'My Biggest Regret Is Leaving Dharma When Yash Ji Was ILL' - Nikkhil Advani's Costly Rise To The Top - video Dailymotion

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Check out the energetic director Nikkhil Advani's exclusive interview with Lehren, in which he speaks candidly and in a way never seen before with senior most journalist Bharathi S Pradhan. The filmmaker talks about his strong relationship with two well-known father-son teams in the Hindi Film Industry, Yash and Aditya Chopra and Yash and Karan Johar, and how he served as their emotional link. Nikkhil discusses his popular mega movie Kal Ho Naa Ho and expresses his sadness about leaving Dharma Productions. Advani mentions his ties with a number of Bollywood celebrities including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, John Abraham, Akshay Kumar, Sharvari, and others. The Emmay Entertainment founder also emphasizes his successful projects like Batla House, Freedom At Midnight, D-Day, Chandni Chowk To China & Vedaa. Catch the full podcast on our favourite digital channel, Lehren.

Transcript

00:00:00Do you regret leaving Dharma?

00:00:03It's my biggest regret.

00:00:05Because I also left Dharma Productions at a time when Yashji was very young.

00:00:09So it's my biggest regret.

00:00:11It comes back to the 600-800 crore argument.

00:00:13Just for making a film, why are you making a film?

00:00:15Write a good film.

00:00:16Let's write a good film together.

00:00:18Let's do it together.

00:00:19But it's not like I have taken Milaab Zavedi in my lap

00:00:24so that I can abandon her.

00:00:27People were saying that I didn't make Kallo Hona.

00:00:31I felt that you are not giving me credit for one love story.

00:00:34I'll make six love stories.

00:00:35Okay.

00:00:36Arrogance.

00:00:37Too much arrogance.

00:00:38Complete arrogance, childishness, stubbornness.

00:00:40You can never make a hit film or a good film.

00:00:44You are making the film for the wrong reason.

00:00:57Hi Nikhil.

00:00:58Hello Bharti ji, how are you?

00:01:00Finally I am meeting you.

00:01:02Of course.

00:01:03We have known each other for how many years?

00:01:06I have known you for 30 years.

00:01:0830 years.

00:01:09But I am talking to you for the first time.

00:01:11Of course.

00:01:12That is really nice.

00:01:13And that too in your office.

00:01:15That is MA Entertainment.

00:01:17Yes.

00:01:18It's been 12 years.

00:01:20Yes.

00:01:21It's been 12 years.

00:01:23Yes.

00:01:24And to set it up in 12 years.

00:01:27I can't understand how many stories must have been there.

00:01:31I don't mean your films.

00:01:33But what all you have done.

00:01:35Every day.

00:01:37Every day there is a fight.

00:01:39Every day there is a fight.

00:01:41There is a fight in this section.

00:01:43Because my sister and a very good close friend of mine

00:01:48The three of us run MA.

00:01:52And we are very opinionated.

00:01:54Very strong.

00:01:57Two Torian and one Pisces.

00:02:00And we made a pact when we started that

00:02:05if all three of us don't agree on something

00:02:10we won't do it.

00:02:11We won't do it.

00:02:12So it's always one person trying to convince two people

00:02:17or two people trying to convince one person.

00:02:19So there is always a fight.

00:02:21In 12 years there is a fight.

00:02:22So when it doesn't go well.

00:02:24When a film doesn't go well.

00:02:26Like I will give you an example.

00:02:28Satyamev Jayate.

00:02:30Hero.

00:02:31Definitely.

00:02:32I can give you a lot of examples.

00:02:35You will go on.

00:02:36I can give you a lot of examples.

00:02:37So you explain this to each other.

00:02:40We don't meet here.

00:02:41We meet at home.

00:02:42Either I come to their house.

00:02:44Or I come to the house of the person who started it.

00:02:49The other two come.

00:02:50And we say don't worry.

00:02:51Everyone will come back on Monday.

00:02:53I think the biggest thing about MA is

00:02:56when I asked Munisha and Madhu

00:02:59that I want to start a production company.

00:03:02Patiala was after that at that time.

00:03:04I was heart breaking.

00:03:06Patiala was a very good film in my opinion.

00:03:09But it didn't work.

00:03:10It didn't work at all.

00:03:11Akshay's two three films flopped.

00:03:14Nobody actually wanted to...

00:03:16It didn't work.

00:03:17The music was good.

00:03:18The premise was good.

00:03:19Rishi ji's role was also good.

00:03:21Everything was very good.

00:03:22Even now when I meet people

00:03:24they ask me how should I have worked.

00:03:26Actually they say

00:03:27Chandni Chowk to China should have worked.

00:03:28They say Salaam where should I have worked.

00:03:30Everybody.

00:03:31I always say this.

00:03:32Why didn't you go and see it?

00:03:34Why didn't you go and see it?

00:03:35But I remember that

00:03:38I said that

00:03:41we should...

00:03:43I want to start a production company

00:03:45and I want you guys there.

00:03:46Both of them were from the corporate world.

00:03:50They used to have a very big HR company

00:03:52which they sold out

00:03:54and became number one HR company of India

00:03:56and they retired.

00:03:57They were in retirement.

00:03:58They were travelling the world.

00:03:59Both of them were looking at the world.

00:04:01I called them and told them.

00:04:02Both of them were friends.

00:04:03Both of them were friends.

00:04:05Munisha was my sister.

00:04:07Right.

00:04:08And I said

00:04:10I want to start a production company.

00:04:12They said yes.

00:04:14Why did you want to start?

00:04:16Because I felt that

00:04:18till then I was telling the same stories

00:04:22which I felt people wanted me to make.

00:04:27Now I felt that I had reached

00:04:29such a low phase in my career

00:04:31that now I just want to tell my story.

00:04:34What I want to make.

00:04:36Despite that, I made a lot of mistakes.

00:04:38But there are reasons for those mistakes

00:04:40which I don't regret at all.

00:04:44Or decisions.

00:04:45Rather than mistakes, they were decisions.

00:04:47But I told them

00:04:48that we will shoot in the world like Salaam-e-Ishq.

00:04:51We will do this and that.

00:04:52We have never shot abroad.

00:04:54You know, the film at Midnight

00:04:56was the first time we actually went and shot.

00:04:58We shot an airlift in Ras Al Khaimah

00:05:00because that was a requirement.

00:05:02Apart from that, we never shot.

00:05:05So you are a desi production company.

00:05:08Yes, this company has never shot.

00:05:10We shot with Freedom at Midnight

00:05:12and we shot with Ras Al Khaimah with Airlift.

00:05:14But they came in

00:05:16and I think it was during the second, third film

00:05:19of Katti Bhatti ke time pe

00:05:21jab nahi chali

00:05:22and I was very upset

00:05:23and I was heartbroken again.

00:05:28And they turned to me and said

00:05:30why does

00:05:31aapki industry jo hai

00:05:33jo abhi unki industry ban chuki thi

00:05:35why are we always afraid of Friday?

00:05:40You have to run a company

00:05:42where you know people are going to come to work on Monday.

00:05:45Where you know ki aapka phone bajega hi bajega.

00:05:48Studio phone karke puchega ki aapke aage kya kar rahe ho.

00:05:52You will be working in platforms and studios

00:05:55where people are going to constantly

00:05:57so we have

00:05:58we are constantly

00:05:59so really

00:06:01the way to not be afraid of Friday is

00:06:04you have secured yourself in such a way.

00:06:07Budget mein picture baniye,

00:06:08time pe picture baniye,

00:06:09schedule pe picture baniye,

00:06:11logon ko sabko paise mil gaye,

00:06:13vendors ko paise mil gaye

00:06:15aur film release ho gayi.

00:06:17Film ki destiny kya hai

00:06:19jo humne, we have all learnt

00:06:21good ways and bad ways and hard ways

00:06:24kisi ko koi kahe nahi sakta.

00:06:26You can make a good film,

00:06:27you can make a bad film,

00:06:28you can make a really good film,

00:06:29nahi chalega.

00:06:30Wo aapke haath mein nahi hai.

00:06:31Bilkul nahi hai.

00:06:32And aaj, aaj kal ke audience mein toh

00:06:34kisi ke haath mein nahi hai.

00:06:35Kyunki matlab it's really that

00:06:36on that day,

00:06:37audience kya decide kar rahi hai,

00:06:38nahi decide kar rahi hai,

00:06:39unko kya dekhne hai,

00:06:40kya nahi dekhe,

00:06:41politically kya ho raha hai,

00:06:42climate ki tarah se kya ho raha hai,

00:06:44city mein kya ho raha hai,

00:06:45it's so many decisions.

00:06:47Toh matlab I just feel ki

00:06:49that was a,

00:06:50wo hamara mantra hai,

00:06:51don't be afraid of Friday.

00:06:52Achha.

00:06:54Usse saaf se humne,

00:06:56jo bhi kaam kiya hai,

00:06:57usse saaf se kiya hai.

00:06:58Toh ek moment tha,

00:07:00jab aapne kaha ki,

00:07:01mujhe khud apni film mein

00:07:03produce karna chahiye.

00:07:04Main amesha apni film

00:07:05produce kar raha tha.

00:07:06Kal Ho Na Ho ke baad,

00:07:07Salaam-e-Ish bhi

00:07:08maine produce hi kiya tha.

00:07:09Hala ki,

00:07:10wo main,

00:07:11maine Sasunil Manchand

00:07:12ke saath produce kiya tha,

00:07:13but maine,

00:07:14maine produce kiya tha.

00:07:15Chandi Choti China mein bhi,

00:07:16matlab Rohan Sippy ka

00:07:17production company tha,

00:07:18but I was also a producer.

00:07:20Patiala House mein bhi,

00:07:21but it was always ki,

00:07:23main kabhi credit nahi leta tha,

00:07:24producer ka.

00:07:25Mere partner jo the,

00:07:26whether it was Mukesh Chaudhary,

00:07:27whether it was Sunil Manchand,

00:07:28whether it was Rohan Sippy,

00:07:29I would let them take the credit,

00:07:30kyunki main direct kar raha tha,

00:07:31usse time pe.

00:07:32Abhi bhi jab,

00:07:33main direct karta hu,

00:07:34jo bhi main direct karta hu,

00:07:35je se Freedom at Midnight hai,

00:07:36maine producer credit liya nahi hai,

00:07:37but main,

00:07:38I,

00:07:39bohot rarely aisa hota hai ki,

00:07:40main apna director hat

00:07:42ko ghar pe chhod ke

00:07:43produce hi kar raha ho,

00:07:44you know,

00:07:45aur vice versa.

