Dressed in a smart grey sweater and dark denims, the maestro surprised me with zero starry tantrums and a warm welcome. After making sure I was comfortable, he quickly got down to our interview.

With the amount of projects you seem to be involved in, your schedule sounds maniacal.

It’s not busy. I don’t take what I can’t handle. I work day, night, anytime when the music comes, it depends on my jet lag.

Are you stressed?

Stress is an understatement. Its like one of those Akbar-Birbal stories. You are deep in ice cold water but you see a lamp at a distance and the light keeps you warm. I see the love of the people and it keeps me going.

What made you say yes to Housefull?

Everything, from the director, producer, the crew, my co-stars…I had worked with most of them before – the experience was amazing as there is always a level of comfort factor between us.

Housefull is a true representation of the genius that is the director Sajid Khan – although he only did one film previous to Housefull, he has certain panache in being able to understand and deliver exactly what the audience is looking for on both a domestic and international level.

How was it, working with your co-stars on the film, like Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal and Jiah Khan?

It was absolute Bliss ;o) The star cast of this movie is magnificent! Ritesh just cracks me up, he comes in with his huge hair in the morning and from that moment on we’re like two kids in a playground set out to cause havoc on the streets. Arjun is superb in this movie; we have some classic scenes together, just wait. The sexy Lara was divine to work with as always, such a lady, yet such a sense of humour. Deepika was a darling of course and has grown tremendously since CC2C. And Jiah, bless her, was tortured practically every day by Sajid and me, but she was a total sweetheart about it.

How does it feel to still be called one of the hottest guy in Bollywood?

Was I ever called that? If so, I’m hugely flattered!

Do you feel you should turn your attention to serious cinema now? Something more substantial?

No… I am a commercial actor, people don’t want to see me educating the world with artistic cinema, they watch me to enjoy themselves! Don’t get me wrong, I would do any script that I love, be it anything from playing a Geek to being India’s Spiderman to making the nation cry in an Epic love story. Genres aren’t my concern; it is scripts that are my concern. Remember I’m not a writer, I’m an Actor. I act what is given to me. My job is to give the people a ticket to their very own personal Disney Land for 3 hours, what more can one do!!

How has your experience been working with Farah? She’s completely enthralled by you!

Argh… I love her! She’s just about the most capable woman in India ;o) I could sit here and relay a million stories on how wonderful I think she is, as a director, as a writer, as a choreographer, as the most powerful woman in Bollywood, I’m serious, this woman makes grown men cry ;o) and I love her for it…

How was it working with Sajid Khan again?

It was like getting your eyebrows plucked by a blind handicap, it was “Insane”. The man is mad, but I’m addicted to him, he’s so enthusiastic about his films that you get sucked into his world of movie making, and I think he’s just brilliant for Hindi cinema. He lives to make people laugh, and if you don’t find him funny you’re in serious need of anti depressants, no joke. The man could crack jokes at your granny’s funeral and still be loved for it… He’s one of a kind, and we love him for it. He’s the most honest person you’ll ever meet, which can be painful, but I think he’s truly wicked in all sense of the word…

Also, it has been observed that for most of your upcoming films, you are also the co-producer. How does the entire business model work?

My structure is, I ask for nothing. If my movie is a flop I still get nothing, but if my movie works I get a lot. It is a very risky choice to make, but one I am willing to take. I don’t like to see my producers suffer if my work fails. Everyone deserves to win at the end of a film. Only cast and crew, producers and filmmakers really know what goes in to making a movie, hence my decision to take responsibility for how my movie does…

Do you get scared doing stunts?

Excited, thrilled, adventurous, challenge, motivation… these are the words that come to my mind when I am about to do a stunt. I guess I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie. It’s my love, my job… I do my own stunts because my producer and my audience are paying to see me, not someone that looks like me that can do my dirty work for me… never make another man do what you are too scared to do yourself, for he is someone’s son also and has a family that loves him

How have Karan and Shah Rukh changed since Kuch Kuch Hota Hai?

