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.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
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 Redford
00:19:59kahan hai?
00:20:00Toh
00:20:01I
00:20:02said,
00:20:05cliff
00:20:16sia
00:20:19Arjun
00:20:20Rahul
00:20:21Rahul
00:20:22Rahul
00:20:23Ravi
00:20:24show release 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 aadhaar 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, we will take the shot tomorrow.
00:20:54And now we got rain machines and all to take it with the rain machine and we started taking
00:21:00the shot again and there was not enough rain.
00:21:02Rain machine ko humne miscalculate kiya tha, koi kuch jagah pe aisa lag raha tha ki baarish
00:21:08nahi ho raha hai, khaali hai, wagara, wagara, wagara and then light went, jis sara se Prem
00:21:13Pujari mein light jana raha tha, light went, Malay said no, no, now I can't take it, the
00:21:16light is gone, it's looking artificial, alag se lag raha hai, wagara.
00:21:20So I said okay, so finally we took the shot on the third day.
00:21:24So that shot has taken actually three days to take, simple shot, simple steadicam shot,
00:21:29he turns to camera, very simple shot, but took three times to take.
00:21:33Just because of your sea of umbrellas.
00:21:34Sea of umbrellas, mujhe umbrellas chahiye tha iske baad and it was never supposed to be the
00:21:38first shot.
00:21:39Toh yeh director ki zid?
00:21:40Bilkul, bilkul.
00:21:41Achha, okay.
00:21:42Aur yeh producer ka, because mujhe, wo 100 juniors jo lana the uske baad, I had to compensate
00:21:50from somewhere else, dusse koi scene se nikaal ke main isme daalunga, toh wo clash hota rahega
00:21:55na, between the producer and the director in you, hai na, kyunki aap producer bhi ho,
00:22:00director bhi ho.
00:22:01Lekin main nahi sucho creative work aur direction ka kaam aap karoge aur Monisha and Madhu must
00:22:08be looking after.
00:22:09No, Monisha is a strategic genius, she is always thinking two years ahead, three years
00:22:14ahead, four years ahead.
00:22:15Iss tarah se humne POW kiya tha, kyunki she said that we have to get into digital, I had
00:22:20no 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, it was supposed to be on Star Plus, I was supposed
00:22:33to 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 26.
00:22:41By the time, that evening they called me up and said 52.
00:22:44By the time we got into production, it was 106.
00:22:48So and I was still supposed to do only four episodes, main chaar episodes karke kisi aur
00:22:51ko dene wala tha but I just felt ki mujhe karne hain and so many fantastic actors were part
00:22:57of that show and jaise humne show release kiya, it went on to Hotstar, which was Hotstar
00:23:02abhi abhi shuru hua tha and it just blew up on Hotstar.
00:23:06Hotstar pe ho log 6 baje dikha dete aur aapko Star Plus pe 10-10.30 baje dikhne ko milta
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, superb and a copy of, I mean adaptation of Aadhaar film.
00:23:26So Munisha, who she said, let's do digital, you have to do digital, I don't know what
00:23:32is digital, but then I started learning about digital and then because we did this, we got
00:23:36Mumbai Diaries, because we got Mumbai Diaries, we got a great relationship with Amazon, Amazon
00:23:39ke saath humne bhaiya kiya, then Sony Live started, Sony Live started, Shogato had worked
00:23:45with 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, you know, because Sameer
00:23:59was 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 hote hain ki directors ko aap log saar pe chadha ke rakhe hain.
00:24:20Correct.
00:24:21Toh that yeh chattis ka, hamesha 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 10 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, poster ko leke kya picture bana rahe hain?
00:25:06You know, because it started with a poster.
00:25:08It did?
00:25:09Yes, that's what Akshay 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, toh toh din already yeh
00:25:28ek concept approve 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 it.
00:25:49And I think Akshay was shooting in Melbourne or somewhere or the other, when I was brought
00:25:57in to the project.
00:25:58I think Hey Baby or something.
00:25:59Hey Baby or something, when I was brought in the project, because Akshay saw Salamesh
00:26:02and loved it.
00:26:03Oh.
00:26:04He loved the music, he loved the scale, he loved the emotions.
00:26:06He said, gadbad ho gaya, length gadbad ho gaya, do teen kahani gadbad ho gaya, but he
00:26:11loved it.
00:26:12So he, I spoke to him because Rohan made me speak to him after Salamesh and he said that,
00:26:18and Sreedhar and Sreeram was going to do the film.
00:26:22Acha.
00:26:23Sreeram Raghavan was going to do the film, but then Sreeram got busy with something else,
00:26:26so then they came to me and, because Akshay said ki Nikhil ko phone karo.
00:26:30And that's how I came into the, it was already set, so I don't know agar usko pehle poster
00:26:35dikhaya tha.
00:26:36Acha.
00:26:37Mere time pe poster bilkul nahi dikhaya tha.
00:26:38Poster nahi thi.
00:26:39Acha.
00:26:40Mujhe kuch aata nahi tha.
00:26:41Mujhe, mene Kung Fu koi film dekhi bhi nahi thi.
00:26:42Rohan and Sreedhar were crazy about Stephen Chow and Ong Baik and all those kind of films.
00:26:47So for me it was actually, there's dishonesty, Bharti ji, in the sense ki Salamesh nahi
00:26:54chali to mujhe laga ki mujhe abhi kaam bilkul nahi milega to, I picked up the first thing
00:26:59that 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 have ever made.
00:27:10Okay.
00:27:11To go back even more, you, I remember aapne shuru kiya by going and knocking on Saeed
00:27:17Mirza's door.
00:27:18Absolutely.
00:27:19Aur aapne Nukkad se shuru kiya.
00:27:20Toh Nukkad se MA tak hum aagey hai, lekin beech mein, when you went to Karan Johar,
00:27:28that was the first major stop.
00:27:30Yeah.
00:27:31Karan.
00:27:32Absolutely.
00:27:33Aur wahan do film mein bahut badi hit thi, kuch kuch hota hai and K3G.
00:27:40But I don't…
00:27:41And you assisted on both.
00:27:42I was the assistant on both, I was the associate on both.
00:27:46But mai kabhi mera jo journey hai Dharma Productions ke saath, I don't equate it
00:27:57ki humne kuch kuch hota hai kiya, kabhi khushi kabhi kiya aur maine kalon na ho kiya.
00:28:01I don't equate it like that.
00:28:02I equate it ki ek Yajur apne bete ke saath ek company khadha kar rahe the, right.
00:28:11Before that, Dharma had gone through a lot, like you say, upar-niche, right.
00:28:17Gumrah had done well but Duplicate had not done well.
00:28:20Mukaddar Fekha Faisla was a dud but Agnipath was one of the biggest films that ever, but
00:28:25Agnipath was also considered to be this thing before that film.
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.
00:28:47It was tough.