00:07:46Vice versa.

00:07:47So,

00:07:48jab main,

00:07:49jab Abhay direct kar raha hai,

00:07:50ya Gaurav and Ananya

00:07:52direct kar raha hai,

00:07:53ya abhi,

00:07:54like,

00:07:55Raja Menon ne job direct ke,

00:07:56tab main producer credit deta,

00:07:57ye to main producer credit kabhi nahi deta.

00:07:58Okay.

00:07:59Lekin production company

00:08:00shuru karne ka?

00:08:01Woh production company bhi maine,

00:08:02maine uss time pe shuru kiya tha.

00:08:03So,

00:08:04I,

00:08:05I,

00:08:06main Yash Johar ka bhakt hu.

00:08:07Main bohot bada

00:08:08Yash Johar ka bhakt hu.

00:08:09Okay.

00:08:10Matlab,

00:08:11Hum bhi.

00:08:12Haan,

00:08:13main,

00:08:14main,

00:08:15of course,

00:08:16I worked with Karan

00:08:17and of course,

00:08:18I worked with Adi.

00:08:19But,

00:08:20everybody has to understand,

00:08:21ki,

00:08:22woh ek zamana tha,

00:08:23jab 1990s khatam ho rahe the

00:08:24aur 2000 mein jaa rahe the.

00:08:25Jab Yash Johar

00:08:26aur Yash Chopra,

00:08:27they were giving the reins

00:08:28to their sons.

00:08:29Correct.

00:08:30Toh literally,

00:08:31main woh bridge tha,

00:08:32father and son ke beech mein,

00:08:33dono father and son ke beech mein

00:08:34main bridge tha.

00:08:35And I would spend,

00:08:36so,

00:08:37main itna,

00:08:38itna waqt bita tha,

00:08:39Yash Chopra ke saath.

00:08:40I used to be first in the office

00:08:41and he used to be the first

00:08:42in the office.

00:08:43So,

00:08:44we should just keep talking

00:08:45and he would complain,

00:08:46Adi ne yeh kiya,

00:08:47Adi ko yeh chahiye,

00:08:48and I would listen.

00:08:49Toh maine production

00:08:50un dono se seekha hai.

00:08:51Ji.

00:08:52Maine jis tarah se

00:08:53film industry,

00:08:54film,

00:08:55filmon ko banate un dono se

00:08:56seekha hai.

00:08:57Jab maine Rani

00:08:58Rani ko bhi phone kiya

00:08:5925 saal ke baad

00:09:00for Mrs. Chatterjee

00:09:01and versus Norway.

00:09:02I mean,

00:09:03I called her up,

00:09:04she said,

00:09:05Niks,

00:09:06after 25 years,

00:09:07we are talking.

00:09:08I said,

00:09:09yeah,

00:09:10because Rani,

00:09:11mere paas kuch subject

00:09:12nahi tha,

00:09:13jis ke saath main

00:09:14aapke paas aap hai.

00:09:15And when I,

00:09:16when I sent it to her,

00:09:17aur Monday ko jab

00:09:18usne phone kiya,

00:09:19usne kaha mujhe ki,

00:09:20main tujhe Friday ko

00:09:21phone karne wali thi,

00:09:22but Adi said,

00:09:23let me sweat a little.

00:09:24Typical of Adi.

00:09:25Toh I said,

00:09:26toh she told me,

00:09:27but Niks,

00:09:28for 9 years,

00:09:29I have not worked

00:09:30outside Yashraj.

00:09:31Okay.

00:09:329 years I have not

00:09:33worked for Yashraj.

00:09:34So for me to be doing

00:09:35this,

00:09:36you have to understand,

00:09:37I said,

00:09:38Rani,

00:09:39you have to understand,

00:09:40main,

00:09:41I have,

00:09:42everything I have

00:09:43learnt is from

00:09:44Yashraj and Dharma.

00:09:45Correct.

00:09:46Yashjor,

00:09:47aap jaante ho,

00:09:48spot boy ko pick up

00:09:49karte the,

00:09:50aur Shahrukh Khan

00:09:51ko pick up karte the.

00:09:52Correct.

00:09:53Main,

00:09:54chahun bhi logon ko

00:09:55bolta ho ki,

00:09:56chhod do yaar yaha pe,

00:09:57go now,

00:09:58spread your wings,

00:09:59log jaayi nahi rahe hain.

00:10:00Right,

00:10:01so they are constantly

00:10:02here,

00:10:03jo jo jo,

00:10:04and mera ek

00:10:05attempt hai ki,

00:10:06agar ye,

00:10:07maine inke saath kaam

00:10:08kiya hai,

00:10:09main unke saath hi

00:10:10kaam karte jau.

00:10:11Karte jau.

00:10:12Because very important,

00:10:13humare industry mein

00:10:14jaha pe matlab,

00:10:15people don't have

00:10:16work,

00:10:17survive kar rahe hain.

00:10:18It's important for a

00:10:19production company to

00:10:20give that kind of

00:10:21ek comfort,

00:10:22ki don't worry,

00:10:23jab hum project

00:10:24karenge,

00:10:25aapko phone aayega.

00:10:26Actor ho,

00:10:27technician ho,

00:10:28vendor ho,

00:10:29unko,

00:10:30so that's the way

00:10:31I started the production.

00:10:32Toh ek Dharma

00:10:33hai,

00:10:34ek IRF hai,

00:10:35ek T-series hai,

00:10:36ek abhi,

00:10:37Dinesh bhi junki

00:10:38Maddox hai,

00:10:39and there's MA.

00:10:40Well,

00:10:41there is XL,

00:10:42well there is

00:10:43Sajid Nadiawala,

00:10:44there is,

00:10:45I mean,

00:10:46there are lot of

00:10:47very, very,

00:10:48I mean,

00:10:49I am with humbly

00:10:50I accept this

00:10:51being part of this

00:10:52list.

00:10:53Yes,

00:10:54it's a top 10 list.

00:10:55Yeah,

00:10:56I mean,

00:10:57but we work

00:10:58very hard to be

00:10:59in that list.

00:11:00Bahut hi matlab,

00:11:01it's not only about

00:11:02delivering hits,

00:11:03it's about

00:11:04delivering credibility.

00:11:05Yes.

00:11:06It's about

00:11:07delivering ki matlab,

00:11:08ab log,

00:11:09mujhe abhi

00:11:10aaj kal log bolte

00:11:11ki,

00:11:12jab OTT mein,

00:11:13we know

00:11:14immediately

00:11:15there will be

00:11:16some kind of

00:11:17quality.

00:11:18Whether we like it,

00:11:19we don't like it,

00:11:20but quality hoga.

00:11:21And,

00:11:22very important

00:11:23it was for us

00:11:24to remove

00:11:25Nikhil Advani

00:11:26from it

00:11:27and just make

00:11:28it about

00:11:29MA Entertainment.

00:11:30You know,

00:11:31and I think

00:11:32that Munisha,

00:11:33Madhu and myself

00:11:34have worked

00:11:35very hard at that.

00:11:36MA Entertainment

00:11:37cannot just be

00:11:38a company

00:11:39where it is

00:11:40Nikhil Advani ka

00:11:41company.

00:11:43That will become,

00:11:44that there will be

00:11:45some kind of,

00:11:46his voice will be there.

00:11:47Gaurav Ananya jo kar rahe

00:11:48Adhura season 2,

00:11:49unka voice hoga usme.

00:11:50You know,

00:11:51so,

00:11:52bahut humne,

00:11:53and,

00:11:54what we are now

00:11:55known for

00:11:56across

00:11:57platform

00:11:58or studio

00:11:59is ki ye log

00:12:00joye production

00:12:01jaante.

00:12:02You know,

00:12:03production jaante.

00:12:04Ki matlab,

00:12:05hamare jo

00:12:06transparency hai,

00:12:07hamare jo due

00:12:08diligence hai,

00:12:09hamare jo

00:12:10constant

00:12:11ek kisam ki

00:12:12ka

00:12:13reporting,

00:12:14auditing,

00:12:15jis tarah se

00:12:16hum collaborate

00:12:17karte hai,

00:12:18whether it is

00:12:19Zee,

00:12:20whether it is

00:12:21T-Series,

00:12:22whether it is

00:12:23Amazon,

00:12:24whether it is

00:12:25Sony,

00:12:26that is very

00:12:27strong ki matlab.

00:12:28Haan yaar,

00:12:29you know,

00:12:30jab ye log lete,

00:12:31when we give them

00:12:32a budget,

00:12:33they spend the money

00:12:34in this.

00:12:35Of course,

00:12:36we have a production

00:12:37fee,

00:12:38of course we have

00:12:39a showrunner fee,

00:12:40all those things.

00:12:41But ham kabhi ye

00:12:42nahi,

00:12:43we only give

00:12:44more.

00:12:45Ye Madhu

00:12:46kabine,

00:12:47mera kabine

00:12:48chilla chilli hota hai.

00:12:49Why are you

00:12:50spending all the

00:12:51money that we

00:12:52are supposed to

00:12:53make?

00:12:54All our money

00:12:55has gone.

00:12:56And mera ye

00:12:57hamesha hota hai ki

00:12:58I try to balance

00:12:59ki value kahan se

00:13:00anewal hai.

00:13:01Like Rocket

00:13:02Boys,

00:13:03we gave all

00:13:04the money.

00:13:05But mujhe pata

00:13:06tha ki Rocket

00:13:07Boys se,

00:13:08it will become

00:13:09my showreel.

00:13:10Ki ye jo hai,

00:13:11hum le Rocket

00:13:12Boys banaya.

00:13:13That's your showreel?

00:13:14That becomes my

00:13:15showreel.

00:13:16From the makers

00:13:17of Rocket Boys.

00:13:18Toh dal do.

00:13:19It is a,

00:13:20it is a,

00:13:21it is a,

00:13:22it is a lost

00:13:23career.

00:13:24Wo reputation

00:13:25baniye na?

00:13:26I think that

00:13:27is again,

00:13:28Dharma and

00:13:29Yashraj,

00:13:30lambe res ka ghoda.

00:13:31That's right.

00:13:32You're looking

00:13:33at the long run.

00:13:34So that's a

00:13:35very important

00:13:36thing for us.

00:13:37What exactly

00:13:38do you

00:13:39do?

00:13:40I went to

00:13:41Yash Chopra.

00:13:42Yash Chopra and

00:13:43Yash Johar.

00:13:44Toh apne

00:13:45dono se

00:13:46ek ek

00:13:47batayenge ki

00:13:48aapne kya

00:13:49seekha?