They have grown up a little bit. Also more than anything else, once you grow up your point of view changes, it becomes more like you have seen the world and gone through things. All three of us have gone through a lot of things in the past eight years. Fortunately, we are friends and we have also been the kind of friends who pick up where we left from. Fortunately, for us working also is always like that. Hence we just get on with it.

Shah Rukh from MNIK is different from Shah Rukh in Baazigar?

Very. He is a better man today than he was then. He’s grown a lot as an actor. There has been quite an evolution in him as an actor since the time of Baazigar and it’s lovely to watch him.

What is the magic of your jodi?

We are great actors, that’s what I think. We have never sat to analyse what it is that makes it work. Maybe it’s the fact that we are friends, we are comfortable that we trust each other’s boundaries and we are on the same wavelength. Maybe that’s what works. I don’t know what it is, I can’t sit down and pin point at it really and say this works.

Tell us about Mandira.

Mandira is one very interesting character. I don’t know whether she’s that challenging. It wasn’t one of those things I had to think very hard about doing. It was quite easy for me. Karan did all his homework. Hence it was very very easy. But more than anything else, she’s just normal. She is a little battered, a little bruised, a little mad, a little cool, a little practical, a little sensible- she’s a little bit of everything. She’s not perfect and she doesn’t want to be either. That’s what I identify with her. There’s this innate strength about her that she is able to make a tough decision and back it up and stand behind it.

Did you meet people who deal with those suffering from Asperger’s?

Not at all, it wasn’t necessary for the character. She is one of those people who fell in love with this man. I don’t think she was supposed to be this person who had grown up with this kind of a disorder. That made it easier and more natural the relationship really between them.

What do you think about Bollywood’s trend about making mainstream cinema on disorders?

Well, we are going about it a little better than we did earlier. I also think that Indian cinema generally is reaching a very nice and very interesting stage for actors, because people are willing to take chances, make better cinema, risk a lot on something that is not a formula. That is what’s so great about being in this time, which is very interesting for us.

What do think about love in today’s cinema?

I don’t think they are concentrating too much on it really. It’s more physical now, more than love per say. The idea that one person is so special to you for unknown reasons is somehow slowly dying away. I believe that love doesn’t follow a pattern and does not follow logic and that’s why it’s called love. There are enough people in this world to prove us on that point. Yes, there are lot of people who would say love is about growing together and love is about logically finding the right person meant for you and matching yourself with that person. But I feel love should be that little bit illogical really.

Would a Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge work in today’s context?

Definitely. Everybody wants to see it and everyone wants to see it done well. No one wants it see it done shoddily, badly and with no definition. It has to have a definition; it has to have a good film to back it up. It’s the directors really who have lost the passion to believe in something not tangible really.

Long holiday post MNIK?

Definitely. Man, I am so tired it’s not funny. I think I’m really really exhausted. I’ve been just shooting one film after the other back to back and I’m tired.

And a million press interviews?

Yeah and sounding enthusiastic and looking enthusiastic is even more tiring.

With that we have to conclude the interview as Karan Johar, who has been giving press interviews in the other room, walks in and the two catch up over some coffee. Sadly, since Shah Rukh Khan was unwell, I did not get to speak with him, but I did hear that Rani Mukherjee has been spotted in the hotel. So close to my childhood dream of seeing Rahul, Anjali and Tina come true. Perhaps next time, for now I will just eagerly await to see My Name is Khan.

Were you comfortable handing over the writing to someone else?

The story needed a writing style that was not me. Shibani is a great cinematic writer. She is very methodical and has a great sense of structure. All this together made me very convinced.

How was it shooting MNIK?

It was difficult. Two long schedules, different weather conditions, combating the cold and different infrastructure issues. It was tough because it was spread over a wide spectrum of locations and spaces. Nothing that is path-breakingly different in terms on making films, it is always tough. This movie was unique in terms of a lot was unusual in any case.

Were there any surprises?

Shah Rukh’s performance came as a pleasant surprise. The way he understood his character as a man with a non-neurotypical condition with Asperger’s, who has high functioning autism. I think the way he grasped his character was really fantastic.

