It was upsetting when people said this was a publicity stunt. I wanted to slap them

Y.P. RAJESH: Its interesting you say that because you are known for candy-floss romances.

I am all for bubblegum and candy floss. In fact,I am dying to watch Valentines Day. But now I have moved on. I am 37 and Ill be 40 in three years. For me to do bubblegum and mush now is a bit too much. Aditya Chopra and I are the only two filmmakers who have been through the transition. In the 90s,we were catering to the demands of the audience at that time and suddenly we were competing with the Farhan Akhtars and Ashutosh Gowarikers in 2001.

PRIYANKA SINHA: People say that you make films for the NRI audience.

The term NRI is like bubblegum. People refer to them like they are a group of aliens. Do you know that NRIs are far more Indian,far more traditional and far more conservative than any of us living here? Films like Black,Taare Zameen Par,Rang De Basanti have done more business in India than out there. We are far more evolved cinema goers. I have not sat and designed a film that will run in Birmingham (UK) or New York. I make films I believe in. It if works out there,great,but I dont have a plan in place that says I refuse to make films that cater to people in Indore or Chhattisgarh. I dont know what an NRI-friendly film means. I dont get the classification. The diaspora audience is very unusualthose in USA,UK and UAE all behave in different ways. You never know how things will work where.

RAJIV VIJAYKAR: What is the difference in the two films you have made on terrorism recentlyKurbaan and My Name Is Khan (MNIK)?

Kurbaan is the quintessential thriller that talks about global terrorism. MNIK has got nothing to do with it,it is about humanity. One is a human endeavour and the other is a technical endeavour but both are cinematic endeavours. One is relevant and topical,the other is on humanity and goodwill. Kurbaan got delayed by a year which is why it nearly coincided with MNIK.

RAJIV VIJAYKAR: What was the synergy you tried to achieve by combining the theme of terrorism with autism in MNIK?

If he was not autistic in the movie,he would not have been able to pull it off because you would think it was jingoistic and unreal. The message had to be through a man who could not have been like you and me. None of us is either good or badwe are all grey. No sane man will go to meet the American President just because his wife had asked him to. This man doesnt know better. He only understands life in black and white because he had a life altering condition. The simplicity of his character could only be shown by a non-neuro-typical condition.

Y.P. RAJESH: A lot of people blame you for what happened before the release of MNIK because of your apology to Raj Thackeray over the use of the word Bombay in Wake Up Sid.

I value everyones opinion. I spent 36 years living a very sheltered life so I wasnt exposed to this kind of situation. When it happened to me the first time,I took an immediate call without thinking about the circumstances. You are far more vulnerable and weak on a Friday (the day a film is released). When you are advised about something,you go ahead and do it. When I think back,maybe I would have reacted in a different way today because I have been through another experience like that. I wont comment on whether what I did was right or wrong but just that I am a different person today. Wake Up Sid was the first time it happened to me and at that time,you do not sit back and think if you are doing the right or wrong thing. I could say I wish I had reacted differently but in that moment of crisis,you react impulsively. So,I dont know whether what I did was right or wrong. All I can say is this was a different circumstance.

Y.P. RAJESH: Are you a wiser man now?

I am older,wiser,and far more mature post My Name Is Khan than I have ever been. I have understood so much about the world,people,the industry,everything. I feel like I grew up 10 years in those 10 days. I am definitely a more aware man.

MANGAL DALAL: Do you think you needed more support for MNIK?

I think the support I got was internal. It was on the phone,it was through SMSes. A lot of the support came from unexpected quartersthat was really heartening. A lot of people called and said they were with me. But what could anybody have done? I would have done the same thing. Some people who didnt call surprised me. Some people who didnt speak definitely disappointed me. But it just shows that the problem lies with us. Our expectations lead us to disappointment so you should not expect too much.

HARNEET SINGH: What do you have to say to those who did not call you?

Nothing. I think my silence will say it all.

