I dont have the mentality of a large corporate. Im like a handloom weaver

What about Peepli Live made you want to put your money in it?
I connected to the funny and heartbreaking script instantly. I liked what the director,Anusha Rizvi,is saying in the film. There exists a growing divide between rural and urban India,a Bharat vs India situation. The film sensitises us about our villages and how we are not giving enough value to them,but it does so in a humourous manner. Peepli Live is not a larger-than-life film but a realistic,humourous look at the Bharat we have forgotten.

Peepli Live sounds like an adventurous decision. Youve made quite a few of those in your career. But where does it all start?
Well,my films,be it Lagaan,Taare Zameen Par or now Peepli Live,might be unusual for the market as they dont follow mainstream rules,but I believe in them. For me,it all starts and ends here: if I believe in a story,I just go with it.

How far would you go? Is there a story that you want to tell but have been scared to attempt?
Yes. Its the Mahabharata. Im petrified of tackling it. Its difficult to do justice to the great epic.

Prakash Jha tried to do it in Raajneeti. Did you see it?
Yeah,I saw Raajneeti.

And?
I thought Ranbir Kapoor was quite nice in it.

So,what you are saying is that your Mahabharata will be different.
Lets just say that I see the Mahabharata in its pure form.

What is your view of Bollywood today? The big star/big film formula is not clicking anymore. 2010 has been one of the worst years for the industry. Nobody knows what works at the box office.
There are a lot of positives right now. There is a lot of talent,a lot of youngsters doing some really good work. Ive always believed that it is important for creative talent to be responsible for a films economic success. Im making what I want to. Im telling the kind of stories that I want to. But there is a lot of responsibility in the process which I take seriously. If Im getting the money to do what I want to,then its up to me to ensure that the people who are giving me the money are getting it back.

So,what is your big dream?
My big dream is to spend more time with my family. When Im busy with a film,I become so engrossed in it,get so sucked in the whole machinery of it,that I miss my loved ones a lot.

What about cinema dreams?
I think Im okay with what Im doing. I dont think I want to build an empire. Im like a handloom weaver. You know,a weaver has one small lakdi ka system and he puts one thread in it. Till the sari is made,he cant remove the thread. Like a weaver,I too have just one thread. I dont have the bandwidth to do more. I dont have the mentality of a large corporate. Im happy to run a personal boutique production house.

Youve been a successful actor,producer and director. Now you are also this marketing monster. Does that add to the pressure?
Baap re! I have no pearls of wisdom to offer about marketing. I do what I think is right. When Im excited about a film,I want to share it with the maximum number of people .

How far would you go to market a movie?
Ive never thought of this. Youve got to be true to your film. Lets look at Ghajini,where I gave haircuts to people. As an idea,it sounds lowbrow. But it worked because Ghajini was a physical film,so even our marketing ideas had to be of a physical nature. Thats why I conducted a press conference in a gym,distributed the booklet of how I made my body,gave haircuts to ushers of multiplexes etc. For 3 Idiots,the big idea was that Ill disappear and people will be looking for me. That was just what the story of the film was where Rancho goes missing.

You were the first actor to start blogging and now everyones joined the social networking bandwagon. You are on Twitter too.
I started the blog so that I could directly communicate with my audience. I joined Twitter because Amitji Amitabh Bachchan said I should and I can never say no to him. But Twitter,as Im finding out,is really not meant for me. I find it difficult to restrict my thoughts in 140 characters. Its a great tool of expression but my personality is not meant for it.

Dont you think Twitter is taking away the mystique of actors? Theres too much information about too many things all the time.
I agree with you. Its all about reacting,and reacting frequently. As a creative person who is so lost in his work,who checks his phone once in every five hours,I cant cope with the pressure of feeding information about me.

You seem to be on a mending bridges spree,be it with Bachchan or with Karan Johar.
There are no broken bridges that need to be mended. I have the highest regard for Amitji. We were staying in the same hotel in London and we connected. He mentioned Twitter and reminded me that I hadnt seen Paa yet. So when I returned to Mumbai,I saw Paa.

What about Karan?
Im most comfortable with Karan. Hes a fun guy. There is no agenda of work here.

In the past,Karan said you didnt respect him as a film-maker. Youve also said youve been disappointed with Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna . Any chance of doing a movie together?
Well,if he ever has something for me,Ill be happy to look at it,but that is not the reason why we are meeting.

They say as a person becomes more successful,very few people can say no to him. Does that happen to you?
Arre,I can assure you that in my working environment there is not a single person who is scared to say no to me. Right from Raju,Anusha,Kiran Rao,Kunal Kohli,everyone says no to me.

Youre acting in your wife Kirans film,Dhobi Ghaat. How does it feel to take orders from your wife?
I dont think I have a choice in that matter whether Im acting in her film or not!

So Kiran calls the shots at home also.
Ah well,lets just say that Ive learnt that as a wise husband,it is always better to let the wife call the shots.

Name a few directors whose recent work youve liked.
Out of the ones I havent worked with,Ill name Imtiaz Ali who I think is very interesting. Anurag Basu,Anurag Kashyap,Dibakar Banerjee and Sriram Raghavan are also very good. Ive not seen A Wednesday but Ive heard that Neeraj Pandey has also done good work.

Name three movies that you revisit all the time.
You know,there is this Govinda-starrer,Sandwich,which comes on TV quite often. Whenever I see it,I cant change the channel. I really like that film. Kiran informs me that she has caught me watching Sandwich at least seven times. Govinda is such a talented guy,a great entertainer. I can also see Teesri Manzil and Caravan many times over.

Finally,everyones doing it. But what will it take to get you on television as a host?
Ah well,TV is a great medium but game shows dont excite me. I enjoy watching them and also participating in them but Im not too sure Ill be happy hosting one.

If it is not a game show,then what?
I dont know. Nothing has come up. If something excites me,Ill be happy to look at it.