“Zid is very sexy and sinful”
Zid is a genre film. Such films are compact on budget and popular worldwide. They are the type that Mukesh Bhatt makes in India. They are mainly thrillers with added elememts of lust and sexuality. Internationally, they are 90 minutes and very fast paced. They’re for quick viewing. I call it my tribute to Muhesh Bhatt for fun. He’s created this genre in India and has been successful at it. If you ask me, I think Zid is very sexy and sinful. It’s fun, thrilling and adult. It’s a story of a man who is loved by two women and one of them is obsessive in nature. The story revolves around a secret he shares with the obsessive woman and how she tries to use that secret to get the man and how the man wriggles out of that commitment. It’s a tough situation.
“Karan Johar is inclined to candy floss films”
In India movie making is taken seriously. People try to connect movie making to morality. You have a story, you like it and you want to make it. It’s as simple as that. A lot of filmmakers have patterns. They like certain kind of films. Like Prakash Jha, he’s inclined towards politics. Karan Johar likes to make candyfloss films. He makes very beautiful, musical films. But I feel I don’t have that kind of a pattern. If you look into my direction career, I started with a very mushy love story and then moved to action and I made a superhero film. I don’t think either of them is better than other. They’re just different. Filmmakers with their scripts approach me and if something appeals to me and falls in the viable parameters then I take it. So sometimes it could be a genre film like Zid and sometimes it could be a film about women empowerment like Gulaab Gang. But I like commercial films.
“I didn’t know Mannara is Priyanks’s cousin”
When others direct for me, they go through the same regular process of briefing. Casting director bring pictures then we shortlist them. We call them for screen tests and then the director and team short list the applicants. And then the director and I sit down and we choose the actors for the parts. I didn’t know Mannara is Priyanka Chopra’s cousin. Priyanka and I were just chatting and I told her we have signed Mannara, I didn’t know she was her sister. Priyanka didn’t recommend her to me. Priyanka is a friend. She’d also come to the premier of our film Warning 3D. She’s always there for us. And Zid just happens to be a film where her sister is involved.
“Risk in filmmaking is a myth”
People like to believe that what they are doing is risk free. People like to believe that if the film has big stars, it’s risk free. But risk in filmmaking is a myth. Without taking names, a lot of star-studded films have lost so much money. If you can make a film within the right budget and if you can release it with the right amount of money, it is as risky as any other film. But if you go out of the excel sheet with anybody, you will loose money even if your film has the biggest star of the country,
“Mushtaq did not introduce me to Shahrukh Khan”
Contrary to the popular belief, Mushtaq Sheikh did not introduce me to Shahrukh Khan. In fact SRK introduced me to Mushtaq. Most people think that since Mushtaq is my friend, he introduced me to Shahrukh. Mushtaq was part of the scripting process of Ra.One. And I think both of us found each other to be good human beings and over a period of time we became friends. So now we’re making films together. He’s not only been a part of Warning 3D, Gulaab Gang and Zid, but he’s also a part of my production company Benaras Mediaworks. So he’ll be part of everything that Benaras does.
“I wanted to take a break after Ra.One”
After Ra.One I wanted to take a break of 2 and a half years. I’ve written scripts. I’ve finalized two of them. One of them needs a big star because it’s big in nature. Apart from that I’ve liked 2 or 3 stories, which I’m going to produce and this has taken a lot out of me. Because it’s the first time I’m going to release a film myself. Zid is not bought over by any studio, which was my choice because I’d like to make more films like this.