00:28:48I remember Karan telling me ki there was a time when he had sold his lights and camera
00:28:52and ghirvi rakh diya tha, ghar ko ghirvi rakh diya tha, uss time pe these kind of things
00:28:57used to happen, right.
00:28:58Ghar ko ghirvi rakh diya tha, Heeru aunty had a heart attack.
00:29:02She was in, I remember the fantastic story where jahape, I think Amitji met Yash uncle
00:29:10and he said how's Heeru and because Amitji and Heeru aunty were very close, they were
00:29:15in school together and he said how's Heeru and she said, he said she's in Breach County,
00:29:21she had a, she had a cardiac episode or whatever and Amitji left the shooting and went to meet
00:29:28her in Breach County and they were there at the hospital and he came out and he told Yash
00:29:35uncle that there's a boy who I'm making a film with, it's, Romesh is producing it but
00:29:42you call him up and you tell him that Amit has given dates for your film, he has a subject
00:29:49on Scarface, we should do it together.
00:29:52That's how Agnipath came about, that's how films used to get made Bharti ji, which I
00:29:57find absurd nowadays, it was relationships, it was just relations and I miss it, I miss
00:30:03it just, that's why mujhe MA mein bahut yeh hota hai kyunki I want to inculcate that,
00:30:10aise film bante the, Amitji said, Agnipath, Agnipath the film that most of my generation
00:30:17of filmmakers swear by was made because he said, that's it, I know what you're going
00:30:23through, I know what the halat is right now, I'm giving you dates, let's start.
00:30:28Let's start it, well that's how relationships work.
00:30:33So I don't equate my time in Dharma as three films, I equate my time in Dharma ki I was
00:30:38there at that time when the foundations of Dharma were being, were being set by Yash
00:30:43ji and Karan, they were setting, those three films are the foundations of Karan's Dharma
00:30:49production.
00:30:50What did you learn from Karan?
00:30:54I think…
00:30:55According to me, he's one of the nicest people we know and…
00:30:58Just scale, just everything is scale, emotional scale, he just likes to, he likes to keep
00:31:04people close to him, he likes, he loves close shots, that's the reason why he comes really
00:31:08close to shots, because he wants people to be close to him, Adi is very different, Adi
00:31:12wants people to be away.
00:31:13He's the one with Ranbir Kapoor and full song on his face.
00:31:15On his face, yeah, yeah, incredible, right?
00:31:17So he, he, Karan, I learnt, I learnt narration from Karan, I just learnt to be a nice person,
00:31:24basically Karan, you know…
00:31:26Very affable.
00:31:27And he remembers everybody, he has friends, he has a group of friends from school, he
00:31:32has a group of friends from, who he has met just three days ago, matlab, woh, toh I feel,
00:31:39ek, ek kisan ka, ek, what do I put, I mean, we were all, and I speak for the well-nurtured
00:31:53and well, well brought up boys, you know, ki values the, that kind of stuff, I've
00:31:58seen, matlab, Karan Johar touching the feet of Sunil Dutt and, you know, people like that
00:32:04and, you know, incredible, so he's very…
00:32:06Ek kahaani he told me.
00:32:08He jumped back.
00:32:09No, 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
00:32:23his feet, you know, Karan is not proud of that culture, toh Karan ne Dev saab ka peh
00:32:28chhooni ke liye dire, Dev Anand was astonished because he's so west, he was so westernized,
00:32:35he was shocked, what are you doing, touching my feet, also because he must have thought
00:32:42that I was old as Karan, why is he touching my feet, exactly, main toh tumhari age ka
00:32:48hoon, yaar, correct, 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, call me Dev, yeah, call
00:32:56me Dev, that was it, lovely, yeah, super guy, super guy, incredible person, yeah, super
00:33:02guy, okay, so Karan, you learnt a lot of nice things about Karan and ek baat batao main,
00:33:12jo aapko achi nahi lagegi, bar phir bhi bol dungi, ki Karan ko hamisha lagta tha ki teeno
00:33:19filme unki resume bhi hona chahiye tha, bilkul, bilkul hona chahiye tha, kal hona ho bhi,
00:33:26unki resume bhi hona chahiye tha as a director, unne ne likha zarur, lekin wo direction ke
00:33:31liye aap aa gaye bech mein, toh he feels that unka resume mein agar teeno filme unke
00:33:38naam pe hota toh that, he would have been happier with his resume, he should be, it
00:33:43should be, toh kyun nahi hua, it's a director proof script, toh kyun nahi hua, ki wo dolo
00:33:49ke, abhi Shah Rukh kyun bola ki aap, kyun ki Shah Rukh ne kaha ki mujhe Nikhil ke saath
00:33:53film karna, nahi toh main nahi karunga film, par kyun aise bola, kyun ki Karan aur unki
00:33:57bhi dosti thi.
00:33:58But Shah Rukh also, hamesha ki kisi ne usko mauka diya tha, he was paying it forward,
00:34:03unko laga ki ye, ye, this is a boy who is working so hard, he has worked with me on
00:34:08three other films, he had already told me ki main tumhari film karunga hi karunga, toh
00:34:13he, and Yash ji had already also said ki Nikhil will make the next film, I was writing a terrorism
00:34:19ki picture with Shah Rukh, main dil se jo aur hi picture likh raha tha, it was Karan
00:34:24who, Yash ji said ki doh picture banne ke baad we cannot take a risk on the third film,
00:34:27I need a third film to be a blockbuster, Karan had already written Kal Ho Na Ho, 18th March
00:34:32ko usno mujhe bola ki bola ki I am giving you my film, you have to do this, and I said
00:34:38Karan but I don't want to do another love story like this, you have done it, he said
00:34:41no you have to do this, papa is saying this, that's how I gave it, right, toh bo reluctantly
00:34:46diya aapko?
