'I don't want to promote OSO anymore

Has brand SRK worked again?

I am just happy that the film has done well. I don't think the brand Shah Rukh has worked. The film was really nice and it would be taking away the credit from the people who are involved with the film like Farah, Mushtaq, Manikandan and all the people who we actually pay the tribute to at the end of the film. I always say this that the hero always gains the most from the film. So, I am in a comfort zone. If the film does well I get the credit and the brand SRK gets bigger and if it doesn't do well then I blame the director. So I am just happy that the production team and the director has done so well and given me a chance to elongate my innings as an actor, as a brand. I don't think it is the other way round.

How do you look back at the film?

As an actor I always keep trying hard to do such a film that will be loved by the audience, is also commercially viable for the producer and has something new to say. Sometimes this equation doesn't work like for example – Paheli. But at times it does like Chak De India which I think is a beautiful film. But I make all my film with equal passion. The idea behind Om Shanti Om was that somewhere we tell something new, make a film on films that has have comedy, some emotions and I also feel that our new generation has become so speedy that everything should be given to them fast. I believe films should be made for others and I truly feel that someone like Farah, Mushtaq and the whole team believed in that. I don't know whether it will be a trendsetter or not but I am delighted about its success and also that somewhere it is also a different film. If you put all the films of this year together, Chak De and OSO will stand out as different films. It makes me feel satisfied as an actor and a producer too.

You were passionately involved in the making of OSO then why didn't you write a book on it?

No I am not so intellectually gifted. (Laughs) Mushtaq is much better placed and more intelligent than I am but just that I am better looking than him that's all. But Mushtaq has been a film journalist for years and he has love for cinema. In this film, he got the chance to be a scriptwriter along with Farah. So, he has seen this film from the closer angle, from its inception time till it got created. He was absolutely the right person to have written a book on the making of the film. And I would like to clarify it is not just about OSO. Every film has a story to tell and the film has a story to tell behind the scenes. Like every product in the media there is always something behind the scenes. Like when you cover something you do have a story to tell about the difficulties you faced and how you still managed to get the news or that one quote you wanted. Similarly, in films there are back stories which should come to the fore for younger people who want to be in films or the media. I used to read and still read biographies of film people and of great films and say WOW they faced so many problems then why am I bothered about the way my film is going right now.

Did you give any inputs to the book?

Honestly speaking, normally for a film or a book like this, people always feel that a star is involved and he is the one who does everything. But let me clarify my involvement in the book is only limited to the interviews and discussions Mushtaq had with me in regards to the book. The entire credit goes to Mushtaq and the cameraman who had flown down from Germany, who with great hard work took the stills for it. If you notice the photos in the book, they are not the typical ones like those one generally sees about the Hindi film industry. They are more from an outsider's point of view.

Don't you think you over marketed the film?

I have been reading in some places that we been over-promoting the film. But one has to understand when you are doing that you are also standing the risk of letting a lot of people down because of the hype. If the marketing is not backed by a good product it can really go against the film. I somewhere felt in my heart to be really honest that the film is going to be able to stand up to the kind of marketing we were doing. One reason I believe in marketing that's why I do it as a producer. Second part, Farah felt I don't market my own films as much as I do it for the ones not produced by me. For Main Hoon Naa I didn't do it enough she felt. The third aspect to be honest, at that point of time I was a little worried about the competition we had on the same day and I say it purely as a producer and please don't misconstrue it as an actor or as a thought to another director, it is just as a production house I felt there is such a big film coming which is very viable and is a great film also. I needed to make sure that my film is also noticed by people so I went all out to promote my film. Media has been very kind to me and if I promoted it 10% you guys did it 90%. If the film had bombed I would have come to you for over hyping it. (Chuckles). But I don't want to promote OSO any more! This was a book launch genuinely a stand alone one.

What is your reaction to the BCCI backlash?

I don't think I need to promote OSO through cricket. See I have utilized all the platforms to the hilt that I needed to promote it. I want my kids to understand the importance of sports therefore I take them to the arena from where they want to watch it and I took them to watch the cricket matches. I have taken them even when it wasn't covered on television. I have taken them three times before this whenever I got a chance or have been invited. If any film actor will not be asked something related to his films at such places what shall he be asked? If the parents don't take their children to the matches how will they learn the beauty of the sport? Cricket is a spectators sport. It is like me saying that all those who play sports should not see my movies. I think I was invited by the BCCI itself and I was very happy and I went for it but now I am a little sad. Henceforth I will send my children without me.

Did recent controversies also benefit OSO?

I believe that the negative things should not be thought of. You are younger to me that's why I will tell you that if anything comes out of anything then any negative aspect of it should not be taken along. I would like to believe it is doing well because many people are seeing it and enjoying it. I personally apologized for the controversies that followed the release because I would not like to benefit myself or my film from any controversy. Many people tell me that if such a thing comes on TV it is good for the film. But no it is not! Positivity is that I will say my film is good so please come to see it. I would like to believe that the goodness of my product has worked and not the controversies.

What kind of character is dearer to you, a Kabir Khan or an Om Prakash Makhija?

I like all my characters. I like Kabir Khan as much as I do Om Prakash Makhija. I do keep feeling that somewhere I don't like Shah Rukh Khan. I get happiness for sometime that for some days I am Kabir Khan or Om. Someone had told me that actors/stars always love themselves the most. But my philosophy is that an actor doesn't like himself at all that's why he keeps playing different characters and keeps getting happy about it. There will be one more book that will come up on me which I shall write myself someday. It will have these lines – Perhaps I don't love myself so much that's why I do the characters I sometimes do.