I wish we could show more sex-Kjo

Through the film Roman Holiday (1953). I remember my mother (Hiroo Johar) taking me to watch it at Eros theatre. I was six then and had never seen a film in a cinema hall. I was mesmerised. My mother was keen that the first movie I saw was a modern classic. She wasn't too high on Hindi cinema anyway. It's ironic how things have changed now. That was my first brush with romance.

I was born and brought up in Malabar Hill in South Mumbai where kids my age found Hindi cinema 'uncool'. Sometimes, because of peer pressure, we tend to lie. I never spoke about my father being a film producer. Dad also had an export business that he ran from the same office. So I conveniently went with that. It was much later that I realised it was not 'uncool' to be associated with films. My first year in college coincided with the release of Agneepath (1990). It might not have been a huge hit but it was considered a cult film. My classmates believed it was like an international film and enquired if my father had produced it. Suddenly, my opinion of the movies took a 180 degree turn. I found myself dropping my father's name often. I laughed thinking that something, which I ran away from in childhood, I was using to get popular in college.

(Laughs) My maid! She was obsessed with Hindi movies. My mom used to allow me to watch English films with her. But we'd go and watch Hindi films. In fact, once I even said I had to attend a birthday party and saw a Hindi film with her instead. Sometimes, we used to repeat films. I remember watching Love Story 22 times. My maid was as crazy as me.

I believe I am an old soul. Also, unknowingly, my mother has been my biggest influence in terms of movies. She used to listen to old Hindi film music of the '40s, '50s and '60s. She loved renditions by Geeta Dutt, Mohammed Rafi, Ghulam Ali, Kishore Kumar, Jagjit Singh, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar. So my preference too has always been towards more intense stuff. I knew all the lyrics. When the VHS (Video Home Service) phase came, I was nine and wanted to see the films that had those songs. Many of them were from Guru Dutt films. The first film I saw on VHS was Kaagaz Ke Phool. Soon I was watching the cinema of Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy. Later I moved on to Yash Chopra's early work. I was obsessed with Kabhi Kabhie (1976) and Silsila (1981). At the same time I enjoyed contemporary cinema. A Bimal Roy film and a Himmatwala (1983) excited me equally. I loved Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) and Awaara (1951) as much.

For me it has to be Awaara ' Raj Kapoor and Nargis. That began my understanding of love. Then it moved on to Dilip Kumar and Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and finally Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Rekha in Silsila. These were the three phases of love that moved me. The '60s mostly had situational romance, which never moved me. Like the Shammi Kapoor phase for me was more entertainment and less romance. For me Kagaaz Ke Phool is great romance. Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman had great chemistry. The moments and emotions they created are something else. My choice of romance in cinema was always a little off my age. How else would you explain a 10-year-old boy relating to such emotions when boys my age related to something else? Perhaps, I was emotionally evolved.

The most important thing is to get the energy of the couple correct. A real-life couple never gets it right. The mid-level couple, which shares a friendship but no lust and a chemistry that isn't over familiar, always gets it right. When the lead couple is too much into each other, the awkwardness is often seen on screen. What I love is when two people who don't know each other well come together. There's an attraction but they haven't acted on that. The sizzle that they create on celluloid is amazing. Like take for example Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, they're an attractive couple. There has been nothing but friendship and respect between them. Their friendship has always been up to a point and has never gone beyond that. That is why they sizzle on screen. The second prerequisite is whether the couple looks good together in a frame. Their physical attributes and their body language play a big role. The songs and dialogue also play a huge role in a romance. If there's no love in your lines then the romance will be flat. You have to be a lover yourself to make a good love story. If you have no romance in you there's no way you can project love. Love is my dream. Even though I might not have love in my life, cinema becomes a vicarious medium for me to express the love within me for someone. For me it's so unrequited that every time I project it, I get it right.

It's sad but the purity of romance has taken a beating. It's the difference between water and cola. The '40s, '50s and '60s projected clean, tranquil and seamless love. Just the way a glass of water appears. Today's love is like a fizzy cola. It's got fizz, which eventually goes flat. Water is like the ocean, it's endless. Unfortunately, today organic love is known as old world love. Clean love stories don't exist anymore. We always have to add a shade of grey to the story for it to be identifiable. Like Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna had grey, while DDLJ was pure. The love in Awaara, Shree 420 or even Guru Dutt's films was unadulterated. It came from the heart and that's what made them million dollar love stories. Today's love is mixed up. It is clouded by Facebook and Twitter. That is why classic love stories bore an audience today. Today's love stories need Imtiaz Ali's dialogue to spunk it up.

Of course it does. We live in such bubbly times that all our characters are always on the move. There was a time when just looking into each other's eyes was considered romantic. Today we are so distracted. So the love story will also be full of distractions. There's no silence in our love stories anymore.

Yes of course. We're so cynical today that going down on your knees with a rose in your hand is considered cheesy. At one point of time it was Mere mehboob (1963). Today if a boy writes a poem for a girl it is considered tacky. Expression of love has become monetary. You have to buy her a car and surprise her, that's considered 'so romantic'. Or take her to an unknown destination because it's expensive to do that. The old school romance of giving a petal or a rose is considered cheap.

It has. Sex is such a big part of love. But we make such a big deal out of a kiss. I wish we were allowed to show more sexual love stories. I believe the real passion in a love story comes from sex. We're so bogged down by censor rulings and actors who wish to conform to social pressures. Unfortunately, there's no love story that one can tell today without watering it down. Last year only one love story was made - Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Before that the only real love story was Jab We Met. Imagine the most important films of our decade aren't love stories! And that was all our industry was producing at one point.

It's best to see love from both the viewpoint of the actress and the director. In this case, all the directors were men. They will project love the way they see it. If lust is predominant instead of love, as in the case of RGV, then you will see more of the woman's posterior than her eyes. But if you're a Yash Chopra or a Raj Kapoor you'll see the eyes and deep and endless love in them. I've always seen love stories from the point of view of the woman. Whether it is KKHH or Kal Ho Naa Ho, my female protagonists have always been powerful.

It comes in the way. Fortunately, I've never been in love with my actors. I've witnessed that if the director is in love with an actor it restricts him from doing the optimum with the love story. One then tends to get personal about everything. You find it hard to differentiate between reel and real. So somewhere that eats into the film.