Original Heart

Sitting in his plush Juhu office, he8217;s finalising tunes for his as-yet-untitled directorial venture, meeting actor Manoj Bajpai for a probable role in the same film and answering at least 10 calls in three minutes. The most romantic man in Bollywood is back at work, and this time round it8217;s likely to be Switzerland again.

The comeback begs an obvious question about the reasons for his six-year hiatus. 8216;8216;All the scripts that came my way had something missing. It8217;s only when I came across this particular story that I felt that I should make it.8217;8217;

The film in question is written by son Aditya and stars camp favourite Shah Rukh Khan with Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherji. Even Amitabh Bachchan is part of the project.

He8217;s not willing to divulge much more, except that the film is a love story and definitely not a triangle. It will also have some unused tunes by the late Madan Mohan, he adds.

But what8217;s this buzz about the film being based on a controversial subject? 8216;8216;I won8217;t go that far, it8217;s just intense. Anyway, the biggest controversy in a love story is love itself. People don8217;t like people who love each other,8217;8217; he says, with the self-assurance of a man for whom turbulent love stories are familiar territory.

He attempted that with Silsila and Lamhe8212;two of his best films. Both were pathbreaking, but perhaps a little too ahead of their time. 8216;8216;Lamhe is my favourite film. I always believe that when a man gets an idea, he can8217;t delay it. You make it if it excites you.8217;8217;

Interestingly, Chopra reveals that he8217;s flirted with those shades of grey right from his first film8212;Dhool Ka Phool in 1959 was the story of an illegitimate child. Chopra also reveals how he lost his voice on the first day of the shooting. 8216;8216;I just couldn8217;t speak8230; my vocal chords were blocked due to stress. I could only whisper instructions. I thought I wouldn8217;t be able to go on.8217;8217;

Obviously, he needn8217;t have worried about his going on, but how does he view the process of direction now? 8216;8216;I still get tense. Every film is an examination and I have to prove myself all over again,8217;8217; he says.

The challenge in making romantic films, he says, lies in making them from the heart and not the brain. 8216;8216;8216;I love you8217; has been said millions of time on screen. The challenge is in how different you make it sound. I think the more simply you say it, the better it sounds,8217;8217; he adds.

And what about the trusted Chopra accompaniments8212;the flowers, rain, fog, the colour white and beautiful women? 8220;Nature is the most beautiful thing in the world, followed by women. I like to present both beautifully,8217;8217; he chuckles.

At his level, he can afford to have his own style. And he8217;s worked hard for his unique space, starting as he did as a youngster from Jalandhar who had but one dream8212;to come to Mumbai and make a movie.

Today, there8217;s even a lake named after him Chopra Lake in Switzerland. 8216;8216;I don8217;t think tourists know that it8217;s named after me. I never ever imagined a thing like this. It8217;s all God8217;s blessing.8217;8217; Amen to that!