00:34:47No I don't think, there was no reluctance after that, they were like okay now this is
00:34:51Shah Rukh Khan, Preeti, Saif, New York, right we had shot only till hum log UK ke gaye tha,
00:34:57I said I want to go beyond the Atlantic, New York first time, toh main toh phail raha tha,
00:35:04you know, and yeah so, and it's a director proof script, in the sense ki itna kamal ka
00:35:10script hai ki koi bhi aajaye aur camera point kare, you don't even a director, Anil Mehta
00:35:16was enough for me, mera jo tension yeh tha Anil Mehta na bolega, I knew Shah Rukh was
00:35:23already doing it, I did not care about anybody else, I was stressed ki Anil Mehta jisne Shaad
00:35:27ke saath picture ki, Shaad mera bohot achha dost hai, jisne Ashutosh Gowarikar ke saath
00:35:34Lagaan kiya, we tried to get Mehta ji for Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Kabhi, he was busy shooting
00:35:38Patchwork for Lagaan, so we couldn't get him, so I was so stressed, Anil sent the script
00:35:43back of Kalona with a 120 notes, yeh galat hai, yeh galat hai, yeh aisa hona chahiye,
00:35:48yeh aisa hona chahiye, yeh anyway, aisa pagal ho gaya hai kya, you understand what we are
00:35:51making, we are not making Lagaan, right, we are making a dharma film, we are making a
00:35:55dharma Yashraj film, now you just come and just shoot it nicely and he shot it, so I
00:35:59didn't have to be there, I didn't have to be there, Karan or Aadhi, because it was so
00:36:02well written, and Karan and Shah Rukh used to discuss scenes in the night when they used
00:36:06to go out to some restaurant, main aur Saif aise baith dete, toh isi liye log kehte hai
00:36:10Karan directed it and not you, may be, I don't know who those people are, that is the reason
00:36:15why we started fighting, because half the people were telling him things, half the people
00:36:19were telling me, people are telling me, people are telling him that Nikhil is saying that
00:36:22he is directing Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gaon, right, people were telling
00:36:26me, achha toh credit Kuch Kuch aur iske liye, matlab ko mil gaye thi, after Kalona released,
00:36:33everybody suddenly said ki all three films are directed by Nikhil, by Nikhil, achha,
00:36:40and then he was saying, no boss, I want to also, I give a director proof script, so yeah,
00:36:45I totally agree, please, there is no question about it, I don't think Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,
00:36:49Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gaon, Kalona ho, it has a stamp, whether it is Gadad Ghar, Rajpal
00:36:55Yadav, yeh jaana hai wo, Sushma sedh ke do friends ke saath, all is complete, the emotion
00:37:04has a stamp, he narrated the entire film to me.
00:37:06So the whole thing, you feel it has the stamp of Karan Johar?
00:37:09Hundred and ten percent, there is no question about it, there is no denying it.
00:37:13Toh phir jagda kyun kiya, aapko jab malum hai ki stamp toh aur ki, kisi ka hai?
00:37:16We were so close to each other, we were emotional, we were not talking, we didn't stop and talk
00:37:20to each other, ki tujhe kisne bata hai, mujhe isne yeh bata hai, we were listening to people
00:37:25telling us stories, people were jealous of us.
00:37:28But self ispe, credit pe, ki usne bola ki wo picture uski hai, isne bola yeh picture
00:37:33uski hai.
00:37:34Kabhi nahi, humein discuss bhi nahi kiya credit, it just became about, you said, he
00:37:38said, she said, he said, it just became that.
00:37:41And luckily now, twenty years later or twenty one years later, first person who sees anything
00:37:47that I make is Karan.
00:37:48Haan mujhe malum hai ki ab yeh dosti bol hai toh pakki hai.
00:37:51It's a silly thing.
00:37:52We were childish, we were childish, we were listening to people who we should never have
00:37:56listened to.
00:37:57Toh aapko regret hai ki aap dharma chodke hai?
00:38:00Mere sabse bada regret hai, mere sabse bada regret hai, ki I left dharma productions.
00:38:08And because I also left dharma productions at that time when Yash ji was very ill.
00:38:12So it's my biggest regret, ever, it's the, it's actually the only, it's also, but my
00:38:16company was, the first person who did the pooja in my company was Yash Jhawar.
00:38:21Wow.
00:38:22Not, not MA, the first company I started when I graduated was Salam-e-Ishq, Yash Jhawar
00:38:26came and did the pooja, in the office, he opened the office.
00:38:29Toh Yash ji ke saath aapka theek tha, Karan ke saath problem ho gaya tha, okay, okay, accha.
00:38:36Toh Salam-e-Ishq aapne banaya, mujhe malum hai ki Salman Khan ne aapko phone kiya ki picture
00:38:41karte hain.
00:38:42And 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.
00:38:51Aur 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, y'all are
00:39:03not giving me credit for one love story, I'll make six love stories.
00:39:06Okay.
00:39:07Arrogance.
00:39:08Toh arrogance, khunnas.
00:39:09Complete arrogance, childishness, stubbornness, aap kabhi film, hit film, kabhi good film
00:39:14nahi bana sakte hain, you're making the film for the wrong reason.
00:39:18Matlab wrong emotions ke saath aap ja rahe hain.
00:39:21Dekho main kya kar sakta hoon, usne kabhi khushi kabhi gham banaya hain, main Salam-e-Ishq
00:39:26banaya hain.
00:39:27Toh aap bolenge ki director ke liye humility is a good…
00:39:30Extremely important.
00:39:31Important.
00:39:32Humility, focus, yeah, humility, focus, honesty.
00:39:36You cannot fool anybody.
00:39:38It's not possible.
00:39:39Matlab sattar foot ke screen pe all your dishonesty comes out.
00:39:44Toh aapne Salman Khan ke saath ye Salam-e-Ishq banaya hain and of course John and others
00:39:50also.
00:39:51Picture chali nahi.
00:39:52Bilkul nahi.
00:39:53Toh kaise…
00:39:54Aapke, aapke achi…
00:39:55I 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.
00:40:01I asked, Indu, how is it?
00:40:03Rubbish.
00:40:06Sorry, hum log aise hi hain.
00:40:08She was going with the, second time I have to go to the bathroom.
00:40:17I got a pasting with her.
00:40:20Maine bhi aapko Veda dekhne ke baad aapko message bheja tha.
00:40:25But I loved your reply actually.
00:40:27We'll come to that.
00:40:28Toh Salman ke saath jab ye picture chali nahi, toh kahin was he disappointed with you
00:40:34aur isiliye aap MMA you don't work with Salman.
00:40:37I did.
00:40:38Aapne hero kiya.
00:40:39Hero ek banaya unke saath but wo bhi picture chali nahi.
00:40:43Bilkul nahi chali.
00:40:44Toh do, after two…
00:40:47But we are still very good friends.
00:40:49Failures.
00:40:50We are still very good friends.
00:40:51Lekin wo…
00:40:52He'll call me, he'll say come and have a drink with me or whatever, come to the farm,
00:40:55come to this, I go.
00:40:56Drink tak theek hai lekin…
00:40:58Mujhe film nahi banane.
00:41:01Okay.
00:41:02Mujhe films…
00:41:03Salman Khan ke saath nahi banane.
00:41:05Mujhe, mujhe, mujhe, Mohit Raina, Pankana Sen, Jim Sarab, Chirag Gora, mujhe unke…
00:41:16I am very lucky, I can choose the people who I want to make films.
00:41:21Toh Akshay Kumar tak theek hai, John tak theek hai.
00:41:24John, Akshay, sabse main yehi kehata hoon ki mujhe 600-800 crore, I don't know what
00:41:31to make.
00:41:32Okay.
00:41:33I don't know what to make.
00:41:34Toh aap wo collection rakke banate nahi?
00:41:37Nahi, I don't know how to make 600-800 crore wali picture.
00:41:40Mujhe samajh mein nahi aata hai kya, kaise banayenge?
00:41:43First of all, I don't know ki 600 crore ke saath log karte ke hai.
00:41:46What do they do with 600 crore?
00:41:48Kaafi kuch.
00:41:49Kya ho saregi?
