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What do you think of their potential as actors?
I wouldn't have cast them for merely being star children. Both have that special aura about them. And they have been preparing for the camera before coming to me. In the past eight months, I have been training them more intensively and fine-tuning what they don't know. I am enjoying this process of moulding new clay. They're both tremendous talents. Ranbir's talent comes from four generations of the Kapoors. Sonam has inherited her dedication from her father. And both have star quality. They are absolutely uncorrupted and moldable.
People have compared the mood of Saawariya trailer to Raj Kapoor's Awara, Kieslowski's Blue, Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge and Tim Robbins' Batman?
These are among my favourite filmmakers; people I've learnt the craft from and I think I've a long way to go before I reach their standards. If my work shows glimpses of these stalwarts, then I feel somewhere I've succeeded in doing what I set out to achieve. Nevertheless, the expectations scare me.
Why, when you've always lived up to expectations?
It's a film with newcomers and a new music director Monty Sharma. A large amount of hard work has gone into creating the correct music and performances. It doesn't matter how many successful films I've done in the past. I'll be judged afresh this time. I'm very humbled by the love they've shown to just one minute and 30 seconds of the film.
Blue seems to be the predominant colour of
Saawariya?
Blue and green are the chosen colours of Saawariya. My brief to my cinematographer Ravi K Chandran was to give a surreal romantic interpretation to nighttime. Most of the film is shot in the misty night light all created in the studio. Yes it's got a lot of nighttime romance to it. A lot of the surreal feeling also comes from Omang Kumar's art direction.
Is innocence a possibility among today's youngsters?
Why not? It has to do with the way you look at life. Ranbir and Sonam are completely uncorrupted. Innocence is a state of mind. Even today at 76, Lata Mangeshkar sounds pristine. If you're born with that quality, you will always be in touch with god. From their conversations and their approach to their characters, I know Ranbir and Sonam are innocent. They motivate me to find the innocent side of my personality in "Saawariya", just like "Black" helped me get in touch with my dark side. I'm sure I've made the right decision by casting these two. They've certainly rejuvenated me as a filmmaker.
Lot is written about the tension that is brewing between you and Farah Khan over the release of Saawariya and Om Shanti Om on same day.
I'm here to make a film and believe film making to be an art form. Cinema is not a battlefield. We all work very hard on our films. And I'm sure my film is as dear to me as other people's films are to them. Let me say at the outset that we had announced our decision to release Saawariya on November 9 a year ago at a press conference held by Sony Pictures. So we aren't coming on anyone else's release date. I'm sure Om Shanti Om is a terrific film. And Shah Rukh Khan has a huge draw. In fact, he's the biggest star of the country. We are very small compared with him. I wish his film all the best. If Farah is feeling competitive towards my film she should restrict her comments to my work and not get personal.
Does such provocations affect him is he not going to retaliate?
I'm not going to be provoked into talking about another person's film or its cast. My mother and me wish Shah Rukh and his film all the best from the bottom of our hearts. Let the audience decide the rest.
On one hand so much euphoria about the Saawariya trailer, while on the other your friend Salman Khan is undergoing a period of turmoil?
Salman is one of the finest human beings I've ever met. He's one of my dearest friends. He has done so much for me right from Khamoshi to Saawariya. I feel so sad that Salman is going through a period of stress. But then the law has to take its own course. I just hope god gives him and his family the strength to go through this period with dignity. I'll always be there for him. |
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