With many foreign studios coming in and garnering a more international audience, does this put pressure on you subconsciously to cater to their interests?

I think they have come for what we are good for and we are not going to adapt to what they are good for. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. They just have to blend into our world, we don’t have to adapt to them. We are very proud of our cinema. We have done some path breaking movies in the last two decades and we continue to do so. We have a great sense of balancing what is new age cinema to what our beliefs are and what our quintessential ingredients are – the way we look at the scene, the way we shoot music, the way we incorporate our drama and the way we pitch our melodrama. We are good for what we do.

What do you think about Bollywood’s trend of making mainstream cinema on disorders?

Black, Paa Taare Zameen Par, MNIK- all made very sensitively, well researched and all making the point but never juicing or drenching emotions to a point that it’s actually weakening a film. I think all of them have been powerful experiences in the past and I hope MNIK can be added to that list eventually.

What do you think of love in today’s cinema?

Love is very cynical. If you think, love today has got pragmatism, logic, cynicism attached to it. The whole abandonment of love has been replaced by technology, communication and too much other things I think. Love is no longer what it used to be. The old world charm of love is replaced by everything that is practical. There are prenups. There is lack of trust. The innocence and rawness of love has been replaced. Cinema doesn’t address love like that anymore and if you think about it the only really iconic mainstream love story happened in India last, was in 1998 with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Titanic in the West. After that there has been no love story. We have run short of love in our cinema and in our lives.

Will you try capturing that?

Maybe yes. Maybe the return of love will be my next theme.

We always see Shah Rukh in all your movies.

Shah Rukh and I have reached a point where we can take each other for granted. I think his presence in my cinema and my presence in his life is not over or beyond the parameters of professionalism now. I think its just personal love and affection now that is really not dependent on any film.

You said MNIK is your bravest film yet.

It’s brave because I have challenged myself and I don’t know if doing that was a safe decision. It is great because it enters a new terrain and speaks about new issue. It’s nothing I’ve done before and yet somewhere lies me in the film, so it’s brave for me. I can’t say others will find it brave but for me, I felt brave.

What do you think makes a good director?

I think a people’s person makes a good director because direction is 5% creativity and 95% people handling. You need to be able to handle your actors, your crew – balance that and then emerge victorious.

How do you think the international audiences would react to MNIK?

It will finally be on word of mouth. It will be the Diaspora, which will speak and attract the international audience. When they come in, I know they will discover a different aspect of Indian cinema.

A long holiday post-MNIK?

It is much awaited, much required and much needed long holiday in a far far away zone.

Are you going to stick to you earlier statement of making a lighter film next?

I may have to. I need a holiday and a holiday film. Something that just doesn’t need me to think too much.

My Name is Khan opens in theaters everywhere this Friday so be sure to get your tickets now!

And that’s how My Name is Khan came about. It is one of the biggest releases of 2010. The director and his two stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol are going all around the world promoting their newest love story. Just fresh after ringing the NASDAQ bell in New York (“Scary, neither Shah Rukh nor I know much about numbers” says Kajol) and now heading to Berlin, they make a London stopover.

The press conference was packed with many female members discussing the most dignified way to get Shah Rukh’s autograph. No one seem too surprised that it was delayed by an hour. But it was worth the wait as all three addressed spoke on many interesting tidbits of the movie.

Karan on the creation of MNIK:

It started three years ago after Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. I had to step out my comfort zone. I was dealing with Asperger’s syndrome. It took a whole amount of research – 2 years in writing. I started February 2007 and releasing the movie in February 2010. I don’t feel like I have given birth to a child, rather a family.

Karan on MNIK story:

When I started writing it, I realised I am not bringing anything new to the love story which was the most important part of the film. The lines of love between Shah Rukh and Kajol were not coming that easily because I had already done it. Hence I let Shibani step in. It is her vision.

