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What goaded you to make a film like Ra.One? I decided to launch Ra.One with myself cast as a superhero only because my children wanted me to play a superman. They used to tell me that I should not just play ladkiyon ko patanewala kind of roles and present myself as a macho hero on screen. I also agreed with them and was happy to step into a physical role like in Ra.One in which I play the role of G.One. Though my film is a sci-fi film and sets out to present a superhero, it is also about the relationship between every father and son. I actually set out to make the film because I wanted to remember my father, who was like G.One, the good guy that I play in the film. It was a simple story that needed to be told through an uncharted terrain. Would you say that Ra.One is autobiographical? It is not exactly autobiographical but it also shows that though every father has a difference of opinion with his son, both the father and the son love each other dearly. My son Aryan thinks that I am not cool enough or a stud. I have set out to drive home the point subtly that fathers can be as wonderful, if not better than the mothers. How tough was it for you to get into the skin of your role? I am playing not just a single role but a double role in Ra.One. While Arjun Rampal plays the evil role of Ra.One, I play the role of Kareena Kapoor’s seedha saadha husband Shekhar as well as G.One. It was pretty easy to slip into the role of Shekhar because I had to be just myself, a father with a son. A child actor called Armaan plays the role of my son. In fact, he is exactly like my son Aryan. Though I should confess that, it was quite difficult for me to wear the suit as Ra.One, what I liked about the role was that there were five pretty girls from the US, who used to help me wear the costume for Ra.One every day before the shoot and also help me remove it and wear my normal clothes after the pack up. What did you not like about your costume? I could not drink, eat or even breathe too much when I was wearing the suit. Would you believe it, I had to even avoid drinking water or tea on the sets or location, just because I had to control myself and not to go to the washroom at all for a leak all through the shooting. Who is your favourite superhero? If you ask me who my personal favorite among the various super heroes is, I would not hesitate to state that it is Bat Man, because by day he is a playboy and a Batman by night. How selfish are you as an actor? I am selfish. Every actor is. But I have never ever been selfish enough to wish that only my films should click at the boxoffice and films starring other actors should fail. On the contrary, I have always felt that we should stand united to make our country smile with good films. I have always maintained that how much paisa a film collects at the boxoffice is not just important, but how many successful films the film industry is able to churn out every year that is of paramount importance, to every one of us in Bollywood. What do you feel ails the Indian film industry? I think we can make it much better because script-writing is a science by itself. If we also stop pulling each other’s legs and overcome jealousy and pettiness, I am 100 per cent sure that we will become truly international then. Besides you, what is the highlight of your film? I would say that Vishal-Shekhar’s music and the two songs sung by Senegalese American R&B singer Akon add a lot of strength to my film. I do not like to listen to English songs I dote on Akon’s number. Akon picked up Hindi quite well in time for the recording by Vishal and Shekhar. How was the experience of working with Kareena Kapoor? It was a pleasure working with a disciplined actress like her, who is so dedicated to her craft. I have promised or rather I should say that I have actually threatened Kareena that I will set out to make her wear tights as a superwoman in my next film, if I am lucky as a producer and Ra.One clicks at the boxoffice in a big way. Rajnikant’s Robot has already made waves, how confident are you that Ra. One will be able to match it in terms of technique? I would not say that Ra.One is better in terms of technique than Robot because I respect Rajnikant sir but it is a very special film maashallah. The basic idea of making a film like Ra.One is to take Indian cinema a step forward in world cinema. Whether it is Drona, