You Have to Keep Running

Your new film Koi...Mil Gaya is creating a lot of buzz. What is it about?It8217;s a very simple film about a boy8212;Rohit8212;who is phy...

Your new film Koi8230;Mil Gaya is creating a lot of buzz. What is it about?
It8217;s a very simple film about a boy8212;Rohit8212;who is physically all right, but a 11-year-old mentally. He8217;s not retarded, in fact, he8217;s a very clever boy. Preity Zinta comes to stay in the town and teaches him computers as a friend.

And the sci-fi element?
Rohit8217;s father is a space scientist keen to find life on another planet. He creates a computer with different Om sounds. He sends these signals to communicate with them, but just when his belief gets stronger, he dies. Later, Preity is teaching Hrithik on the same computer, and they cause a spaceship to land. It leaves behind a little alien. What he does for Hrithik forms the rest of the story.

Why Om of all sounds?
I have three rings with Om inscribed on them. I believe it gives good vibrations.

Tell us more about the alien.
Its name is Jadoo and it has lots of magical powers. People will fall in love with it at first sight. This is a family film; it isn8217;t morose. It8217;s in the genre of Sound Of Music. Even Hrithik8217;s character is something you haven8217;t seen in Hollywood or Hindi films.

But rumour has it that Koi8230;Mil Gaya is a desi version of E.T. and Forrest Gump.
An E.T. is an E.T., you can8217;t call it anything else. Just because I have a spaceship, doesn8217;t mean I8217;m making Star Wars. Forrest Gump was a film about a mentally retarded person and the love story was different. Rohit8217;s character is more playful.

What is Koi8230;Mil Gaya8217;s budget?
It is above Rs 30 crore. A lot of that has gone into the alien.

Jadoo has cost you as much as Shah Rukh and Hrithik put together.
The alien was made in Australia; it moves like a robot and expresses joy and sorrow. It took a year to make and week by week, I saw it coming to life, right from choosing its colour. It was a very difficult task.

The special effects were done in Los Angeles by Craig Mumma and Marc Kolbe, who worked on Independence Day, Godzilla and Swordfish. It8217;s always risky to make something different and that too, convincingly.

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After Kaho Naa8230; Pyaar Hai, you could have made any film with Hrithik. Why choose to show him like this?
In Kaho Naa8230;, I had already shown Hrithik as both an introvert and an extrovert. I had to rise above that and display his talent. He may not be a hero in this film, but his character is a periscope that shows all his talents. People will love him.

All your films challenge reality. Do you believe anything can happen?

Of course, the common man prays for that. I take only different subjects. A challenge shakes me up, and I have to make the film.

Can you turn the tide for Hrithik?
I can only make a good film, not a box office hit. Even God doesn8217;t know what audiences will like. A good actor will always remain so, it8217;s in the film-maker8217;s hands.

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But how do you feel as a father? First, he8217;s the Best Newcomer, then he8217;s proclaimed to be

finished.

I8217;ve seen all ups and downs in these past 35 years in the industry. The media put him on a pedestal, then brought him down. Hrithik still works 24 hours, we8217;ll only be worried when he doesn8217;t have work. Life is a race with no end. Sometimes you8217;re ahead, sometimes you fall. You just have to keep running.

Despite the underworld attack after Kaho Na8230;, you8217;re still making an expensive film.
You don8217;t achieve anything by sleeping under a blanket. We8217;re all fighters. Let destiny take its course.