Shah Rukh and Kajol on accepting MNIK:

Shah Rukh: I owe a lot of my career and life to Karan. I am quite incomplete as an actor and a star without Kajol in a Karan Johar movie. I have never sat down and thought about it this is my next step as an actor. An actors job is not to do what he wishes to do, his job is to do what you wish to do to the best of his capability.

Kajol: It was very very easy. Karan Johar is directing it ,Shah Rukh is doing it. This combination doesn’t come together very often.

Karan Johar on choosing a disorder:

I haven’t won an award for 12 years. I’ve been told if you deal with a disorder, you definitely win an award. I like to walk on red carpet with something in my hand. I was bored of what I was doing. I need to challenge myself address an issue I feel strongly about on celluloid. That is really the reason why i chose to make MNIK. today inspite of not knowing the outcome I feel like a better filmmaker, a stronger person.

Karan Johar on choosing Asperger’s syndrome:

It was very essential he was not like you and me. It’s a man not in our world. He had to do something completely illogical because he would just take things said to him very seriously, so when he is told to meet the American president, he will. The woman he loves tells him to do so in fit of anger. You and me would not be able to even meet a minister. But he just sets off. His love goes beyond logic. Today’s love is too cynical. There are prenups for crying out loud

Shah Rukh on playing Rizwan Khan who has Asperger’s:

Two aspects for playing someone with Asperger’s – one, there are very stringent parameters within which you need to perform. No singing, dancing. Specially the love story because people who have this disorder don’t feel to a matter of extent. Second, I don’t think any cinema should end up not being right about disease/disorder. I read curious incident of dog in midnight, books, DVDs, spent time with people with the disorder, took a bit of cinematic liberty and mixed all together.

Kajol on Shah Rukh playing Asperger’s:

I had a vague idea what Shah Rukh would be like as Rizwan on first day but he blew me away. He added so much. In every film Shah Rukh Khan plays Shah Rukh Khan. For the first time I saw Rizwan Khan, not Shah Rukh Khan.

Karan on working with Fox:

Our association with Fox goes back three years, we were in conversation. Shah Rukh and I decided to produce it. With our association, we have expanded our base beyond our domestic parameters. They have international expertise and they bring a lot to the table. We have given our domestic know-how.

The questions never stopped coming. The host had to stop proceedings due to the lack of time. But the most wonderful part of the evening more than the answers, was the interaction between the three – poking fun at each other and interacting with an ease, which begun in 1998 with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Twelve years on, whether they create magic again on the screen is left to be seen, but they surely do continue creating it off-screen.

This is Shah Rukh Khan‘s request to those threatening to stop the screening in India of his latest movie My Name is Khan releasing next week. At the London press conference on Wednesday, King Khan was quizzed about his stand and candidly spoke about it. “As a Hindi film hero who’s given an iconic status, it scares me to say anything. Our stakes are very high. I want to apologize to Karan Johar, Kajol and the MNIK team because what I say and believe is going to affect their work and I have no idea how to change that.”

His recent comments supporting Pakistani cricketers playing in India has cause right-wing organisation Shiv Sena to threaten the screening of his film in Mumbai. They have even burnt effigies of the actor as well as Aamir Khan who has the same stand.

In the past although his colleagues have apologised to Shiv Sainiks, Shah Rukh has a different approach to it. “I really don’t know what the issue is about and what do I need to apologise for. Am I supposed to retract to I’m an Indian but I don’t want anyone to come to my country?”

This incident has also affected Shah Rukh emotionally. “When a film releases, you are tensed but highly excited and I work for that excitement. But this time I am just sad and it is not jetlag.”

Salman was at Mehboob studios, Bandra to give interviews for his next release Veer. Ash had been shooting there for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzarish since the morning, and Katrina arrived two hours later for an ad photoshoot. Salman walked in an hour after that and horrors – His van was parked right between those of Ash and Kat.

Salman might be a brave warrior taking on the British in Veer, but in real life he was scrambling to make an exit. He was heard saying ‘Yeh kya ho raha hai? Pagal ho gaye ho kya?’ (What is going on? Have they gone mad?).