00:41:50I have a very good car, I have a very fancy car.
00:41:53I have a very fancy house.
00:41:55My daughter goes to the best school in Bombay.
00:41:58I can go to the best…
00:42:00I travel first class.
00:42:02I go to the best hotels.
00:42:04Mujhe 600 crore ki zarurat nahi hai.
00:42:06I am very comfortable.
00:42:08I am very, very comfortable.
00:42:10Toh yeh greed nahi hai ki mujhe 600 crore banate hai.
00:42:15Kyunki these guys have become so big now, right?
00:42:19These guys have become so massive.
00:42:21Shah 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
00:42:34without those numbers.
00:42:38They have to hit those numbers.
00:42:40And so much pressure.
00:42:42How do you sleep?
00:42:43I want to sleep.
00:42:44Saarein baje mein sorta ho, saarein chaar, paanch baje mein.
00:42:47Abhi bhi saarein chaar, paanch baje mein I get up the first person
00:42:50if I need to speak to is Akshay Kumar.
00:42:52He is awake at 5 o'clock.
00:42:54He will get a call.
00:42:55I will say, seth ji, are you awake?
00:42:57He will say, haan, Sundeep, main phone kartan hoon.
00:42:59And we chat.
00:43:00We chat for one hour.
00:43:01We chat for…
00:43:02Aap kya karo, main kya karo?
00:43:03Mene yeh subject suna tha, aapke liye perfect hai.
00:43:05I say, mene subject suna aapke liye.
00:43:07Aapke liye perfect, director bhejna, producer bhejna.
00:43:09Sundeep, tu produce karega?
00:43:11I say, haan, main produce karunga.
00:43:12I will produce.
00:43:13I will produce for them.
00:43:14But I don't wish to.
00:43:15You don't want to direct them, anyone?
00:43:17No, I can't.
00:43:19It's not a…
00:43:21Even if I have the chaah
00:43:23I would be doing it.
00:43:25Main nahi kar sakta hoon.
00:43:27600-800 crore.
00:43:29Toh woh tension nahi chahiye?
00:43:31Bilkul nahi chahiye.
00:43:33Mujhe tension chahiye ki Bharti Pradhan mujhe five star degi ki nahi.
00:43:35Mujhe woh tension chahiye.
00:43:37I am happy with that.
00:43:39Woh zara dur hai abhi, abhi tak.
00:43:41Woh mujhe chahiye.
00:43:43That is what I want.
00:43:45Woh mujhe freedom acchi lage.
00:43:47That's what I want.
00:43:49Rocket Boys bahut acchi lage.
00:43:51Abhay ko five star bhi chahiye.
00:43:53Haan, aapne direct nahi kiya, lekin acchi lage.
00:43:55Usme aapka stamp tha.
00:43:57Jaise aap kehte ho na, ki Karan ka stamp tha,
00:43:59Kalona ho main.
00:44:01Waise Rocket Boys mein aapka stamp tha.
00:44:03I am glad you are saying that.
00:44:05But matlab I can't take Abhay ka…
00:44:07Matlab if Abhay could make Rocket Boys
00:44:09the way jis tarah se usne likha tha,
00:44:11it would have…
00:44:13We still,
00:44:15I feel ki somewhere or the other,
00:44:17humne jitna bhi support ke usse,
00:44:19but jo usne likha, the blissful,
00:44:21the blissful writing,
00:44:23you know, incredible writing.
00:44:25And jis tarah se woh likhta hai,
00:44:27I do not know that, woh mera associate tha
00:44:29Mumbai Diaries mein.
00:44:31Maine usse bola, kar le, Rocket Boys.
00:44:33And he wrote.
00:44:35Fantastic. Bahut accha banaya.
00:44:37Abhi banaya rahe hain,
00:44:39ek aur superb banaya rahe hain.
00:44:41Toh ek chaska lag gaya hai na,
00:44:43real stories bolne ke liye.
00:44:45Haan.
00:44:47Even your D-Day,
00:44:49thoda sa real mein hi tha.
00:44:51Historical fiction.
00:44:53Jo ek genre abhi ban chuka hai,
00:44:55historical fiction.
00:44:57Because aapke driver ne bola ki,
00:44:59agar aap udhar wo Osama bin Laden ko
00:45:01pick up kar sakte hain,
00:45:03toh hum Dawood ko kyu nahin.
00:45:05Toh waha se shuru ho gayegi.
00:45:07And it is because jab humne
00:45:09Amarjeet Singh Dulat ko script,
00:45:11jo RAW ke chief the uss time pe,
00:45:13and he had just retired.
00:45:15And we found some connection in him.
00:45:17We went and we gave him the script to read.
00:45:19Usne kaha ki, how did he get all this information?
00:45:21Accha. Toh how did you get it?
00:45:23Google.
00:45:27Google.
00:45:29It was there, everything is there. Dark web.
00:45:31Accha, so the RAW chief was
00:45:33surprised.
00:45:35He said because the only way that you could actually get him
00:45:37back is the way you'll have done,
00:45:39which 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.
00:45:45This is the only way you can get him.
00:45:47As rudimentary as that. Gaadi ke dikki mein beta ke,
00:45:49lekiya wapas.
00:45:51He said we have plans about that.
00:45:53Kaise karenge, kab karenge, kis tarah se kar sakte hain,
00:45:55how to do it. He said I can't believe
00:45:57that you got Dawood.
00:45:59So that was actually historical.
00:46:01Ritesh also is a freak
00:46:03as far as spy
00:46:05stories and wo open padta tha,
00:46:07caravan padta tha, he would read
00:46:09Outlook, wo ye
00:46:11cuttings nikal da.
00:46:13He was quite a, he was dying to do a film
00:46:15like that.
00:46:17That was one of your first successes, isn't it?
00:46:19Yeah.
00:46:21First independent success.
00:46:23Not box office.
00:46:25But jaha logon ne
00:46:27aapko thoda tarif karna
00:46:29churu kiya.
00:46:31Karan saw it and he saw it in lightbox,
00:46:33karana lightbox jo hai.
00:46:35Akela bed ke wo dekh raha tha.
00:46:37He said I'll watch it alone, I don't want to watch with other people.
00:46:39He came and saw it and he looked up,
00:46:41I came into the lightbox, he was sitting in the last row
00:46:43and he got up
00:46:45and he said all the red lines have been
00:46:47erased.
00:46:49He came and gave me a hug, he said this is it.
00:46:51How did Rishi Kapoor like it?
00:46:53He loved it.
00:46:55He sat for every trial
00:46:57because people were praising him.
00:46:59You know how Rishi ji was,
00:47:02you know he would say
00:47:04I'm Raj Kapoor's son and all that
00:47:06but he just wanted to be
00:47:08basking in the glory and he couldn't believe that
00:47:10I mean he was a guy who was a Monty.