00:13:50Yash Johar se

00:13:51mene ye

00:13:52seekha ki,

00:13:53he amesha,

00:13:54wo amesha

00:13:55kehte the ki

00:13:56production is

00:13:57a thankless

00:13:58job.

00:13:59But he would

00:14:00also say

00:14:01production is

00:14:02the most

00:14:03creative job.

00:14:04Agar aap

00:14:05production me

00:14:06creative nahi

00:14:07hai toh

00:14:08director ka

00:14:09ambition,

00:14:10director ka

00:14:11vision,

00:14:12budget se

00:14:13hamesha bada

00:14:14hoga.

00:14:15Jab Karan

00:14:16ko Kuch Kuch

00:14:17Hota Hai

00:14:18ka budget

00:14:19mila,

00:14:20his vision

00:14:21was three

00:14:22times or

00:14:23four times

00:14:24bigger than.

00:14:25Kabhi Khusi

00:14:26Kabhi mein

00:14:27vision was

00:14:28only so high,

00:14:29the budget

00:14:30would never be

00:14:31able to touch

00:14:32that vision

00:14:33only.

00:14:34But we

00:14:35just went

00:14:36for it.

00:14:37He was

00:14:38a crazy

00:14:39man,

00:14:40crazy production

00:14:41ka yeh,

00:14:42matlab

00:14:43he would

00:14:44scream at

00:14:45me,

00:14:46he would

00:14:47shout at

00:14:48me,

00:14:49karan aur

00:14:50mujhe

00:14:51matlab

00:14:52yeh karte

00:14:53the ki

00:14:54aap log

00:14:55paani ke

00:14:56pehsa

00:14:57kharj kare,

00:14:58jab ham

00:14:59Chandni Chowk

00:15:00ka set

00:15:01lagaya the

00:15:02adlabs ke

00:15:03saamne,

00:15:04purane adlabs,

00:15:05aur

00:15:06kuchal

00:15:07wala portion

00:15:08tha,

00:15:09wo pura

00:15:10Chandni Chowk

00:15:11ka set

00:15:12lagaya tha,

00:15:13he came over

00:15:14there and he

00:15:15looked at it

00:15:16and told

00:15:17Sharmishta ki

00:15:18Redford kahan

00:15:19hai?

00:15:20And I

00:15:21said,

00:15:22haan?

00:15:23This is

00:15:24before VFX,

00:15:25this is

00:15:26before VFX,

00:15:27he said

00:15:28Redford kahan

00:15:29hai?

00:15:30Toh I

00:15:31said,

00:15:32ya ji,

00:15:33wo Redford

00:15:34kahan hai?

00:15:35Toh

00:15:36I

00:15:37said,

00:15:38wo Redford

00:15:39kahan hai?

00:15:40Toh

00:15:41I

00:15:42said,

00:15:43wo Redford

00:15:44kahan hai?

00:15:45Toh

00:15:46I

00:15:47said,

00:15:48wo Redford

00:15:49kahan hai?

00:15:50Toh

00:15:51I

00:15:52said,

00:15:53wo Redford

00:15:54kahan hai?

00:15:55Toh

00:15:56I

00:15:57said,

00:15:58wo Redford

00:15:59kahan hai?

00:16:00Toh

00:16:01I

00:16:02said,

00:16:03wo Redford

00:16:04kahan hai?

00:16:05Toh

00:16:06I

00:16:07said,

00:16:08wo Redford

00:16:09kahan hai?

00:16:10Toh

00:16:11I

00:16:12said,

00:16:13wo Redford

00:16:14kahan hai?

00:16:15Toh

00:16:16I

00:16:17said,

00:16:18wo Redford

00:16:19kahan hai?

00:16:20Toh

00:16:21I

00:16:22said,

00:16:23wo Redford

00:16:24kahan hai?

00:16:25Toh

00:16:26I

00:16:27said,

00:16:28wo Redford

00:16:29kahan hai?

00:16:30Toh

00:16:31I

00:16:32said,

00:16:33wo Redford

00:16:34kahan hai?

00:16:35Toh

00:16:36I

00:16:37said,

00:16:38wo Redford

00:16:39kahan hai?

00:16:40Toh

00:16:41I

00:16:42said,

00:16:43wo Redford

00:16:44kahan hai?

00:16:45Toh

00:16:46I

00:16:47said,

00:16:48wo Redford

00:16:49kahan hai?

00:16:50Toh

00:16:51I

00:16:52said,

00:16:53wo Redford

00:16:54kahan hai?

00:16:55Toh

00:16:56I

00:16:57said,

00:16:58wo Redford

00:16:59kahan hai?

00:17:00Toh

00:17:01I

00:17:02said,

00:17:03wo Redford

00:17:04kahan hai?

00:17:05Toh

00:17:06I

00:17:07said,

00:17:08wo Redford

00:17:09kahan hai?

00:17:10Toh

00:17:11I

00:17:12said,

00:17:13wo Redford

00:17:14kahan hai?

00:17:15Toh

00:17:16I

00:17:17said,

00:17:18wo Redford

00:17:19kahan hai?

00:17:20Toh

00:17:21I

00:17:22said,

00:17:23wo Redford

00:17:24kahan hai?

00:17:25Toh

00:17:26I

00:17:27said,

00:17:28wo Redford

00:17:29kahan hai?

00:17:30Toh

00:17:31I

00:17:32said,

00:17:33wo Redford

00:17:34kahan hai?

00:17:35Toh

00:17:36I

00:17:37said,

00:17:38wo Redford

00:17:39kahan hai?

00:17:40Toh

00:17:41I

00:17:42said,

00:17:43wo Redford

00:17:44kahan hai?

00:17:45Toh

00:17:46I

00:17:47said,

00:17:48wo Redford

00:17:49kahan hai?

00:17:50Toh

00:17:51I

00:17:52said,

00:17:53wo Redford

00:17:54kahan hai?

00:17:55Toh

00:17:56I

00:17:57said,

00:17:58wo Redford

00:17:59kahan hai?

00:18:00Toh

00:18:01I

00:18:02said,

00:18:03wo Redford

00:18:04kahan hai?

00:18:05Toh

00:18:06I

00:18:07said,

00:18:08wo Redford

00:18:09kahan hai?

00:18:10Toh

00:18:11I

00:18:12said,

00:18:13wo Redford

00:18:14kahan hai?

00:18:15Toh

00:18:16I

00:18:17said,

00:18:18wo Redford

00:18:19kahan hai?

00:18:20Toh

00:18:21I

00:18:22said,

00:18:23wo Redford

00:18:24kahan hai?

00:18:25Toh

00:18:26I

00:18:27said,

00:18:28wo Redford

00:18:29kahan hai?

00:18:30Toh

00:18:31I

00:18:32said,

00:18:33wo Redford

00:18:34kahan hai?

00:18:35Toh

00:18:36I

00:18:37said,

00:18:38wo Redford

00:18:39kahan hai?

00:18:40Toh

00:18:41I

00:18:42said,

00:18:43wo Redford

00:18:44kahan hai?

00:18:45Toh

00:18:46I

00:18:47said,

00:18:48wo Redford

00:18:49kahan hai?

00:18:50Toh

00:18:51I

00:18:52said,

00:18:53wo Redford

00:18:54kahan hai?

00:18:55Toh

00:18:56I

00:18:57said,

00:18:58wo Redford

00:18:59kahan hai?

00:19:00Toh

00:19:01I

00:19:02said,

00:19:03wo Redford

00:19:04kahan hai?

00:19:05Toh

00:19:06I

00:19:07said,

00:19:08wo Redford

00:19:09kahan hai?

00:19:10Toh

00:19:11I

00:19:12said,

00:19:13wo Redford

00:19:14kahan hai?

00:19:15Toh

00:19:16I

00:19:17said,

00:19:18wo Redford

00:19:19kahan hai?

00:19:20Toh

00:19:21I

00:19:22said,

00:19:23wo Redford

00:19:24kahan hai?

00:19:25Toh

00:19:26I

00:19:27said,

00:19:28wo Redford

00:19:29kahan hai?

00:19:30Toh

00:19:31I

00:19:32said,

00:19:33wo Redford

00:19:34kahan hai?

00:19:35Toh

00:19:36I

00:19:37said,

00:19:38wo Redford

00:19:39kahan hai?

00:19:40Toh

00:19:41I

00:19:42said,

00:19:43wo Redford

00:19:44kahan hai?

00:19:45Toh

00:19:46I

00:19:47said,

00:19:48wo Redford

00:19:49kahan hai?

00:19:50Toh

00:19:51I

00:19:52said,

00:19:53wo Redford

00:19:54kahan hai?

00:19:55Toh

00:19:56I

00:19:57said,

00:19:58wo

00:19:59Redford

00:20:00kahan hai?

00:20:01Toh

00:20:02I

00:20:03said,

00:20:04wo Redford

00:20:05kahan hai?

00:20:06Toh

00:20:07I

00:20:08said,

00:20:09ang

00:20:10ele

00:20:11m extend

00:20:12pa

00:20:12su

00:20:12d tão

00:20:13hu

00:20:13din

00:20:16Acharya

00:20:17u

00:20:17bhi

00:20:18ek

00:20:18second

00:20:19ro

00:20:19do

00:20:19je

00:20:20khe

00:20:21guy

00:20:22that

00:20:23time

00:20:23day

00:20:24release, he called me up, he said, you know, I should take some money from you for copying

00:20:29my shot.

00:20:30Correct, correct.

00:20:31Mujhe bhi Arjun ka hi, uski yaad aa rahe ho.

00:20:33So I said, Arjun yaar, you guys should see that film anyway.

00:20:36But then I said, we are taking the shot and we started taking the shot and it stopped

00:20:42raining.

00:20:43Oh, okay.

00:20:44And now I was saying, I want to take the shot.

00:20:48So baarish bandh ho gaya and we said, no, no, no, no, we'll take the shot tomorrow.

00:20:54And now we got rain machines and all to take it with the rain machine.

00:20:59And we started taking the shot again.

00:21:01And there was not enough rain.

00:21:02Rain machine ko humne ne miscalculate kiya tha, koi jagah pe, aisa lag raha tha ki baarish

00:21:08nahi ho raha hai, khaali hai, wagara, wagara, wagara.

00:21:11And then light went, jis sara se Prem Pujari mein light jaana hai, light went, Malay said,

00:21:15no, no, now I can't take it, the light has gone, it's looking artificial, alag se lag

00:21:18raha hai, wagara.

00:21:20So I said, okay.

00:21:22So finally we took the shot on the third day.

00:21:24So that shot has taken actually three days to take that shot.

