In spite of the failure of Anurag Basu's No Smoking, John plans to continue to seek unusual roles.
"Conforming isn't my cup of tea. How boring is life if you conform! And how dull life would be if all I did was to chase success. Sure, I want it. But I also want to take the untrodden path. It's the deviations that make my life exciting. Some of what I did last year might not have worked. But the fact that there was a debate about them was enough for me. At least the kind of films I do make people curious."

However, the No Smoking experience has cautioned John about inept marketing.
"I realise 'my' kind of cinema needs to be a little more commercial. You've to position your product properly. Products fail because they're sold to the wrong audience. No Smoking was sold to the wrong audience. My confidence level in my kind of cinema remains totally unshaken. I can't allow every opinion and every review devastate me. I need to have confidence in what I do. The fact that I've gotten where I am is proof that I'm on the right track. I believe I need to do more about my kind of cinema. And Aashayein is my kind of cinema."

You had just completed a long schedule of Karan Johar's Dostana in Miami.
"Priyanka Chopra is my co-star in Karan's film. She's a good girl. Always a pleasure to work with! Great songs, great location and great music. There is amazing chemistry between the three of us and more specifically between me and Abhishek and that's what people have to look out for. I really enjoy working with him and his father. And director Tarun Mansukhani is a new boy with plenty to say. I really hope the audience goes back being very entertained.”

What are the films lined up.
“I have Aashayein with Nagesh Kukunoor, a film I was emotionally drawn to. I have Karan Johar's Dostana with Abhi. I go back and shoot with Kabir Khan again for another Yash Raj film with Neil Nitin Mukesh and Katrina Kaif. Then I also have a David Dhawan film and Sriram Raghavan's next film with Aishwarya and we're excited to get this started.”

It's probably a clichéd question. But how do you manage to keep your relationship strong in the midst of the media glare?
“I think Bipasha is a very stable and independent woman. She really knows how to keep a relationship more than I do. So I must give her credit for it”.

So that's a confession?
That's a confession. Yes! (Smiles)