00:47:12Monty ko abhi
00:47:14hum log ne Goldman banaya diya tha,
00:47:16Dawood Ibrahim banaya diya tha,
00:47:18he loved it every day.
00:47:20Kya yeh sahi hai ki unhone aapko
00:47:22Rauf Lala dikhaya tha?
00:47:24I went to ask him to play the role of Nasir sir.
00:47:26Raw chief.
00:47:28Raw chief the.
00:47:30Main bhot sara usse
00:47:32matlab koshish ki to
00:47:34you know say that that whatever we having
00:47:36unka outhouse tha
00:47:38bungalow mein.
00:47:40So he heard me out
00:47:42and he looked at me and said am I John White?
00:47:44Do I look like
00:47:46Gene Hackman?
00:47:48I'm a star, I'm a leading man.
00:47:50Get out.
00:47:52And he could
00:47:54say yes.
00:47:56So he said get out and I was like oh
00:47:58let me show you
00:48:00what that boy Karan Malhotra is doing.
00:48:02Should we see this
00:48:04Rauf Lala.
00:48:06He has the guts.
00:48:08And this is what
00:48:10Chintu Kapoor came up with.
00:48:12So I went away
00:48:14I was very upset and I called him
00:48:16in the morning and I said you know
00:48:18Chintu ji you are right.
00:48:20Play Dawood.
00:48:22He said bache aap pagal ho gaya hai kya tu?
00:48:24I'll play whatever you want me to play.
00:48:26I said no.
00:48:28You are right.
00:48:30Let's do a test.
00:48:32Let's do a look test.
00:48:34Mehboob studio we did a look test.
00:48:36He came out with a gun.
00:48:38Wearing a white suit.
00:48:40He said do we have a gun? And we had a gun.
00:48:42Although you didn't need a gun for that film.
00:48:44Yeah but he said do we have a gun?
00:48:46Because that time we did not know
00:48:48how I was going to treat it
00:48:50and this and that.
00:48:52So he took the gun and
00:48:54we took some photographs.
00:48:56Blackberry hota tha.
00:48:58And he sent Neetu ji the photographs.
00:49:00She was also aware of this thing.
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
00:49:12It's over for all of us.
00:49:14He is going to take the full film.
00:49:16Irfan was right.
00:49:18Irfan knew.
00:49:20He said he will take it.
00:49:22You gave it.
00:49:24He is going to take the full film.
00:49:26And he did.
00:49:28Isn't it strange that
00:49:30you had a very good connection with Irfan
00:49:32and you had an
00:49:34equally great 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
00:49:46and Chintu ji the other day.
00:49:4829th April 30th April.
00:49:50Really?
00:49:52You didn't get a chance to
00:49:54celebrate it.
00:49:56It was Covid. We 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.
00:50:14I was very close to him.
00:50:16So I called up Arjun
00:50:18Rampal.
00:50:20This has happened. I called up Sruti Hassan.
00:50:22This has happened.
00:50:24I called up Chintu ji.
00:50:26Phone rang out.
00:50:28Called up Chintu ji again. Phone rang out.
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
00:50:40Harkesh Chandra's hospital.
00:50:42He was admitted and he is 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 actually.
00:51:02Absolutely.
00:51:04Ek din ke baad.
00:51:06Which has become quite
00:51:08an iconic meme.
00:51:10Where in the film
00:51:12when by chance
00:51:14they have 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
00:51:32where they are driving
00:51:34So when we do car shots
00:51:36we put a car rig
00:51:38The director can't go
00:51:40The cameraman goes
00:51:42and Irfan said
00:51:44I said ok
00:51:46I saw the playback
00:51:48I said done. Let's go back.
00:51:50So we were driving towards the base
00:51:52and Irfan turned on the camera
00:51:54He just put the camera on
00:51:56because he had the camera button in his hand
00:51:58and there is 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
00:52:12which everybody shared
00:52:14after they both died
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 him telling
00:52:24Rishi ji
00:52:26I will see you upstairs
00:52:28Correct
00:52:30Meet you
00:52:32When you
00:52:34He used to get frustrated
00:52:36Rishi ji used to get frustrated
00:52:39We have one scene
00:52:41in the whole film
00:52:43and he had heard
00:52:45sitting in the farmhouse
00:52:47and Irfan had some dialogues
00:52:49and Rishi ji had some dialogues
00:52:51and Chintu ji
00:52:53prides himself on being the guy
00:52:55who comes on cue
00:52:57Irfan doesn't give cues
00:53:01He has something different in every take
00:53:03So if he says something
00:53:05in a sentence
00:53:07It has to be spontaneous
00:53:09I have to give variations
00:53:11Otherwise what is the meaning of the second take
00:53:13He says hello
00:53:15I know you are a very big Oscar winning actor
00:53:19You come from whatever
00:53:21Angli, Angli, Life of Pi
00:53:23But give me my cue
00:53:29Please give it
00:53:31Just tell him which word you are going to hit
00:53:33These are the great moments
00:53:35This is what I want
00:53:37Which I don't get
00:53:39I get it with my guys
00:53:41I get it with my Jhandi ji
00:53:43and my Nehru
00:53:45They are all interested
00:53:47in the scene
00:53:49and the story
00:53:51and the performance
00:53:53How can I make your performance better than my performance
00:53:55Fantastic
00:53:57You know
00:53:59A writer called Milap Suveri
00:54:01He has been saying that
00:54:03You have abandoned him
00:54:07But he made a very big flop
00:54:09I have made many big flops also
00:54:11We don't give up on us
00:54:13But he says you gave up on him
00:54:15You have abandoned him
00:54:17You let him down
00:54:19He called me up
00:54:21He called me up and told me
00:54:23He said something to me
00:54:25I said something
00:54:27You know I love you very much
00:54:29I said yeah I love you a lot
00:54:31He said you have abandoned him
00:54:33because he gave you that flop
00:54:35called Satyabhir
00:54:37I had told him not to make the film
00:54:43If it would have been a hit, I would have been proved wrong
00:54:45I wish I would have been proved wrong
00:54:47When he narrated the script to me
00:54:49I said
00:54:51I can say it on record
00:54:53I had said don't make this film
00:54:55There were three Johns
00:54:57Overdose of John
00:54:59Secondly, there was no villainy
00:55:01There were no antagonists
00:55:03I did not understand
00:55:05the reason
00:55:07The first film he made
00:55:09with Manoj and John
00:55:11It was such a good film
00:55:13Whatever the reason
00:55:15However it was treated
00:55:17But the story I really liked
00:55:19There was a point of contention
00:55:21And I didn't feel the story
00:55:23was workable over here
00:55:25It comes back to the 600-800 crore argument
00:55:27Just for making a film
00:55:29Why are you making a film?
00:55:31Write a good film
00:55:33Let's write a good film together
00:55:35Let's do it together
00:55:37But
00:55:39It's not like
00:55:41I took Milab Zavedi in my lap
00:55:43that I can abandon him
00:55:45I can't abandon him
00:55:47But are you the kind of person
00:55:49that if someone doesn't listen to you
00:55:51Milab comes to me with a script
00:55:53that I think
00:55:55You enjoy making for this company
00:55:57I'll do it in a second
00:55:59So you don't keep it open?