00:21:26Simple shot.

00:21:27It's a simple steadicam shot, he turns to camera, it's a very simple shot, but took

00:21:31three times to take it.

00:21:33Just because of your sea of umbrellas.

00:21:34Sea of umbrellas.

00:21:35Mujhe umbrellas chahiye the uske baad.

00:21:36And it was never supposed to be the first shot of the show.

00:21:37Toh yeh ek director ki zid?

00:21:38Bilkul.

00:21:39Bilkul.

00:21:40Okay.

00:21:41Aur ek producer ka, because mujhe, wo saun juniors jo laana the uske baad, I had to

00:21:49compensate from somewhere else, dusse koi scene se nikaal ke, main isme daalunga.

00:21:53Toh wo clash hota rahega na, between the producer and the director, you knew?

00:21:58Hundred and ten percent.

00:21:59Hain na?

00:22:00Hundred and ten percent.

00:22:01Kyunki aap producer bhi ho, director bhi ho.

00:22:02Lekin main nahi sucho creative work aur direction ka kaam aap karoge aur Monisha and Madhu

00:22:08must be looking after.

00:22:09No.

00:22:10Monisha is a strategic genius.

00:22:11She's always thinking two years ahead, three years ahead, four years ahead.

00:22:15Iss tarah se humne POW kiya tha, kyunki she said that we have to get into digital.

00:22:20I had no idea what is digital.

00:22:22POW was because Uday Shankar ne D-Day dekha tha, he thought D-Day is an incredible film,

00:22:27isli he called me to do Aatu film.

00:22:29So and uss time pe Star Plus pe tha.

00:22:32It was supposed to be on Star Plus, I was supposed to do four episodes.

00:22:35By the time I gave the pilot, it became four out of thirteen.

00:22:39By the time I gave the pilot, they said twenty-six.

00:22:41By the time, that evening they called me up and said fifty-two.

00:22:44By the time we got into production, it was a hundred and sixty.

00:22:48And I was still supposed to do only four episodes.

00:22:50Main chaari episode karke kisi aurko dene wala tha, but I just felt ki mujhe karne hain.

00:22:55And so many fantastic actors were part of that show.

00:22:58And jaise humne show release kiya, it went on to Hotstar, which was Hotstar abhi abhi

00:23:03shuru hua tha.

00:23:04And it just blew up on Hotstar.

00:23:05Hotstar pe ho log chhe baje dekha dete aur aapko Star Plus pe das, saade das baje dikhne

00:23:10ko milta tha.

00:23:11And Hotstar suddenly started, everybody started getting into the, watching it on Hotstar.

00:23:15Sandhya, fantastic actress, Avrita Puri, superb actress, Poorav, Satyadeep, Rasika Duggal.

00:23:21Great it was.

00:23:22It was superb.

00:23:23And a copy of, I mean an adaptation of Aatav film.

00:23:26So it was Munisha who said, let's do digital.

00:23:30You have to do digital.

00:23:31I said, I don't know what is digital.

00:23:33But then I started learning about digital.

00:23:34And then, because we did this, we got Mumbai Diaries, because we got Mumbai Diaries, we

00:23:38got a great relationship with Amazon, Amazon ke saath humne bhi yeh kiya.

00:23:41And Soniliv started, Soniliv started, Shogato had worked with me on P.O.W.

00:23:46And he knew ki mere paas Rocket Boys tha, toh he called me and said, Rocket Boys ka

00:23:50kya ho raha hai?

00:23:51Toh before they actually signed Scam, they signed Rocket Boys.

00:23:57Because Sameer was already making Scam.

00:24:01So yeah, so it became, so she's a strategist, Madhu is hardcore production, she's hardcore

00:24:06production.

00:24:07Madhu ka bhi ek frustration yeh hai ki, kya hai, sare directors prima donnas hote hain.

00:24:11Right?

00:24:12Woh log, matlab, aur director ko hamesha yeh hote hain, production ko kuch aata nahi hain,

00:24:16production ka hamesha yeh hota hain, directors ko aap log sar pe chadha ke rakhe hain.

00:24:20Correct.

00:24:21Toh that yeh chattis ka…

00:24:22Oh yeh sahib bhi hai.

00:24:23Hamesha chalta rehte hain.

00:24:24So my job is always to, A, be a facilitator between the productions and the directors,

00:24:31the direction team and the production team.

00:24:33That's because you can mentally edit.

00:24:35Yeah, that's Renu's solution.

00:24:37I do that all the time.

00:24:38Haan, Renu's solution.

00:24:39Yeah, right.

00:24:40Yeh jo MA, this is a fantastic story, like I said, top ten mein.

00:24:49Before this happened, you went through quite a few, there was even a time jab logon ne

00:24:55aapko write-off kiya tha, hai na?

00:24:58I remember, Chandni Chowk ke baad all of us had ki, Nikhil kya hai yaar, ek poster ko

00:25:02leke…

00:25:03Prakshay Kumar, the interesting…

00:25:04Poster ko leke kya picture bana raha hai?

00:25:06You know, because it started with a poster.

00:25:08It did?

00:25:09Yes, that's what Prakshay Kumar used to say, ki Chandni Chowk to China ek, Nikhil ne mujhe

00:25:14ek poster dikhaya tha aur wo usse shuru ho gaya, something like that, haan.

00:25:19That's not true.

00:25:20Acha, okay.

00:25:21Kyuki kya hai ki, I was not involved in it first.

00:25:23Ravan Sippy ne, Ravan Sippy aur Sreedha Raghavan Warner ke saath, unho din already yeh ek concept

00:25:31approve kiya tha of a Kung Fu film like Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Asad.

00:25:36The person who was going, the best person to be that was Akshay Kumar.

00:25:42Naturally.

00:25:43Martial arts, chef, sab kuch, so it was actually designed around him.

00:25:49And I think Akshay was shooting in Melbourne or somewhere or the other when I was brought

00:25:57in…

00:25:58I think Hey Baby or something.

00:25:59Hey Baby or something.

00:26:01I was not involved in the project because Akshay saw Salamesh and loved it.

00:26:03He loved the music, he loved the scale, he loved the emotions, he said, gadbad ho gaya,

00:26:08length gadbad ho gaya, do teen kahaani gadbad ho gaya, but he loved it.

00:26:12So I spoke to him because Rohan made me speak to him after Salamesh and he said that, Sreedhar

00:26:20and Sreeram was going to do the film, Sreeram Raghavan was going to do the film.

00:26:24But then Sreeram got busy with something else, so then they came to me and because Akshay

00:26:28said, Nikhil ko phone karo.

00:26:30And that's how I came into this, it was already set, so I don't know agar usko pehle poster

00:26:35dikhaya tha.

00:26:36Mere time pe poster bilkul nahi dikhaya tha.

00:26:38Poster nahi thi.

00:26:39Mujhe kuch aata nahi tha, mene Kung Fu koi film dekhi bhi nahi thi, Rohan and Sreedhar

00:26:43were crazy about Stephen Chow and Ong Baik and all those kind of films, so for me it

00:26:48was actually, there's dishonesty in the sense ki Salamesh nahi chali to mujhe laga ki mujhe

00:26:55abhi kaam bilkul nahi milega, to mene, I picked up the first thing that came my way.

00:27:00And I felt okay, Rohan and I are school friends, toh it will be fantastic if we can work together

00:27:06or whatever.

00:27:07Worst decision that we ever made.

00:27:10To go back even more, you I remember aapne shuru kiya by going and knocking on Saeed

00:27:17Mirza's door aur aapne Nukkad se shuru kiya, toh Nukkad se MA tak hum aagey hain, lekin

00:27:24beech mein, when you went to Karan Johar, that was the first major stop, aur wahan do

00:27:34film mein bahut badi hit thi, kuch kuch hota hai and K3G, and you assisted on both.

00:27:42I was the assistant on both, I was the associate on both, but mai kabhi mera jo journey hai

00:27:50Dharma Productions ke saath, I don't equate it ki humne kuch kuch hota hai kiya, kabhi

00:27:59khushi kabhi kiya aur maine kalon na ho kiya, I don't equate it like that.

00:28:02I equate it ki ek Yajur apne bete ke saath ek company khada kar rahe the, before that

00:28:11Dharma had gone through a lot, upar niche, Gumra had done well but Duplicate had not

00:28:19done well, Bukkad Darfai Ka Faisla was a dud, but Agnipath was one of the biggest films

00:28:24that ever, but Agnipath was also considered to be this thing before that.

00:28:29So he had a lot of, he had great times, Shah Rukh loved him, you know, Tom Uncle, Tom Uncle,

00:28:39Shah Rukh used to call him all the time, and Shah Rukh and Juhi were crazy about him, but

00:28:45it was tough, it was tough, I remember, I remember Karan telling me ki there was a time

00:28:50when he had sold his lights and camera and ghirvi rakh diya tha, ghar ko ghirvi rakh

00:28:55diya tha, us time pe these kind of things used to happen right, ghar ko ghirvi rakh

00:29:00diya tha, Heeru Aunty had a heart attack, she was in, I remember the fantastic story

00:29:04where jahape, I think Amitji met Yashankar and he said how's Heeru, because Amitji and

00:29:13Heeru Aunty were very close, they were in school together, and he said how's Heeru

00:29:19and she said he said she's in Breach Candy, she had a cardiac episode or whatever and

00:29:26Amitji left the shooting and went to meet her in Breach Candy and they were there at

00:29:31the hospital and he came out and he told Yash uncle that there's a boy who I'm making

00:29:38a film with, Ramesh is producing it but you call him up and you tell him that Amit has

00:29:46given dates for your film, he has a subject on Scarface, we should do it together, that's

00:29:52how Agnipath came about, that's how films used to get made Bharti ji, which I find absurd

00:29:58nowadays, it was relationships, it was just relationships and I miss it, I miss it just

00:30:05that's why I want to inculcate that, Agnipath, Agnipath the film that most of my generation

00:30:17of film makers swear by was made because he said that's it, I know what you're going through,

00:30:24I know what the halat is right now, I'm giving you dates, let's start, let's start it, that's

00:30:30how relationships work. So I don't equate my time in Dharma as three films, I equate

00:30:37my time in Dharma that I was there at that time when the foundations of Dharma were being

00:30:42set by Yash ji and Karan, those three films are the foundations of Karan's Dharma production.

00:30:50What did you learn from Karan? According to me he's one of the nicest people we know.

00:30:58Just scale, just everything is scale. Emotional scale, he just likes to keep people close

00:31:04to him, he loves close shots, that's the reason why he comes really close to shots because

00:31:09he wants people to be close to him. Adi is very different, Adi wants people to be away.