However, the lack of space meant he had to give interviews outside his van with Katrina and Aishwarya whisking in and out of their own vans the whole time. Poor Sallu, he made a quick (and much relieved) exit as soon as the interviews were finished.

Ahmed was supposed to leave on December 30th for New York. However he was told by the authorities that there was an issue with his name and they would get back to him in 15 days, which did not happen.

The rejection has come as a big shock to him. The frustrated Ahmed says, “It’s very unfortunate that this kind of discrimination is still happening. I haven’t been even informed on what grounds they have
rejected my visa! The funny thing is that I have been to the US a month and a half back, and this isn’t my first trip to the country. In fact, I have been to the US many times, so for them to disallow me from getting a visa is really surprising.”

Anjaana Anjaani‘s choreography has now been reduced to Ahmed’s two assistants being instructed by Ahmed over the phone. He says, “I have done all the songs for Ranbir and am very fond of Siddarth. This is the first time they are shooting a song without me, which is really sad.”

Ahmed is very concerned for producer Sajid. He says, “He puts his heart and soul into his productions. After all the preparation it’s sad that I had to be stuck here while the rest of the crew is in the US. In fact, I told Sajid, next time let’s shoot in Turkey, Russia, Europe or some other country where we are welcome. I am proud to be an Indian and definitely have self-respect. But if Shah Rukh had to go through scrutiny, then who are we to complaint?”

The buzz is that it is a remake of the hit Yaadon ki Baraat.

Mansoor and Aamir go a long way with Mansoor directing Aamir’s first movie Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Mansoor’s last film was Shah Rukh- Aishwarya starrer Josh set in Goa. Since then he hasn’t returned in filmmaking living in the hill-station, Coonoor. However, Aamir persuaded the reclusive filmmaker to return to directing for this project.

Aamir recently spoke about taking a full break from acting and concentrating on his producer role. Neither Aamir nor Mansoor have commented on the story but one hopes that the Qayamat magic is repeated with Imran as an added bonus.

Harpreet Singh Bedi, (Ranbir Kapoor) who succeeded in barely passing his college fails miserably in the world of sales. The scheming, treacherous cut-throat attributes ‘required’ for the job, leaves him dumbfounded. His goodness and honesty is rewarded with insults and abuse by his superiors and co-workers. Fed up, he hitches upon his own rookie sales company incorporating others dissatisfied at his company. Promoting service over sales and advocating fair means at the sake of sacrificing profit, he soon builds a brand name.

It is a triumph of the underdog movie minus the frills. Shimit masters most at getting realism right. The depiction of cubicled office atmosphere with intense rivalry and politics spot on and the office party scene will leave you in splits. However, it is the hour after the interval which is undoubtedly the best.

One of the biggest reasons for the film’s success is its supporting cast. The motley of Hardeep ‘s friends and colleagues collectively are responsible for the success of Rocket Singh. There is the evil nasty director, porn- addict service man, ambitious receptionist and lovable peon- who all deserve kudos for their performances. Salim-Sulaiman’s music blends in beautifully in this song-free flick.

Ranbir Kapoor, like his illustrous genealogy has mastered looking astoundingly sincere in front of the camera. If Wake Up Sid was about him growing up, this movie took it to the next step. It would be safe to say he reinvented the Sikhs in Bollywood. Sardars usually are shown as loud, lovable and their buffoonery introduces the comic element in a film. Akshay Kumar as Happy in Singhh is King added style and now Hardeep adds the element of maturity. His character is so devoid of the usual histrionics we are used to, that at times we forget his religion only to be reminded by his bright turban. Shahzahn Padamsee is forgettable in her four-scene debut.

The film’s snappy pace is enjoyable however the last 30 minutes are a drag. Tighter editing was required.

To say with Rocket Singh, Amin gave us a landmark movie would take it too far- that credit goes to Chak De India. However with Rocket Singh, he proved he could create that magic again. The script belongs to a small-budget flick which have mushroomed in Bollywood since three years. Shimit blended it with A-list production value and star cast proving that intelligent commercial cinema is a reality.

Welcome to the new Bollywood.