Comedy is an art

Considering this is your first directorial venture, what were your expectations from the film?

We wanted people to love it. Our target was family audience and we wanted them to go to the theatres to watch the film. The subject of the film was based on a dog, which is generally considered a pet to kids. The animal in the film has strongly connected with the kids. And when we see children and women coming into theatres and clapping at the scenes, we are happy that we have achieved our goal. Both of us have always maintained that if this film works and if anyone adopts a dog at home, he will be a winner.

Didn’t you have problems shooting with the dog?

It would be wrong to say we did not. We had to be very patient. We had to work as per the dog’s schedule, but everyone supported us a lot. We were also very scared as this was our first film and we had a dog in the lead. However, before starting the film, we knew about the norms and regulations when taking an animal for the film. Hence, we had cleared all the legal documents in the beginning. Good care was taken of the dog. There were two attendants and a vet on the set. The best part was animal rights activist, Maneka Gandhi, who was present at the premiere, liked the film and said she would like to watch it again. As for the dog, we selected one that would identify with human emotions and we were lucky to find Junior in Bangkok.

Both of you have been a part of the Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty camp for a very long time and have been associated with their films which have mostly been hits, the recent one being Singham Returns, in which you have penned the dialogues. So how was it working with Akshay Kumar for a change?

Akshay is a great actor, a superstar and while working with him on this film, we found that he is a great human being too. Having said that, we are ready to work with anyone, be it Ajay, Aamir (Khan), etc.

You have been excellent with comedies. Will you ever venture into any other genre?

Both me and Farhad, believe in entertainment, pot-boilers. Comedy is an art, and our attempt will always be in making a complete package. As for Entertainment and its success at the box-office, I would say, we couldn’t have asked for more. As we move on, we are presently scripting Housefull 3 which we shall direct next. It will go on the floors early next year. Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh have already been signed while rest of the cast will be locked by next month.