00:31:12That one with Randhir Kapoor one, full song on his face.

00:31:15On his face, yeah, yeah, incredible, right? So he, Karan, I learnt narration from Karan,

00:31:22I just learnt to be a nice person, basically Karan, you know, very affable, and he remembers

00:31:28everybody, he has friends, he has a group of friends from school, he has a group of

00:31:33friends from where he has met just three days ago, matlab woh, toh I feel ek, ek kisam ka

00:31:42ek, what do I put, I mean, we were all, and I speak for the well-nurtured and well, well

00:31:54brought up boys, you know, ki values the, that kind of stuff. I've seen, matlab Karan

00:32:00Johar touching the feet of Sunil Dutt and, you know, people like that and, you know,

00:32:04incredible, so he's very… Ek kahaani he told me…

00:32:08No, about Dev Anand, kyuki Yashji was, you know, bringing out that Punjabi in him, and

00:32:16so when Karan met Dev Anand for the first time, Yashji ne kaha ki you don't touch his

00:32:23feet, you know, Karan is not proud of that culture, toh Karan ne Dev saab ka pehle chhuni

00:32:29ke liye dire, Dev Anand was astonished because he's so west, he was so westernized, he'll

00:32:35be, he was shocked, okay, what are you doing? Yeah, what are you doing touching my feet?

00:32:40Yeah. Also because he must have thought that I was old as Karan, why is he touching my

00:32:44feet? Why is he touching my feet? Yeah, exactly. Main toh tumhari age ka hoon, yaar.

00:32:48Correct. Because I remember meeting Dev Anand for the first time and I asked him,

00:32:52ki look, I don't know what to call you, I was 19 or something.

00:32:54Call me Dev. Yeah.

00:32:56Call me Dev, and that was it. You're lovely.

00:33:00Yeah, super guy, super guy. I'm an incredible person.

00:33:02Yeah, super guy. Okay, so Karan, you learnt a lot of nice things about Karan and

00:33:32Anand, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:33:47yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:07yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:17yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:20yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:22yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:24yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:26yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:28yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:30yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:32yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:34yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:36yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:38yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:40yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:42yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:44yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:46yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:48yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:50yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:52yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:34:54yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:00yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:04yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:08yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:12yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:18yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:24yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:30yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:36yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:42yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:50yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:35:58yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:36:06yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:36:14yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:36:22yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:36:30yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

00:37:00yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

00:37:30yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

00:38:00My biggest regret is that I left Dharma Productions

00:38:06and because I also left Dharma Productions at a time when Yashji was very ill

00:38:10so it's my biggest regret ever, it's actually the only

00:38:14it's also, but my company was, the first person who did the puja at my company was Yash Jhawar

00:38:19Wow

00:38:21Not MA, the first company I started when I graduated was Salam-e-Ishq

00:38:25Yash Jhawar came and did the puja in the office, he opened the office

00:38:28Toh Yashji ke saath aapka theek tha, Karan ke saath problem ho gaya tha

00:38:32Okay, okay, accha

00:38:35Toh Salam-e-Ishq aapne banaya, mujhe malum hai ki Salman Khan ne aapko phone kiya ki picture karte

00:38:41and you made an unofficial version of Love Actually

00:38:46Yeah, unofficial, I wish I could have made an official version, it would have been better

00:38:50Okay, aur picture, you know, aapne, kya usko khunnas ke saath banane ki

00:38:58Yeah, kyunki log bol rahe the, Kallohana ne banaya, toh mujhe lag raha tha ki

00:39:02you all are not giving me credit for one love story, I'll make six love stories

00:39:06Okay

00:39:07Arrogance

00:39:08Complete arrogance, childishness, stubbornness, aap kabhi film, hit film yaar kabhi good film nahi bana sakte

00:39:15You're making the film for the wrong reason

00:39:18Matlab wrong emotions ke saath aap ja rahe hain

00:39:20Dekho main kya kar sakta ho, usne kabhi khushi kabhi gum bana hai, main Salam-e-Ishq bana hoga

00:39:26Toh aap bolenge ki director ke liye humility is a good

00:39:30Extremely important

00:39:31Humility, focus, honesty, you cannot fool anybody, it's not possible

00:39:39Matlab sattar foot ke screen pe all your dishonesty comes out

00:39:44Toh aapne Salman Khan ke saath Salam-e-Ishq bana hai and of course John and others also

00:39:50Pitchar chali nahi

00:39:52Bilkul nahi

00:39:53Toh kaise

00:39:54Aapke achi, I don't know whether she's a friend of yours but I'm sure she must be

00:39:58Indu mera nahi

00:40:00She was in the premiere, I asked, Indu how is it? Rubbish

00:40:06Sorry hum log aise hi hain

00:40:08She was going with the, second time I have to go to the bathroom

00:40:14I got a pasting with her

00:40:19Maine bhi aapko Veda dekhne ke baad aapko message bheja tha

00:40:24But I loved your reply actually, we'll come to that

00:40:28Toh Salman ke saath jab yeh picture chali nahi, toh kahin was he disappointed with you

00:40:35Aur isiliye aap MMA you don't work with Salman

00:40:38I did

00:40:39Hero kiya, hero ek bana hai unke saath but wo bhi picture chali nahi

00:40:44Bilkul nahi chali

00:40:48But we are still very good friends

00:40:50Failures

00:40:51We are still very good friends

00:40:52He'll call me, he'll say come and have a drink with me or whatever, come to the farm, come to this

00:40:56Drink tak theek hai

00:40:58Mujhe film nahi banane

00:41:00Okay

00:41:01Mujhe films

00:41:03Salman Khan ke saath nahi banane

00:41:05Mujhe, mujhe, mujhe, Mohit Raina, Konkana Sen, Jim Sarab, Chirag Gora

00:41:15Mujhe unke, I am very lucky, I can choose the people who I want to make friends

00:41:21Toh Akshay Kumar tak theek hai, John tak theek hai

00:41:24Nahi main, John, Akshay sabse main yehi kehata ho ki mujhe 600-800 crore, I don't know what to make

00:41:31Okay

00:41:32I don't know what to make

00:41:35Nahi, I don't know how to make 600-800 crore wali picture

00:41:39Mujhe samajh mein nahi aata hai kya, kaise banayenge

00:41:42First of all, I don't know ki 600 crore ke saath log karte hai kya

00:41:45What do they do with 600 crore

00:41:47Kaafi kuch

00:41:48I have a very good car, I have a very fancy car, I have a very fancy house

00:41:54My daughter goes to the best school in Bombay, I can go to the best, I travel first class, I go to the best hotels

00:42:03Mujhe 600 crore ki zaroorat nahi hai, I am very comfortable

00:42:06Okay

00:42:07I am very very comfortable

00:42:09Toh yeh greed nahi hai ki mujhe 600 crore banagi hai

00:42:14Kyuki these guys have become so big, these guys have become so big now, right

00:42:18These guys have become so massive, Shah Rukh and Salman and Akshay and Ajay and all of them have become so big

00:42:26That it is for them, it is unheard of for them not to satisfy their fan base without those numbers

00:42:36Okay

00:42:37They have to hit those numbers

00:42:39Okay

00:42:40Right, and so much pressure

00:42:42How do you sleep?

00:42:43I want to sleep, saarein baje mein sorta hoon, saarein chaar, paanch baje mein

00:42:47Abhi bhi saarein chaar, paanch baje mein I get up, the first person if I need to speak to is Akshay Kumar

00:42:52He is awake at 5 o'clock

00:42:53Ha

00:42:54I will call, I will say seth ji are you awake, he will say haa sundi main phone karta hoon

00:42:58And we chat, we chat for one hour, we chat for, aap kya kar raha hoon, main kya kar raha hoon

00:43:02Maine yeh subject suna tha, aap ke liye perfect hai, I will say maine subject suna aap ke liye

00:43:06Aap ke liye perfect, director bhej raha hoon, bhej raha hoon, aap ko producer bhej raha hoon

00:43:09Sundi tu produce karega, I will say haan main produce karunga, I will produce

00:43:12I will produce for them, but I don't wish to

00:43:15You don't want to direct them, anyone

00:43:17No, I can't

00:43:18Okay

00:43:50Abhay ko 5 star bhi chahiye

00:44:02I am glad you are saying that, but matlab I can't take

00:44:04Abhay ka, matlab if Abhay could make Rocket Boys the way, jis tarah se usne likha tha

00:44:11It would have, we still, I feel ki somewhere or the other humne jitna bhi support ke usse

00:44:18But josh ne likha, the blissful, the blissful writing, you know, incredible writing

00:44:23Okay

00:44:24Incredible, and jis tarah se wo likhta hai, I did not know that, wo mera associate tha, Mumbai Diaries mein

00:44:28Maine usse bola lik kar le, Rocket Boys

00:44:31And he wrote

00:44:32Fantastic, bohot accha banaya, bohot hi accha banaya

00:44:36Abhi lik banaya raha hai, ek aur superb banaya raha hai

00:44:39Acha, aapko ek chaska lag gaya hai na, real stories bolne ke liye

00:44:44Haan

00:44:45Hain na

00:44:47Even your D-Day, thoda sa real mein hi tha

00:44:51Historical fiction, jo ek genre abhi ban chuka hai, historical fiction

00:44:55Because wo, aapke driver ne bola ki agar aap udhar wo

00:45:00Osama bin Laden ko pick up kar sakte hain, to hum Dawood ko kyu nahin

00:45:04To waha se shuru ho gayegi

00:45:06And it is because jab humne, Amarjeet Singh Dalat ko script, jo Raw ke chief the uss time pe

00:45:13And he had just retired

00:45:14And we found some connection in him, we went and gave him the script to read

00:45:17Usne kaha ki, how did he get all this information

00:45:20Acha, toh how did you get it?

00:45:22Google

00:45:28Google, it was there, everything is there, dark web

00:45:31Acha, so the Raw chief was surprised

00:45:34He said because the only way that you could actually get him back

00:45:37Is the way you'll have done, which is put him in the back of a car and bring him across

00:45:41Everywhere else is being monitored

00:45:43Everything else is being monitored, this is the only way you can get him

00:45:46As rudimentary as that, gaadi ke dikki mein beta ke, lekiya wapas

00:45:50He said we have plans about that

00:45:52Kaise karenge, kab karenge, kis tarah se kar sakte hai, how to do it

00:45:56He said I can't believe that you got Dawood

00:45:58So that was actually historical fiction

00:46:01Ritesh also is a freak as far as spy stories

00:46:05Wo open padta tha, caravan padta tha, he would read outlook

00:46:10Wo ye cuttings nikal da, he was quite a, he was dying to do a film like that

00:46:15Okay, okay, that was one of your first successes, isn't it?

