WHAT is your forthcoming film Love At Time Square about?

Love at Time Square, as the name suggests, is a love story. It is about a girl and two boys, who fall in love. What is really different about the film is that that all the three protagonists are Indians but live in America. The story revolves around the Time Square in the USA. I have a strong feeling that the movie will be well received since the theme of the film is love. Who hasn’t fallen in love? Pure love is the only thing that is untainted by worldly desires.

I visited New York and was completely fascinated by the place. There was a different vibrance and energy to Time Square, especially on the New Year’s eve, where over a million people from all over the world had gathered. In fact, I had exclusively hired a bunch of professionals to capture the mayhem in photographs. I can’t put a finger on it, there was just something so special about Time Square. I had to use it as a backdrop in my next film.

A major part of the movie will be shot in New York and Los Angeles in America. My entire unit and I will be leaving for the USA. Hopefully, we will be able to complete the shoot in a month.

At every member of society —be it a rich snob or a humble layman. I try to make movies, which people may like and feel good about. Though everyone may not be able to identify with all my movies, they should be able to enjoy it. This is the basic principle behind making a movie for me.

Every film that I make is based on a particular theme. I am not interested in making the films which you see everyday. Why should I copy others at this point of my career? I want to create something of my own and set a new trend every time. But because my movie is not of the normal kind, it may not do well at the box office, as every stratum of the society may not be able to relate to it. But everyone at least gets a clear idea about the less known aspects or problems of different things and that gives me a sense of satisfaction. Besides taking on topics that haven’t been tapped takes a lot of courage I think.

I never said that.The box office is very important. I would love my movie to become a hit. But I do not want to make the normal, old, patented stories, which are a mixture of comedy, tragedy, romance, action, etc., just because I want it to click well. That doesn’t give me joy.

Very true. The movie is called, Rajmahal Ka Hatyakand. It is about the tragedy of the Nepal dynasty and its direct effect on the lives of the Nepalis. It is a burning topic and a very strong subject for a film. I will try my best to picturise the film in a very factual way. But since this is a film, a tinge of fiction is inevitable. But even that will have a touch of reality.

It would be wrong to say that I I have a special keenness for portraying foreign cultures.. Every culture is beautiful and has a distinctiveness of its own.. If I depict some foreign culture in my film, that’s just because it gels with my script. For instance, in case of the movie on the Nepal massacre, I certainly can’t show Indian culture instead of Nepalese.

That time, hippie culture was dominant. The Indian trends also had an influence of hippie culture. Portrayal of hippie culture certainly added a new flavour to the movie. Also the bottom line was that the script demanded that culture.

It is quite easy for a movie to gather audience if you have the ‘hot favourites’ doing your lead cast. People will watch and like the movie to a certain extent, even if the story is bad. But if your movie has newcomers, the story has to be really good and the film has to be well made, for iit to click. That is a challenge for the filmmaker. Moreover, even the stars of today were the newcomers of yesterday. So the newcomers of today must also be given an opportunity to become stars of tomorrow.

‘Censor is a movie based on the problems faced by a filmmaker while getting his film sanctioned by the Censor Board. A layman does not encounter this problem and neither do the filmmakers abroad face such a problem. Naturally, I couldn’t expect it to be a hit. I was not shocked at the kind of response because I had anticipated it. I made the movie because the problem was something on which I always wanted to comment. So I went ahead. At least the movie was a kind of education for the people who were completely unaware of the subject.

I am certainly bent upon making films now. But that doesn’t mean I have changed my profession. I am basically an actor and will continue being one. I still act in my own movies. A person has to grow with time. And my entry into filmmaking is a symbol of my maturity and increased creativity. And most importantly, I like making films.

At the moment the pipe line is pepped up. Within a few days, I will begin with the shooting of Love at Time Square. Then I have Rajmahal Ka Hatyakand’to go. Besides these, I have ‘Beauty Queen, about which I wouldn’t like to comment right now. And then who knows I may come up with loads of new ideas once I go to the USA for my shoots!

I am successful today because I have always been dreaming of being so. If you don’t dream, you don’t achieve. And you should have the will power of working to enliven your dream. There is one principle, in which I strongly believe, ‘if your mind ceases to function, you cease to function.’