00:56:01Why?
00:56:03Life is too short
00:56:05Life is too short
00:56:07I don't want any more stress
00:56:09I'm already stressed
00:56:11Bharti ji won't give me 5 stars
00:56:13I want that stress
00:56:15I sleep very comfortably
00:56:17I sleep very comfortably
00:56:19He's a lovely guy
00:56:21He was there for
00:56:23The first phase
00:56:25He told me
00:56:27I have a film called Satyamev Jayate
00:56:29Let Nikhil produce it
00:56:31Will you produce it?
00:56:33I sat outside
00:56:35Nobody was willing to make it
00:56:37It was 28th of December
00:56:39My anniversary is 29th of December
00:56:41I told him
00:56:43I'll put the money and make it
00:56:45So he was there for us
00:56:47I didn't put my own money
00:56:49I made one phone call to a person
00:56:51Called up Bhushan ji
00:56:53I said Bhushan ji
00:56:55I'm asking you a favour
00:56:57Do this for me
00:56:59That's how we make films
00:57:01What about Shahrukh?
00:57:03Shahrukh was the one who wanted you to make Kalona
00:57:05But you did it with Shahrukh
00:57:07I don't have a subject
00:57:09I will never go to him
00:57:11with a subject
00:57:13Unless I think he's going to beat
00:57:15Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
00:57:17He doesn't like romantic films
00:57:19But I don't mind
00:57:21As long as I can do something
00:57:23Which is
00:57:25Where I have been able to bring
00:57:27Value to a relationship
00:57:29I won't go to him
00:57:31But are you in touch with Shahrukh?
00:57:33Not that much
00:57:35But you never
00:57:37Spoke about a film
00:57:39Absolutely
00:57:41It's not like he offered
00:57:43Or you offered
00:57:45So after Kalona
00:57:47You never spoke about him
00:57:49Between you and him
00:57:51Arjun Kapoor was your assistant
00:57:53In Salaam-e-Ishq
00:57:55He was your assistant
00:57:57Did you see
00:57:59An actor in him at that time?
00:58:01Actor in him at that time
00:58:03Are you mad?
00:58:05Never
00:58:07He surprised all of us
00:58:09By suddenly losing his weight
00:58:11And becoming serious
00:58:13And learning his craft
00:58:15I never saw
00:58:17We used to call him Phobu
00:58:19I still call him Phobu
00:58:21Sir, I just saw this
00:58:23I still call him that
00:58:27You never wanted to make a film
00:58:29We made Sardar Ka Grandson
00:58:31We made a film with him
00:58:33We are constantly
00:58:35Talking about doing things together
00:58:37He wanted
00:58:39To play
00:58:41Some kind of
00:58:44Some
00:58:46Like a night manager
00:58:48There was a talk about another show
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
00:58:58Because those other guys didn't get the rights
00:59:00Like the film that he made
00:59:02With Dibakar
00:59:04Sandeep and Pinky
00:59:06It was fab
00:59:08Do you like him as an actor?
00:59:10I like him as a person
00:59:12Given a strong director
00:59:14He will surprise you
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
00:59:32Kabir Khan once said
00:59:34That he brings his politics
00:59:36Somewhere in his films
00:59:38Do you do the same?
00:59:40Absolutely
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
00:59:54Trying to
00:59:56Bombay as a city
00:59:58Within Mumbai Diaries
01:00:00The whole
01:00:02There was a Dalit doctor
01:00:04Was a cop
01:00:06All that I bring it
01:00:08Absolutely
01:00:10Sometimes
01:00:12Like you made
01:00:14Rocket Boys
01:00:16Of course Abhay made it
01:00:18But that was
01:00:20Your production
01:00:22Rocket Boys was
01:00:24Absolutely real show
01:00:26Not fictional
01:00:28But you put a fictitious character
01:00:30Of a Muslim scientist
01:00:32Rocket Boys is completely fictional
01:00:34You feel it is completely fictional
01:00:36Ok
01:00:38Because most of the characters
01:00:40There were not fictional
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 characters were alive
01:00:58The character of
01:01:00What was this thing
01:01:02Mehdi Raza
01:01:04Mehdi Raza was based on
01:01:06Several scientists
01:01:08Who were against Homi Baba
01:01:10Because they felt Homi Baba
01:01:12Had a
01:01:14Privileged entry into the Prime Minister's office
01:01:16He would call him Bhai
01:01:18Which he had
01:01:20So we
01:01:22Made those things together
01:01:24That is where the 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
01:01:34Ok
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 realize 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
01:02:00A great journalist
01:02:02A great political journalist
01:02:04Had not seen
01:02:06They probably don't understand
01:02:08He has seen only till the 6th episode
01:02:10He has not seen the 7th episode
01:02:12I know your mindset
01:02:14So I know that this is not possible
01:02:16I knew from the first shot
01:02:18That this is a red herring
01:02:20Correct word is
01:02:22Red herring
01:02:24Red herring was basically
01:02:26To
01:02:28Say that a traitor
01:02:30Can only be a Muslim
01:02:32And your mindset is
01:02:34That a traitor can never be a Muslim
01:02:38No
01:02:40Our mindset is
01:02:42Not that I am saying
01:02:44No
01:02:46I am not saying that
01:02:48But
01:02:50We have a left of centre kind of thinking
01:02:52You have it
01:02:54So I make a battle house
01:02:56We'll always agree to disagree on certain points as always. Mujhe do Nikhil Advani dikhta
01:03:09hai when I see your films and your work. Kyunki ek taraf hai Veda jo ekdum masala picture
01:03:19hai. Shayad aap cast ke baare mein bolna chahate that was your core. Lekin aapne jo packaging
01:03:26diya tha fully hardcore masala jaha aadhe ganti ke liye koi John Abraham ko maar raha hai
01:03:33lekin wo phir bhi zinda hota hai. So that kind of film. Toh ek taraf Veda kind of absolutely
01:03:40commercial film aur doosri taraf ussi time aap Freedom at Midnight bana rahe hain which
01:03:47is absolutely realistic aur historical aur very substantial. Toh which is the real…
01:03:56You know Manish Mishra made a film called Siya. I saw. You saw it? Did anybody else
01:04:02see it? Nobody else. Veda is that. It's the same story. I know. It's the same story.
01:04:08Correct. Maini dono dekh ke wohi bola ki dono same hai. Maini chahata tha ki log dekhe picture.
01:04:13Maini chahata tha ki log dekhe picture. That is my naivete. Isne maini chahata tha ki mujhe
01:04:19pata bhi nahi hai ki 600-800 crore leke se log kaise banaate hain. Maini chahata tha ki
01:04:24Veda ki kahaani. Jinn logon dekhna chahiye. I need to make it reach to a wider audience.