00:46:19Yeah, yeah, I'm not box office

00:46:22First independent success

00:46:23Not box office

00:46:24Not box office, but

00:46:25Yeah, critically

00:46:26Jahan logon ne aapko, aapko thoda tarif karna churu kiya, you know

00:46:30Karan saw it and he saw it, he saw it at Lightbox, purana Lightbox

00:46:34He was akela bed ke dekh raha tha, he said I'll watch it alone, I don't want to watch it

00:46:39He came and saw it and he looked up, I came into the room, I came into Lightbox, he was sitting in the last row

00:46:43And he came, he got up and he said all the red lines have been erased

00:46:47Correct

00:46:48He came and gave me a hug, he said this is it

00:46:51How did Rishi Kapoor like it?

00:46:53He loved it, loved it, he sat for every trial

00:46:56Because he was, people were praising him

00:46:59You know how Rishi ji or Shindu ji loved this thing, you know he would say I'm Raj Kapoor's son and all that

00:47:04But he just wanted to be basking in the glory

00:47:07And he couldn't believe that, I mean he was a guy who was a Monty

00:47:11Monty ko abhi yeh hum log ne Goldman banaya diya tha, Dawood Ibrahim banaya diya tha, he loved it every day

00:47:17Yeh sahi hai ki unhone aapko Rauf Lala dikhaya tha?

00:47:20Yeah

00:47:21Yeh sahi hai?

00:47:22I went to ask him to play the role of Nasir Sir

00:47:24Jo Irfaan

00:47:26Raw Chief the, indeed, I went to ask him to play that role

00:47:29And maine bhot sara usse, matlab koshish ki to you know say that, that whatever we having

00:47:35Unka outhouse tha, upar aana bungalow mein

00:47:38To he was, he heard me out and he looked at me and said am I John White?

00:47:43Do I look like Gene Hackman?

00:47:46I'm a star, I'm a leading man

00:47:49Get out

00:47:51And he could say

00:47:53Get out, so he said get out and I was like oh

00:47:57Let me show you, let me show you what that boy Karan Malhotra is doing

00:48:01Should we see this Rauf Lala

00:48:04This is the, this is, he has the guts

00:48:08And this is what Chintu Kapoor came up with

00:48:10Chintu Kapoor, something

00:48:12So I went away, I was very upset and I called him in the morning and I said you know Chintu ji you're right

00:48:18Play Dawood

00:48:20He said bache aap paagal ho gaya hai kya tu?

00:48:22Main toh teri mazaag kar raha tha, I'll play whatever you want me to play

00:48:24Main karta hoon na wo, raw cut sheet

00:48:26I said no, you're right

00:48:28Let's do a test, let's do a look test

00:48:32Mehboob studio we did a look test

00:48:34He came out, he said it's a gun

00:48:36Came out with a, wearing a white suit

00:48:38And he said do we have a gun?

00:48:40And we had a gun, luckily we had a gun

00:48:42Although you didn't need a gun for that film

00:48:44Ya but he said do we have a gun

00:48:46Because that time we did not know what actually

00:48:48How I was going to treat it and this and that

00:48:50So he took the gun

00:48:52And then we took some photographs

00:48:54Blackberry hota tha

00:48:56And eventually he sent Neetu ji the photographs

00:48:58See this and whatever

00:49:00She was also well

00:49:02I remember meeting Irfan two days later

00:49:04And I told Irfan

00:49:06Chintu ji is playing

00:49:08Goldman

00:49:10Dawood Ibrahim

00:49:12Over for all of us

00:49:14He's going to take the full film

00:49:16Irfan was right

00:49:18He said he'll take it

00:49:20Whatever you give us

00:49:22Whatever you gave us

00:49:24He's going to take the full film

00:49:26And he did

00:49:28Isn't it strange that you had a

00:49:30Very good connection with Irfan

00:49:32And you had an equally

00:49:34Great connection with

00:49:36Rishi Kapoor

00:49:38And both of them

00:49:40After one day

00:49:42And both with cancer

00:49:44And Irfan one day

00:49:4629th April 30th April

00:49:48It was my birthday

00:49:50Really?

00:49:52You didn't get a chance to celebrate

00:49:54It was COVID

00:49:56We were in lockdown

00:49:58And Irfan passed away

00:50:00And I couldn't go

00:50:02Because they were allowing only 10 people

00:50:04So Tishu went

00:50:06Vishal ji went

00:50:08And they sent me some messages from there

00:50:10And Sutapa I spoke to

00:50:12Shelja I spoke to

00:50:14Was very close to him

00:50:16So I called up Arjun

00:50:18I said Arjun

00:50:20This has happened

00:50:22I called up Chintu ji

00:50:24I called up Chintu ji

00:50:26Phone rang out

00:50:28I called up Chintu ji again

00:50:30And Shanti ji called me back

00:50:32His secretary

00:50:34And he said

00:50:36Your phone is ringing

00:50:38Chintu ji is in

00:50:40Harkeshrandas hospital

00:50:42He was admitted and he's critical

00:50:44I said what?

00:50:46I spoke to him

00:50:48Just before COVID

00:50:50He had come back from America

00:50:52He was doing well

00:50:54I said I am coming to meet you

00:50:56He said no hospital

00:50:58Next morning he passed away

00:51:00It was uncanny

00:51:02Absolutely

00:51:04Ek bin ke baat

00:51:06Which has become quite

00:51:08Like an iconic meme

00:51:10Where in the film

00:51:12When by chance

00:51:14They've given up on catching him

00:51:16And they catch him suddenly

00:51:18And they put him in the car

00:51:20In the back seat of the car

00:51:22And Huma is driving the car

00:51:24And Arjun is sitting on one side

00:51:26Chintu ji is sitting in the center

00:51:28And Irfan is sitting on this side

00:51:30And there was some couple of dialogues

00:51:32While they were driving

00:51:34When we do car shots

00:51:36We put a car rig

00:51:38The director can't go

00:51:40When they took the shot

00:51:42Came back

00:51:44And Irfan said

00:51:46I saw the playback

00:51:48I said done

00:51:50Let's go back

00:51:52We were driving towards the base

00:51:54And Irfan turned on the camera

00:51:56He just put the camera on

00:51:58And there's a shot where his hair is flying

00:52:00And he looks at

00:52:02The CG like this

00:52:04And he just smiles

00:52:06I finally got him

00:52:08And I put that into the edit

00:52:10And that became the shot which everybody shared

00:52:12Wow

00:52:14After the past

00:52:16By mistake

00:52:18It's a total by mistake

00:52:20But these klooks happen in life

00:52:22It's like

00:52:24Him telling

00:52:26Rishi ji I'll see you upstairs

00:52:28Correct

00:52:30Meet you

00:52:32Correct

00:52:34But you see I frustrated with him

00:52:36Rishi ji used to get frustrated with Irfan

00:52:38We have one scene

00:52:40In the whole film

00:52:42And he had heard

00:52:44Sitting on the farmhouse

00:52:46And Irfan's dialogue

00:52:48And Rishi ji's dialogue

00:52:50And Chintu ji

00:52:52Prides himself on being the guy

00:52:54Who comes on cue

00:52:56And Irfan doesn't give cues

00:52:58Okay

00:53:00In every take

00:53:02There's something different

00:53:04Because he feels

00:53:06I have to give a variation

00:53:08I have to give a variation

00:53:10What's the meaning of the second take

00:53:12Hello

00:53:14I know you're a big Oscar winning actor

00:53:16You know

00:53:18You come from whatever

00:53:20Angli, Angli, Lifepie

00:53:22But give me my cue

00:53:28Please give it

00:53:30Tell him which word you're going to hit

00:53:32So these are the great moments

00:53:34This is what I want

00:53:36Which I don't get

00:53:38You will

00:53:40No I get it with my guys

00:53:42I get it with my Gandhi ji

00:53:44And my Nehru

00:53:46They're all interested in

00:53:48The scene and the story

00:53:50And the performance

00:53:52And how can I make your performance

00:53:54Better than my performance

00:53:56Fantastic

00:53:58You know

00:54:00He has been saying

00:54:02That you have abandoned him

00:54:04He's not only a writer, he's the director of the company

00:54:06But he made a very big flop also

00:54:08I've made many big flops also

00:54:10We don't give up on our

00:54:12But he says you gave up on him

00:54:14And you have abandoned him

00:54:16And you let him down

00:54:18He called me up

00:54:20He called me up and told me

00:54:22He said something to clickbait me

00:54:24So I said something

00:54:26You know I love you very much

00:54:28So I said

00:54:30So it's not right that you have abandoned him

00:54:34Because he gave you that flop called

00:54:36I had told him not to make the film

00:54:42If it had hit, I would have been proved wrong

00:54:44And I wish I had been proved wrong

00:54:46When he had narrated the script to me

00:54:48I said

00:54:50On record I can say

00:54:52I had said don't make this film

00:54:54There were three Johns

00:54:56Overdose of John

00:54:58And secondly

00:55:00There was no villainy in it

00:55:02There was no antagonism

00:55:04I didn't understand the reason

00:55:06The first film he made

00:55:08With Manoj and John

00:55:10It was such a good film

00:55:12Whatever the reason

00:55:14However it was treated

00:55:16But the story I really liked

00:55:18There was a point of contention

00:55:20Very good story

00:55:22And I didn't feel the story was workable over here

00:55:24It comes back to the 600-800 crore argument

00:55:26Just for making a film

00:55:28Why are you making a film?

00:55:30Write a good film

00:55:32Let's write a good film together

00:55:34Let's do it together

00:55:36But

00:55:38It's not like

00:55:40I have taken Milaab Zavedi in my lap

00:55:42That I can abandon him

00:55:44I can't abandon him

00:55:46But are you the kind of person

00:55:48That if someone

00:55:50Doesn't listen to you

00:55:52This is the script that I think

00:55:54That I would enjoy making for this company

00:55:56I'll do it in a second

00:55:58So you don't keep Khunnas?

00:56:00Why?

00:56:02Because the film didn't work

00:56:04Life is too short

00:56:06Life is too short

00:56:08I don't want any more stress

00:56:10Bharti ji won't give me five stars

00:56:12I want that stress

00:56:14I don't want any more stress

00:56:16I sleep very comfortably

00:56:18He's a lovely guy

00:56:20Therefore when this company

00:56:22Was going through the worst phase

00:56:24He told me that

00:56:26I have a film called Satyamev Jayate

00:56:28And John is saying that let Nikhil produce it

00:56:30Will you produce it?

