PI because we haven’t finalised anything so far.