PRIYANKA SINHA: This is a recurring problem in the industry. So has the industry tried to organise itself?

Maybe in the future it will. We are inching towards becoming a lot more of a fraternity. We used to be a fraternity and then we became an industry. We do come together when we need to,like we did for the producers strike. There is a section that comes together and there are some who remain silent. We have to take it in that spirit.

MANGAL DALAL: Do you wish you could have supported Shah Rukh Khan more?

I was standing there holding his hand throughout. The fact that I was there to stand next to SRK was support enough. Very honestly,enough had been said about the issue. Id rather have SRK speak about it. I dont think we expected things to get to this monumental level. We are happy its over.

PRIYANKA SINHA: Dont you think it was ironic that all this happened considering what the film stands for?

We hadnt anticipated it. It was upsetting when some people claimed that all that happened was a publicity stunt. I really wanted to go out there and slap them. That bothered me and angered me too,no end,because who would plan something like that for their film? That is brain-dead,callous and insensitive to even suggest. It is very easy to sit in offices and say it is a publicity stunt. Even the airport incident in the US,where he was questioned for a few hours,was made to feel like a publicity stunt. It is almost like I have the US Homeland Security staff at my beck and call and President Obama on my speed-dial.

HARNEET SINGH: Have you analysed what went wrong with Kurbaan?

I think it is a great film and I stand by that. I messed up with its projection. As a producer,I failed much more than anything else. The film may have glaring errors. I gave it this violent sexual image which turned off a lot of people. I take the entire blame on myself. It wasnt quintessentially mainstream,there was an intellectual angle but it didnt deserve to not get an opening and for that I apologise to Rensil (DSilva,the director). I was totally wrong with the marketing.

SNEHA MAHADEVAN: Do you ever see yourself working without SRK?

I get asked about this often. It is almost like people want me to stop working with Shah Rukh. I havent thought about working without him because it has never happened. It has always been organic because we have worked on one film after the other. But having said that,we are beyond films. We have done five films together,back to back some kind of a record. It is now a given. We are part of each others lives and we can take each other for granted. Many films are in the pipeline but I dont know in which film I will work with Shah Rukh Khan.

PRIYANKA SINHA: How much pressure are you under since everyone wants to work with you?

It is all a myth. I still beg for dates. Just this morning,I had a meeting and I had to beg for an actors dates. There are just eight actors,four actresses and they are all working with each other so you have to adjust dates and beg for them. No matter who you are,you go through this process.

PRIYANKA SINHA: How easy was it to transform SRK for the role in My Name Is Khan?

I cant take any credit for his performance. He just showed me variations of his walk,his gestures,eye contact. We went to the National Autistic Society and did a lot of research. We have taken instances from a real couple to work on the relationship between Mandira and Rizwan. Shah Rukh had a close friends son who is autistic. He interacted personally with a lot of people. He created Rizwan in three months and while preparing,he read a lot.

PRIYANKA SINHA: In MNIK,the Kajol-Shah Rukh Khan romance is very different from their other screen romances.

If the audience was looking for a sooraj hua madham,they would be disappointed. This was an unusual romance. Kajol plays a divorcee with a 6-year-old son and he is a man with an altered mental condition. Their romance had to be different and unusual. What worked in my favour as a filmmaker was that the audience is so conditioned to seeing SRK and Kajol in love on screen that one look at them and you know they are in love. He could be anything,deaf,blind,dumb but people will believe that they are in love. They have so much history of love so you dont need to convince your audience. When her voice is heard you already know that hes in love because youre feeding off their history.

EDWARD: Do you see this film opening up India to global cinema?

This is the first global Indian film. It connected with people from all parts of the world and it is going to be viewed by people across the world. We have opened new markets and released the film in Egypt,Syria,Omanwe have had 50 prints in Germany and Poland,places where no Hindi film has been released before. It is opening many doors and windows.

(Transcribed by Natasha Sahgal)