Shah Rukh Khan sees a parallel between the disaster-romance epic "Titanic" and his latest offering "Paheli".
"If you can believe that an 80-year-old woman can continue to love the man she loved as a young girl ("Titanic"), then why not the love story between a ghost and a woman?" Shah Rukh contended during an interview with IANS.
According to him, "Paheli" is "targeted at an audience that would like to see more than just songs and dances... If you're in love, you'd like to see "Paheli".
"Paheli", he said, was his first brush with the mindset of an avant-garde filmmaker - director Amol Palekar.
"This was the first occasion when I got to observe a so-called serious director so closely. Earlier I was younger and brasher. I just did my job and went home. This is my first real brush with the mindset of an avant-garde filmmaker," he added.
Excerpts from the interview:
I don't think you've ever done a film like "Paheli" before.
And I hope I can do things like "Paheli" in the future as well. "Paheli" is very different. I could only make it when my production house could afford to take a risk. After "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" and "Asoka", I had to make films that were commercially viable. After "Asoka", my company was in the red.
Had the non-success of "Asoka" disappointed you?
People said it was ahead of its time. Somehow, somewhere, we weren't able to hold the audience's attention. We were to blame. I don't think the audience ever goes to a film with the intention of rejecting it. Either the audience is entertained or not. If you don't like a particular food, you won't eat it. As simple as that! We make films for the audience. And we'd better make them entertaining.
I think "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" was a fantastic entertainer on the commercialization of television news. When it came, the concept of cutthroat TV journalism hadn't really caught on. But look at what's happening now. At Sunil Dutt's funeral, there were huge crowds of journalists and fans jostling to grab the stars' attention. It certainly took away from the solemnity of the occasion. That's the truth about the quality of life today.
"Swades" also told a truth about the quality of life, though it was not as entertaining as "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani".
It's like this. A film on the life of Mahatma Gandhi cannot be made deliberately entertaining. Every theme has its own mood and tempo. And that mood and tempo is established from Frame 1. From the promos of "Paheli" to the credit titles, I hope the mood of the movie comes across to the audience. I love comedy. But "Paheli" isn't a funny film, though it does have light moments.
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