I met her during Tashan
Saif Ali Khan on winning and losing and Tashan
Why are you frowning so much these days?
Am I? If you're talking about the promos of Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, that's a frowning role.
Is it because of prying eyes?
No. One should get comfortable with the public attention. I'll make an effort to look happier. I am happy. I've so much to look forward to. Professionally, I'm doing so well. I've a great personal life. I guess I'm just a frowning guy. I must stop.
You're leaving for a shoot for your first home production?
Yes, I leave for London now. It's a love story and I'm proud to be producing it. It's very original, a little too original.
You mean it's bold?
Bold and beautiful. We shoot in London, San Francisco and Delhi. My partner Dinesh Vijan chose the locations.
You do want to spend as much time with Kareena as possible?
Obviously. Look, she's shooting in Australia and I had two months off. So I'd go to visit her. Or if she's doing an event in Andheri and I can join her, I will. I know people will talk. I don't care.
Broken by the failure of Tashan?
Not at all. The role didn't end up the way I thought it would. It was edited a lot. As Aditya Chopra explained to me it was for the betterment of the film. But yeah, it was a disappointment. I won't pretend about that.
Race was a hit. But it was a terrible film.
Who cares what you think about it? (laughs). It ran, and I was frowning throughout. I enjoyed the wheel-dealer plot.
Were you convinced?
Well… it has taken me a long time to get to the position of the main lead. And the man responsible for this in many ways is Adi Chopra who gave me Hum Tum and Salaam Namaste. I've always trusted Adi's judgement.
But Akshay Kumar had all the punchy dialogues.
You win some lose you lose some. It was fun making the film and something positive came out of it.
What's that?
I met Kareena during Tashan. That's enough for me.
You seem to be inaccessible to a lot of producers.
When I started out producers didn't understand the way I worked, and
vice versa. For so long I
was comfortable in my kind of world …you know, Dil Chahta Hai, Hum Tum… I was a little wary of the more old-school directors. I decided to venture out and try a cinema I thought I wouldn't be comfortable with. I worked with Abbas-Mastan. Today I'm open to working with anyone.
But you are still picky?
Yes. Because no matter how many films you do you can't have more than three-four releases a year, so why do any more?
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