00:56:32I sat outside and nobody was willing to make it

00:56:34Nobody was willing to make it

00:56:36It was 20th of December

00:56:38My anniversary is 29th of December

00:56:40I told him I'll put money and make it

00:56:42Okay

00:56:44So he was there for us

00:56:46And I didn't put my own money

00:56:48I made one phone call to a person

00:56:50I'm extremely fond of

00:56:52Called up Bhushan ji

00:56:54I said Bhushan ji I'm asking you a favour

00:56:56Do this for me

00:56:58He said done

00:57:00That's how we make films

00:57:02What about Shahrukh?

00:57:04Shahrukh was the one who wanted you

00:57:06To make Kalona

00:57:08I don't have a subject

00:57:10And I will never go to him

00:57:12With a subject

00:57:14Unless I think he's going to beat

00:57:16But he doesn't like romantic films

00:57:18Absolutely

00:57:20But I don't mind

00:57:22As long as I can do something

00:57:24Where I've been able to

00:57:26Bring value to

00:57:28A relationship that we had

00:57:30I won't go to him

00:57:32But are you in touch with Shahrukh?

00:57:34Not that much in touch

00:57:36But you never talked about any film

00:57:38Absolutely

00:57:40It's not like he offered

00:57:42Or you offered

00:57:44You never spoke

00:57:46So after Kalona

00:57:48You never talked about any film

00:57:50Between you and him

00:57:52Arjun Kapoor was your assistant

00:57:54In Salaam-e-Ishq

00:57:56He was your assistant

00:57:58Did you see an actor in him at that time?

00:58:00Did I see an?

00:58:02Actor in him at that time

00:58:04Are you mad? Never

00:58:06I could not see an actor

00:58:08He surprised all of us

00:58:10By suddenly losing his weight

00:58:12Or being serious

00:58:14And learning his craft

00:58:16I never saw

00:58:18We used to call him Phobu

00:58:20I still call him Phobu

00:58:22I still call him sir

00:58:28You never wanted to make a film with him

00:58:30We made Sardar Ka Grandson with him

00:58:32We made a film with him

00:58:34We are constantly talking about doing things together

00:58:36We always

00:58:38On OTT

00:58:40He wanted to play

00:58:42Some kind of

00:58:44Big

00:58:46Like a night manager

00:58:48There was a talk about another show being made

00:58:50So he called me

00:58:52I said if we can do it

00:58:54We will do it together

00:58:56Never fructified

00:58:58Those other guys didn't get the rights

00:59:00Like the film he made with Dibakar

00:59:02Sandeep and Pinky

00:59:04He was very good

00:59:06Do you like him as an actor?

00:59:08I like him as a person

00:59:10I think as an actor

00:59:12Given a strong director

00:59:14He will surprise you

00:59:16Because he is very hard working

00:59:18If you get a chance

00:59:20Will you work with him?

00:59:22110%

00:59:24Why not

00:59:28I wanted to ask you

00:59:30Do you think

00:59:32He brings his politics

00:59:34Somewhere in his films

00:59:36Yes

00:59:38Do you do it?

00:59:40Yes

00:59:42Whether it is

00:59:44Women

00:59:46Whether it is caste

00:59:48Whether it is

00:59:50Being centrist

00:59:52Whether it is

00:59:54Bombay as a city

00:59:56Within

00:59:58Mumbai Diaries

01:00:00There was a Dalit doctor

01:00:02Versus a cop

01:00:04All that I bring it

01:00:06Wherever I can

01:00:08Sometimes

01:00:10Like you made

01:00:12Rocket Boys

01:00:14Of course Abhay made it

01:00:16But still

01:00:18That was your production

01:00:20Rocket Boys

01:00:22Was an absolutely real show

01:00:24Not fictional

01:00:26But a fictitious character

01:00:28A fictitious character

01:00:30Of a muslim scientist

01:00:32Rocket Boys is completely fictional

01:00:34You feel it is completely fictional

01:00:36It is

01:00:38Because most of the characters

01:00:40Were not fiction

01:00:42All of Vikram Sarabhai was real

01:00:44Because we started off with that

01:00:46But Homi Baba

01:00:48Didn't really jump into a tank

01:00:50Heavy water tank

01:00:52I don't mean little incidents

01:00:54But I mean the character

01:00:56The character of

01:01:00What was this thing

01:01:02Mehdi Raza

01:01:04The character of Mehdi Raza was based on

01:01:06Several scientists who at that time

01:01:08Were against Homi Baba

01:01:10Because they felt that Homi Baba

01:01:12Had a privileged

01:01:14Entry into the Prime Minister's office

01:01:16He would call him Bhai

01:01:18Which he had

01:01:20So he had a privilege

01:01:22So we made those things together

01:01:24When politics came

01:01:26We wanted the world to feel

01:01:28As if the only person

01:01:30Who can be against Homi Baba

01:01:32Is a muslim scientist

01:01:36And the world fell for it

01:01:38The world fell for it

01:01:40I got a message from a very prominent journalist

01:01:42Saying that you have been hagiographic

01:01:44And this and that

01:01:46And I said

01:01:48But that person has not seen all the episodes

01:01:50Because by the time the 8th episode comes

01:01:52You realise that he is not

01:01:54He is actually a victim

01:01:56That was obvious to me

01:01:58Because I know how all your minds work

01:02:00This great journalist

01:02:02Who we all think about

01:02:04Great political journalist had not seen

01:02:06And I said

01:02:08Remind him that he has seen only till the 6th episode

01:02:10He has not seen the 7th

01:02:12I know your mindset

01:02:14So I know that this can't happen

01:02:16I knew from the first shot

01:02:18That this is a red herring

01:02:20Correct word is red herring

01:02:22Red herring

01:02:24Red herring was basically

01:02:26Like

01:02:28A traitor can only be a muslim

01:02:32And your mindset is

01:02:34That a traitor can never be a muslim

01:02:38No, our mindset is

01:02:42Not that I am saying muslim or traitor

01:02:44Please don't get me wrong

01:02:46I am not saying that

01:02:48But we have a left of centre kind of thinking

01:02:52You have it

01:02:54Then I will make Batla House

01:02:56Batla House yes

01:03:06I see two Nikhil Advani

01:03:10When I see your films and your work

01:03:12Because on one side

01:03:14There is Veda

01:03:16Which is a masala film

01:03:20Maybe you want to talk about the cast

01:03:22That was your core

01:03:24But the packaging you gave

01:03:26Fully hardcore masala

01:03:28Where for half an hour

01:03:30Someone is killing John Abraham

01:03:32But he is still alive

01:03:34So that kind of film

01:03:36So on one side

01:03:38Veda kind of

01:03:40Absolutely commercial film

01:03:42And on the other side

01:03:44You are making At Midnight

01:03:46Which is absolutely

01:03:48Realistic

01:03:50Historical

01:03:52Very substantial

01:03:54So which is the real

01:03:56Manish Mindra made a film called Sia

01:03:58I saw

01:04:00You saw it?

01:04:02Did anybody else see it?

01:04:04Veda is that

01:04:06It's the same story

01:04:08I know

01:04:10I saw both and said

01:04:12I wanted

01:04:14That is my

01:04:16That is my naivety

01:04:18That's why I say

01:04:20I don't even know how people make films with 600-800 crores

01:04:22I want

01:04:24The story of Veda

01:04:26Which people should watch

01:04:28I need to make it reach to a wider audience

01:04:30Otherwise I would have become Manish Mindra's C.I

01:04:32I wanted it to reach to a wider audience

01:04:34But there was a film called Aayushman Khurana

01:04:36Article 50

01:04:38Which was good and did well

01:04:40And he said the same

01:04:42Even then it was a multiplex film

01:04:44Even then it was a multiplex film

01:04:46Anubhav is an incredible crazy director

01:04:4863 crores that film made

01:04:50I know

01:04:52Even then it was a multiplex film

01:04:54So what new thing were you trying to say

01:04:56Which Veda has already said in article 15

01:04:58I wanted to show a mirror to the people

01:05:00Who are actually not willing to see a mirror

01:05:02Because they will go to see a John Abraham film

01:05:04They will come out seeing a Sharwari Diwakar

01:05:06That was my intention

01:05:08That if you go to see a John Abraham film

01:05:10You will come out and say

01:05:12This happens in my village

01:05:14This happens in my city

01:05:16This happens in my lane

01:05:18This happens everywhere

01:05:20So my idea was to send you in to see

01:05:22I promise you

01:05:24That's why the marketing was also about action

01:05:26If it was only about caste

01:05:28We would not have even got the money that we got

01:05:30Nobody wants to see

01:05:32These are the taboos and holy cows

01:05:34That we don't want to talk about

01:05:37Was John upset when it didn't do well

01:05:39No, John and I are constantly talking about

01:05:41Doing something else

01:05:43John is almost like a partner in this company

01:05:45So he is not upset at all

01:05:47We are very close friends

01:05:49You were not upset when Veda didn't do well

01:05:51John, all of you should have been upset

01:05:53No, I don't know

01:05:5563 was a fantastic film

01:05:57It just tore us apart

01:05:59It's not like Veda didn't do well because of 63

01:06:01I think so

01:06:03I think so

01:06:06But that doesn't mean because of 63

01:06:08Your film didn't do well

01:06:10I just feel that the audience

01:06:12Just didn't want to see a serious film

01:06:14And they don't want to be shown a mirror

01:06:16I think Veda is a very good film

01:06:18They never think like that

01:06:20That it didn't do well because of 63

01:06:22Maybe

01:06:24So I should stop blaming

01:06:26No, I think 63 is a superb film

01:06:28We should never have come with 63

01:06:30But like you said

01:06:32There are 52 weeks

01:06:35Of course

01:06:37So you have to be a little more clever

01:06:39Or stop being clever

01:06:41And just be honest

01:06:43So it's not like

01:06:45If a film doesn't do well

01:06:47Like Salman

01:06:49It's not like

01:06:51Friendship breaks

01:06:53At least not with me

01:06:55And not with John

01:06:57And not with Akshay

01:06:59Not at all

01:07:01So friendship has nothing to do

01:07:03With the success of a film

01:07:05Or failure of a film

01:07:07I mean that's the

01:07:09I think that's the

01:07:11Yeah, I think that's the

01:07:13Most important thing

01:07:15Because you're spending 200 days with some person

01:07:17I think that

01:07:19All of us know that Friday doesn't belong to us

01:07:21Yeah

01:07:23I have heard that

01:07:25Sharwari Vag

01:07:27Was recommended to you by

01:07:29Rani Mukherjee

01:07:31Rani and Kabir

01:07:33Kabir had done

01:07:35Forgotten Army with her

01:07:37And Rani and Kabir

01:07:39And I was recommended to her

01:07:41By Victor's daughter

01:07:43Who works with us

01:07:45Vijay Krishnacharya's daughter

01:07:47So she told him

01:07:49She said go and meet him

01:07:51He's planning something

01:07:53Lovely guy

01:07:55She calls me Mamu

01:07:57Because Sharwari Vag has been

01:07:59A discovery of 2024

01:08:01I agree

01:08:03Isn't it?