01:04:30Nahi toh Manish Bandra ki Siya hi ban jaati. I wanted to reach to a wider audience.
01:04:34Lekin ek Ayushman Khurana ki film aayi thi. Article 15. I am doing. Jo achi thi aur chali
01:04:39bhi. Bilkul. Aur usne bhi wohi kaha. Bilkul phir bhi woh multiplex picture thi. Khir bhi
01:04:44woh multiplex picture thi. It is, Anubhav is a incredible crazy director. 63 crores
01:04:49is that film made. I know. Phir bhi multiplex picture thi. Maini chahata tha ki…
01:04:54Toh aap kaunsi naiv baat bolna chah rahe the Veda mein jo Article 15 mein already nahi
01:04:58kaha hai. I wanted to show a mirror to the people who are actually not willing to see
01:05:02this film. Because they will go to see a John Abraham film, they will come out seeing
01:05:05a Sharwari Diwakar film. That was my intention. Ki aap John Abraham ki film dekhne jaoge,
01:05:10you will come out and say, yaar yeh toh mere gaav mein hota hai. Yeh mere shher mein hota
01:05:15hai. Mere gali mein hota hai. Sab jagah yeh aisa hi hota hai. So my idea was to send
01:05:20you in to see. Promise hai ki John Abraham. That's why the marketing was also about
01:05:24action and all that. Marketing, if it was only about cast, we would not even got the
01:05:29money that we got finally. Nobody wants to see. These are the taboos and holy cows that
01:05:34we don't want to talk about only. Baat hi nahi karna chahate hain.
01:05:37Was John upset when it didn't do well? No, John and I are constantly talking about
01:05:41doing something else. John is almost like a partner in this company. So he is not upset
01:05:46at all. We are very close friends. Matlab, you were not upset? John, all of you should
01:05:52have been upset? No, I don't know. At least three was a fantastic film which just tore
01:05:56us apart. That's all. It is three ke wajah se Veda nahi chaliye. Aisi thodi hai. Mere
01:06:01hasaap se hua. Mere hasaap se hua. Mujhe, mujhe, bohot, bohot. Dono clash hui. Lekin
01:06:05that doesn't mean because of three, aapki film nahi chaliye. No, because I just feel
01:06:10that the audiences just didn't want to see a serious film and they don't want to be
01:06:15shown a mirror. I think Veda is a very good film. Toh wo kabhi bhi aisa hi sochte hain
01:06:19na. Aisa nahi ki clash hui. Isliye nahi dekha. Shahid. So I should stop blaming the
01:06:24fact that. Don't blame Shahid for it. No, I think three is a superb film. Of course
01:06:28it is superb. We should never have come with three. Lekin, like you said, 52 weeks hai
01:06:33toh clashes toh honge rahi. Bilkul hoga. Aur hota hi jayega. So you'll have to be a
01:06:38little more cleverer I think. Or stop being clever and just be, you know, honest.
01:06:43Toh aisa nahi hai ki agar picture nahi chalte, jaise Salman ke saath, aisa nahi hai ki dosti
01:06:52chalti hai. Aur John ke saath bhi aisa nahi. Bilkul. Aur Akshay ke saath bhi aisa nahi.
01:06:58Bilkul nahi. Nahi? Nahi. Not at all. So dosti has nothing to do with the success of a film.
01:07:05Or failure of a film. Or failure of a film. I mean that's the, I think that's the,
01:07:11yeah, I think that's the most important thing. Because you're spending 200 days with
01:07:15some person. I think that, you know, all of us know that Friday doesn't belong to us.
01:07:22Maine suna hai ki Sharwari Vag was recommended to you by Rani Mukerji?
01:07:29Yeah. Rani and Kabir. Kabir had done Forgotten Army with her. And Rani and Kabir, yeah.
01:07:38And I was recommended to her by Victor's daughter who works with us. Vijay Krishnacharya's daughter who works with us.
01:07:46Oh really? So she told him. She said go and meet him and he's planning something. Lovely person. Lovely guy.
01:07:53She calls me Mamu Nikhil. Mamu is fantastic. Bilkul, Sharwari Vag has been the discovery of 2024.
01:08:00I agree. Isn't it? Whether it's Munja or it's Maharaja or it's Leda. She deserves all the accolades that she's got.
01:08:08She's had three films. And she's been different and quite a surprise in all three of them.
01:08:13And now she's doing Alpha with Alia. And Shiv Ravel with Rahul's son.
01:08:18Yes, who did Railway Men. They're fantastic. She was my assistant in ad films that I used to do.
01:08:24Really? Oh, okay. So, Sharwari, what do you have to say about her? What would you predict for her?
01:08:31Mujhe toh bahut achi lagti. What I predict for her is that she's so versatile, right?
01:08:41She can do an item song in Munja and she can do Munja and then she can do this thing. So, she's very hardworking.
01:08:47I think that she's got a head on her shoulders. She comes from a solid family, middle class solid Maharashtrian family.
01:08:55So, she has all these things. And, yeah, so I think that, I mean, the world is a hoister.
01:09:01I mean, it's crazy. And she's got Yashraj behind her, right? She's represented by Yashraj.
01:09:08I think everybody understands what she's capable of. She says no more often than she says yes.
01:09:16Really? Even at this stage? Even at this stage. It's incredible. And I keep asking, I mean, what is wrong with you?
01:09:25Has she said no to you? Never. She's never said no to me. Are you planning anything more with her?
01:09:33If I do a feature film, Yashraj will be in it for sure. Unless she says no.
01:09:40Okay. You're also half Maharashtrian, na? Yeah. Your mother is Maharashtrian.
01:09:47But the Sindhi part of you has taken over, na? In the business and business sense and all.
01:09:52Business, all that you're seeing in everything is Munisha and Madhu. I'm still the…
01:09:56So, it's not the Advani part of you, of Nikhil? No, I'm still the mad Maharashtrian. My sister keeps telling me, just like Madhu, you're a mad Maharashtrian.
01:10:04Okay. One last question is about Freedom at Midnight, jo, bahut hi achi chal rahe hai.
01:10:15Aur, matlab, logon ne bahut appreciate bhi kiya hai. Aur, aapne bahut accha kaam kiya usme.
01:10:21Toh uske casting ke baare mein aap mujhe thoda batayenge. Because I found it very interesting, Siddhant Gupta, jo Nehru bane hai.
01:10:29Did you see Jubilee before casting him? Yeah. Because I loved him in Jubilee. Yeah, yeah. I only cast him because of Jubilee.
01:10:36Oh, you did? Kyunki kya hai ki jab hum log cast kar rahe the, ki usually hum casting director or assistant directors and director and casting director and producer maybe sit together and
01:10:44yeh character ke liye, yeh hai, waqara waqara. Toh, as it is, mera ek, jo ek, the field of casting had been reduced kyunki maine, main chahata tha ki nobody can work.
