No drama: Gowariker's next is a romantic

Published on Fri, May 23, 2008 at 12:33, Updated at Fri, May 23, 2008 in Entertainment section

Mumbai: Ashutosh Gowariker is ready to get into a light frothy romance that he says requires "no research" after three intense films Lagaan, Swades, Jodhaa-Akbar".

Gowariker's next project What's Your Rashi?, which will star Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja, takes him "far away" from his earlier three films, he says.

"In What's Your Rashi? I don't have to go into historical details. But a good comedy is a challenge of its own. The process of arriving at the humour is extremely difficult," says the acclaimed director in an exclusive interview to

He says he knew he wanted to make a romantic comedy after Jodhaa-Akbar and his ideals were middle of the road films like Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Chupke Chupke and Basu Chatterjee's Baaton Baaton Mein.

Gowariker chose Harman after he saw the rushes of Love Story 2050. "He turned out to be fantastic," he says.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: How come this sudden announcement about a film with Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra?

Ashutosh Gowariker: It wasn't supposed to come out. I don't know how the news leaked out, and that too the wrong news. People said it was based on a play, when actually it's based on a novel. It's a book called Kimball Ravenswood by Madhu Rye. It takes me far away from my last three films.

Q: But those three films were as far removed from one another as possible?

Ashutosh Gowariker: They were. Lagaan, Swades and Jodhaa-Akbar had the element of drama common to them. What's Your Rashi? is a light frothy romantic comedy and I've never done one of those before. After 10 years and three films that required me to do rigorous research at last I'm doing a film that requires no research.

Q: But surely you had a team to do research on those projects?

Ashutosh Gowariker: No, I like to do it on my own. Only when I do the research am I able to absorb and understand the subject. In What's Your Rashi? I don't have to go into historical details. But a good comedy is a challenge of its own and the process of arriving at the humour is extremely difficult.

Q: Weren't you supposed to do another film with Hrithik Roshan after Jodhaa-Akbar?

Ashutosh Gowariker: I am extremely keen on doing a film with Hrithik, but right now he's extremely busy with his home productions. I have a subject for him which I'll do later. After Jodhaa-Akbar, I was sure I wanted to do something non-historical, light and fun. And I knew I wanted to make a romantic comedy but I didn't know which script.