01:08:05Whether it's Munja or Maharaja

01:08:07She deserves all the accolades

01:08:09She's had three films

01:08:11And she's been different

01:08:13And quite a surprise in all three

01:08:15And now she's doing Alpha

01:08:17And Shiv Ravel

01:08:19Who did Railway Men

01:08:21Fantastic film

01:08:23She was my assistant

01:08:25In ad films

01:08:27So Sharwari what do you have to say about her?

01:08:29What would you predict for her?

01:08:31I like her a lot

01:08:33What I predict for her

01:08:35Is that

01:08:37Is that

01:08:39She's so versatile

01:08:41She can do an item song in Munja

01:08:43And then she can do

01:08:45She's very hard working

01:08:47I think that she's got

01:08:49A head on her shoulders

01:08:51She comes from a solid family

01:08:53Middle class solid Maharashtrian family

01:08:55So she has all these things

01:08:57And yeah so I think that

01:08:59I mean the world is a oyster

01:09:01It's crazy

01:09:03And she's got Yashraj behind her

01:09:05She's represented by Yashraj

01:09:07I think

01:09:09Everybody understands

01:09:11What she's capable of

01:09:13She says no

01:09:15More often than she says yes

01:09:17Really? Even at this stage?

01:09:19Even at this stage

01:09:21That's interesting

01:09:23And I keep asking

01:09:25What is wrong with you?

01:09:27Has she said no to you?

01:09:29Never

01:09:31She's never said no to me

01:09:33Are you planning anything more with her?

01:09:35If I do a feature film

01:09:37We'll be in it for sure

01:09:39Unless she says no

01:09:41Okay

01:09:43You're also half Maharashtrian

01:09:45Yeah

01:09:47Your mother is

01:09:49But the Sindhi part of you has taken over

01:09:51Business sense and all

01:09:53All that you're seeing in everything is Monisha and Madhu

01:09:55Okay

01:09:57So it's not the Advani part of you

01:09:59Mad Maharashtrian

01:10:01My sister keeps telling me

01:10:03You're a mad Maharashtrian

01:10:09One last question is about

01:10:11Freedom at Midnight

01:10:13Which is going very well

01:10:15And people have appreciated it

01:10:17And you've done a great job

01:10:19So can you tell me

01:10:21About the casting

01:10:23Because I found it very interesting

01:10:25Siddhant Gupta

01:10:27Who played Nehru

01:10:29Did you see Jubilee before casting him?

01:10:31Yeah

01:10:33Because I loved him in Jubilee

01:10:35I only cast him because of Jubilee

01:10:37Oh you did?

01:10:39Because when we were casting

01:10:41Usually the casting director

01:10:43And assistant director

01:10:45Tell us about the character

01:10:47As it is

01:10:51The field of casting

01:10:53Had been reduced because I wanted

01:10:55Nobody can work

01:10:57Gandhi will play Gandhi

01:10:59And nothing else

01:11:01Because I don't want Gandhi

01:11:03Murdering in some other show

01:11:05So it just reduced that

01:11:07And in the case of our casting

01:11:09The prosthetics expert

01:11:11Jagdish Dada

01:11:13I can't make his eyes bigger

01:11:15Or his ears bigger

01:11:17In the case of Nehru

01:11:19He had said that all Indians are born

01:11:21With this very kind of pakoda nose

01:11:23And I can't make the nose smaller

01:11:25I can make it bigger

01:11:27So you need to get somebody with the same nose

01:11:29Nehru's nose

01:11:33And I saw Jubilee and I said

01:11:35Oh my god!

01:11:37And then he was so good in Jubilee

01:11:39And casting Siddhant

01:11:41Forget Siddhant

01:11:43Casting Nehru as younger

01:11:45Was very important because you can actually age a person

01:11:47With prosthetics

01:11:49De-aging

01:11:51Benjamin Button

01:11:53Is very expensive

01:11:55David Fincher can afford it

01:11:57Warner Brothers can afford it

01:11:59We can't afford it

01:12:01It's the cost of possibly the entire show

01:12:03So it became prosthetic

01:12:05So it became important for us to cast a younger guy

01:12:07Who we can age

01:12:09Because we knew Nehru was playing a 19 year old

01:12:11Then he was playing a 29 year old

01:12:13Then he was playing a 39 year old

01:12:15And then he was playing a 56 year old

01:12:17Also Nehru who is in our mind

01:12:19As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

01:12:21Is the 1964 Jawaharlal Nehru

01:12:23The stamp

01:12:25The iconic profile photograph

01:12:27In 1947 he was the brat in the room

01:12:31He was the brat in the room

01:12:33Everyone was bigger than him

01:12:35So it became almost like

01:12:37The minute we saw him

01:12:39I asked for a meeting immediately

01:12:41I got a meeting like 2-3 weeks later

01:12:43Because I think he took off after Jubilee

01:12:45And he just went to Jammu

01:12:47He is a poet

01:12:49He writes songs

01:12:51So he had taken off

01:12:53Then he came back and he said

01:12:55Are you sure you want me to play this

01:12:57And we started working

01:12:59He has worked very well as Nehru

01:13:01I liked your Sardar Patel also

01:13:03Isn't he a fab actor

01:13:05He went to a mall

01:13:07City mall, infinity mall

01:13:09He got mobbed

01:13:11Rajinder Chawla

01:13:13He got mobbed

01:13:15People were calling me Sardar

01:13:17Sardar

01:13:19My wife started crying

01:13:21My daughter started crying

01:13:23I have been doing daily soap for 30 years

01:13:25I am tired

01:13:27People are mobbing me

01:13:29I said you deserve it

01:13:31How did you decide him

01:13:33Kavish

01:13:35Kavish auditioned him

01:13:37I didn't know him

01:13:39You didn't work with him before

01:13:41I saw him and I said

01:13:43Super

01:13:45Was any character difficult

01:13:47I liked Mountbatten also

01:13:49Was any character difficult to cast

01:13:51No

01:13:53You found easily

01:13:55Nehru was the most difficult

01:13:57But you got the nose

01:13:59You got the correct nose

01:14:01That's it

01:14:03I made a joke about it

01:14:05There were so many articles

01:14:07Kavish sir

01:14:09Don't tell people about my nose

01:14:13He knows his job

01:14:15But he is fab

01:14:17He is very good

01:14:19So now have you got a chaska

01:14:21For making these real kind of

01:14:23Historical

01:14:25Everyone knows

01:14:27We have cars

01:14:29We have shops

01:14:31We have costumes

01:14:33Because you are making revolutionaries

01:14:35In Sanjeev Sanyal's book

01:14:37Yes

01:14:39So will you bring your politics

01:14:41In that also

01:14:43That you will go

01:14:45To Sanjeev Sanyal's book

01:14:47No

01:14:49The three characters

01:14:51Rash Bihari

01:14:53Sanjeev Sanyal

01:14:55Bhagat Jatin

01:14:57Which is written in the book

01:14:59With Sanjeev Sanyal

01:15:01He has so much research

01:15:03Which is not there in the book

01:15:05Because I feel

01:15:07It's amazing

01:15:09An 18 year old boy

01:15:11And this is all before Gandhi came

01:15:13In 1915

01:15:15His story ended in February 1915

01:15:17So I felt

01:15:19It's a story of youth

01:15:21It's a story

01:15:23Revolutionaries

01:15:25It's a story of India's youth

01:15:27Taking on the greatest

01:15:29Empire that ever existed

01:15:31And saying that

01:15:33We will throw it out

01:15:35So that's the story

01:15:37Right

01:15:39The politics that we are talking about

01:15:41Has come much later

01:15:43It was not there in those days

01:15:45It was not there in 1910

01:15:47The only politics they had was

01:15:49Throw the British out

01:15:51That's it

01:15:53I am showing you that

01:15:55The way I tried

01:15:57Freedom at midnight

01:15:59To put you into the same room

01:16:01I don't like this

01:16:03I don't care about this

01:16:05The power of retrospect

01:16:07Is a very powerful tool

01:16:09They didn't have retrospect

01:16:11Neither did

01:16:13Nehru, Patel, Gandhi

01:16:15Mountbatten

01:16:17No Jinnah's dying

01:16:19If Jinnah was dying

01:16:21You and I would be doing this

01:16:23Interview in Karachi

01:16:25My family would not have come from there

01:16:27Correct

01:16:29So this is a very powerful tool

01:16:31Retrospect

01:16:33I want to take people to that time

01:16:35So if they still want

01:16:37To discuss the politics

01:16:39Good for them

01:16:41But the story of these three boys

01:16:43When I

01:16:45Saw Rakesh's picture

01:16:47I thought

01:16:49We are not like that

01:16:51We are not bothered like this

01:16:53Where did Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad

01:16:55And Bismil and Ashfaqullah

01:16:57Where did they think about these things

01:16:59When they were 18 and 19

01:17:01That's amazing

01:17:03So I want to show that

01:17:05So did Sanjeev Sanyal

01:17:07Did he approach you?

01:17:09No

01:17:11He approached Amazon

01:17:13Because we had done Rocket Boys

01:17:15He said I want to talk to the people

01:17:17Give me just one word

01:17:19I am winding up with this

01:17:21Just one word for Salman

01:17:23One word for Shahrukh

01:17:25One word for John

01:17:27One for Akshay

01:17:29Shahrukh

01:17:31Intelligence

01:17:33Salman

01:17:35Heart

01:17:37Akshay

01:17:39Hardworking

01:17:41John

01:17:43Brave

01:17:45Interesting

01:17:47And

01:17:49All the best to MA

01:17:51I have seen your life journey

01:17:53I have seen it

01:17:55Right from Kalona

01:17:57So I am very excited

01:17:59To see where you are

01:18:01Wish you lots more success

01:18:03Thank you so much

01:18:15Thank you

'My Biggest Regret Is Leaving Dharma When Yash Ji Was ILL' - Nikkhil Advani's Costly Rise To The Top

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