01:10:55Jo Gandhi play karega, woh Gandhi hi play karega, der saal ke liye aur kuch nahi play karega. Because I don't want the guy to play Gandhi's murdering in some other show.
01:11:03Correct. Toh, it just reduced that. And, in the case of our casting, the prosthetics expert Jagdish Dada, would sit down and Jagdish Dada would say,
01:11:12no, I cannot make him yeh aise, uska aak bohot badaya, ek aank bohot badaya, yeh nahi kar sakte. In the case of Nehru, he had said that,
01:11:19all Indians are born with this very kind of pakoda nose. And, I can't make the nose smaller, I can make it bigger. Right?
01:11:26So, you need to get somebody with the same nose as Nehru. Nehru ka naak. Nehru ka naak. Nehru ka naak.
01:11:31And, I saw Jubilee and I said, oh my God. Nehru ka naak. And, then he was so good in Jubilee.
01:11:37And, casting Siddhant became, forget Siddhant, casting Nehru as younger was very important because you can actually age a person with prosthetics.
01:11:47Yes. De-aging ka jo Benjamin Button wala jo VFX hai, is very expensive. I mean, David Fincher can afford it, Warner Brothers can afford it,
01:11:58we can't afford it. It's the cost of possibly the entire show. So, it became prosthetic. So, it became important for us to cast a younger guy,
01:12:06who we can age. You know, because we knew Nehru was playing a 19-year-old, then he was playing a 29-year-old, then he was playing a 39-year-old,
01:12:13and then he was playing a 56-year-old. Right. Also, Nehru jo hamare dimaag mein hai, as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, is the 1964 Jawaharlal Nehru,
01:12:22the stamp, jo iconic profile photograph. Correct. At, in 47, he was the brat in the room. He was the brat in the room.
01:12:31Sab log jo the, usse bade the. You know. So, it became, it became almost like a, the minute we saw him, I asked for a meeting immediately.
01:12:39I got a meeting like 2-3 weeks later because I think he took off after Jubilee and he just went to Jammu.
01:12:45Woh bahut hi poet sa aadmi hai, woh gaane likhta hai, woh apne gaane bajata hai. Toh he had taken off. Then he came back and he said,
01:12:52Are you sure you want me to play this? I don't know. Then we started working. He's worked very well as Nehru. He's perfectly cast.
01:13:00I liked his Sardar Ko Tel also. Yeah. Isn't he a fab actor? Very, very good. After 30 years, he went to a mall, City Mall, Infinity Mall, Jubilee.
01:13:09He got mobbed. Rajendra Chawla. He got mobbed. He called him sir, log mujhe, matlab bol rahe hain, Sardar, Sardar, Sardar, Sardar, Sardar.
01:13:18He said, mere aankhon mein aas mein, my wife started crying, my daughter started crying. He said, 30 saal se main matlab daily soap karte, karte, karte, dhak gaya hu.
01:13:26People are mobbing me. I said, you deserve it. Unko kaise aapne decide kaise kya? Audition, Kavish. Kavish auditioned me. I didn't know him.
01:13:38Toh aapne pehle nahi ek kaam kiya tha. I saw him and I said, wow, super. Toh was any character difficult? Mujhe Mountbatten bhi bahut acha laga actually.
01:13:49Was any character difficult to cast? No. You found easily. I found easily. Nehru was the most difficult.
01:13:56Lekin woh naag ki wajah se aapko mil gaya na. Naag mil gaya aapko. You got the correct nose and that was it.
01:14:03I made a joke about it. Itne saare articles nikle the. He called me sir, logon ko mat bolo yaar mere naag ki ware.
01:14:11He knows job. But he's fab, he's lovely. He's very good.
01:14:19So now have you got a chaska for making these real kind of historical.
01:14:26I think sab log ko pata hai ki humare paas gadi hai, props hai, costumes hai.
01:14:32Kyunki aap revolutionaries bana rahe hain na. Sanjeev Sanyal ki kitab. Bilkul. So usme aap politics usme bhi laenge ki aap jo Sanjeev Sanyal ki kitab usi pe jaoge aap.
01:14:49Main jo teeno characters hai, Raj Bihari, Sanjeev Sachindranath Sanyal, Bhagat Jatin ka jo book mein likha hai plus jo humne Sanjeev sir ke saath hi baith ke research kiya.
01:15:01He has so much research which is not there in the book. Kyunki mujhe lagta hai ki ek kamal hai ki yeh 18 saal ka ladka, 21 saal ka ladka, 25 saal ka ladka and this is all before Gandhi came.
01:15:131915, Gandhi came. Inki kahaani February 1915 mein khatam ho gaya. Toh mujhe laga ki yaar yeh, it's a story of youth.
01:15:21It is a story, revolutionaries is a story of India's youth taking on the greatest empire that ever existed and saying that thek denge bhaar.
01:15:33So that's the story. The politics that we are talking about has come much later. It was not there in 1910. The only politics they had was throw the British out.
01:15:48One common. Baas, British ko bhaar theko. Woh mein dikha raho. Woh mein dikha raho. Jis tarah se mene, jo mene koshish kiya Freedom at Midnight to put you into the same room.
01:15:59Woh politics aaji abhi hum, I don't like this, I don't care about this, yeh isne galat kiya. The power of retrospect jo hai, woh jo tool hai, woh bahut powerful tool hai.
01:16:09Unke paas retrospect nahi tha. Neither did Jinnah, neither did Nehru, Patel, Gandhi, Mountbatten, no Jinnah's dying.
01:16:18If Jinnah was dying and they knew it, you and I would be doing this information interview in Karachi. My family would not have come from there.
01:16:26Would not have come. Correct, correct. Yes. Toh this is a very powerful tool, retrospect. Main logon ko uss time pe leke jana chahata hoon.
01:16:34Main, so if they still want to discuss the politics, good for them. But the story of these three boys, Rang De Basanti hai.
01:16:43Jab mene Rakesh ki picture dekhiya, I got, we are not like that. We are not bothered like this.
01:16:51Where did Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad and Bismil and Ashfaqullah, where did they think about these things?
01:16:58In their, when they were 18 and 19 and yeh. Wah sab kamal hai. Toh woh main dikhana chahata hoon.
01:17:03Okay. So did Sanjeev, Sanyal, did he approach you? No, I mean Amazon, he approached Amazon.
01:17:11Okay. Because we had done Rocket Boys. Okay. And he said I want to talk to the people who had done Rocket Boys.
01:17:16Give me just one word, I am winding up with this, just one word for Salman, one word for Shahrukh, one word for John, one for Akshay.
01:17:26Shahrukh, intelligence. Okay. Salman, heart. Okay. Akshay, hardworking. Okay.
01:17:41John, friend. Interesting, interesting. And all the best to MA. Yeh jo aapki jo life journey dekhiya maine, I have seen it right from Kalona Ho.
01:17:57Toh I am very excited to see where you are. Thank you. I wish you lots more success. Thank you so much.