From Munnabhai MBBS to Jaane Tu... Ya Jaa

I decided to direct Jaane Tu in 2005 because I realised that after 12 years of writing, I'd become sick of it. I never thought it would happen to me. I was becoming crazy, loony, eccentric... I was always sitting alone and writing. I was so involved in writing that I lost touch with my subject: People. I wanted some challenge. So I decided to turn to direction.

Also, I couldn't start writing 120 pages of a script, knowing that it may just sit there and not get made.

So you turned to direction because your scripts were not selling, or that your scripted films like Mehmaan and Barf did not get made?

It wasn't that the scripts weren't selling. It was the fact that the films I wrote never got made. Exhaustion had set in, and I couldn't bring myself to write a film anymore.

I am amazed that you referred to Mehmaan and Barf. Many people don't know about them. When I wrote them, I thought they were the best movies I wrote. Two years later, when I looked back I realised that I could write better.

But when you had scripts like Mehmaan and Barf -- that you thought were great scripts -- why did you choose to direct Jaane Tu?

Jaane Tu was the easiest to sell and get a producer excited. Plus, it is one of those scripts that makes you think will work. I did not want to start my directorial career with a struggle. If I had a dark script, I would have to struggle hard to convince people.

I don't believe in genres, I believe in stories. A good story can be told in all genres, as long as you have a good setup of characters, who are going through a journey that will enrich the viewer.

How did you get the late producer Jhamu Sughand to produce your film?

Three days from the day I decided to direct a film, I got a call from Jhamu Sughand, asking me to direct a film. That's how it happened.

When Jhamu Sughand went into losses, you changed your producer. Was he okay with it?

Jhamuji was a friend and a wonderful human being. It got to a point where both of us realised that the cash crunch would delay Jaane Tu. At that time, he was also producing Anurag Kashyap's Gulal and Sriram Raghvan's Johnny Gaddar, and the shooting had started for both. Obviously, his priority was those films, as he wanted to complete them.

So I asked him whether I can take the film to another producer. He told me to go ahead because he didn't want to hold back my career. I think he is the most generous human being I have met in my life.

'I think Aamir was more scared than me' How tough is it to be a first-time director, trying to get a foothold in the film industry? When you have production house like Aamir Khan's and people like Aamir, Mansoor Khan, Kiran Rao and Sreenivas Rao supporting you, the only struggle you face is if you can do a good job. Everything else is possible. Were you ever scared that your project may be taken away from you like Amole Gupte's Taare Zameen Par? I think Aamir was more scared than me. Contrary to what a lot of people would like to believe, Aamir is not the kind of producer, who is looking for weak directors, whom he can replace or interfere with. As a producer, he wants a strong director, who can handle the project. Otherwise, why would he produce the film? When the problem happened with TZP and when he had to take over as director, he became very nervous because he wondered if I would be good enough. He didn't want to break my heart later and tell me that the project was off. So he asked me to do a test shoot. I had to shoot three scenes and show him, and prove myself to him. So I shot the three scenes, he saw them, and never ever questioned my credentials again. What made you cast Imran Khan? Imran was cast in the film even before Aamir came into the picture. He was cast when Jhamu Sughand was the producer. He is exactly what we wanted. When you see the film and see his character -- a gentle lovable boy-next-door, who is friends with his mother, who hates violence, who is funny and crazy -- you meet Imran. The only difference is that he is shy, and his character, Jay, isn't. Is Imran similar to Aamir in any way? Yes, he is. The biggest similarity between them is that the script and character are far more important to them, than being projected as a star. On camera, he is distinctive; he has his own style. But once in a while, in a particular angle or shot, he'll suddenly look like Aamir. 'Rahman told me that until he worked with me, he thought Aamir was the most difficult person to work with' This is the first time you have worked with AR Rahman. How was that experience? You said somewhere that you had to spend long hours waiting for him in Chennai hotels. Oh yes. Both of us had some hard times. He told me that until he worked with me, he thought Aamir was the most difficult person to work with but I was worse than Aamir! At the end of the film, he gifted me a perfume called Unforgivable. So I joked to him that he gave me this perfume because he could not find one called 'Unbearable'. But the truth of the journey is that when you reach the end, you want to go for a journey with that person all over again. So after the film, Rahman told me that he was remaking Tamil film, Boyz, and he wanted me to write the lyrics. That says it all. Normally, when you work with a music director, you just land up at the studio at the scheduled time. But if you have to go to Chennai -- where you have no friends or family -- it becomes a long wait. So it becomes a little difficult. How dominating was Mansoor Khan, as a co-producer? The first thing that Mansoor Khan told me was, 'Abbas, I am not here to direct a film for you. I am here to help you make your film the way you want to.' He is not interested in making films anymore. All he did was make his experience available to us. He was a fantastic guide, and would not interfere unless we needed something. There are some shots, which I okayed. But Mansoor would tell me to try it again because we could get a better performance out of the cast. In some cases, what he did was not visible. For example, there was a scene where Jay breaks down while talking to his mother. I shot the entire scene from their back, as I didn't want to see their expressions. I was very sure how I wanted that scene. But Mansoor asked me to shoot it from all angles for safety sake. In the end, I took the shot that I wanted. 'The camera loves Genelia' How was it working with Genelia? The camera loves this girl. You can keep the camera on her face and keep it running. You don't need to cut. It's tragic that such a fine actor does not have the chance to show how good she is. In a lot of ways, I'm re-launching her. Genelia will create the history that Juhi Chawala created. Jaane Tu will see cameos from Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak, Arshad Warsi, Arbaaz Khan. There are certain things about the film that we have chosen not to tell. Will you do a cameo in the film, like you did in Maqbool? There is a voice in the end, talking to a security officer from a walkie talkie. That's my voice. Will you continue writing scripts? Yes.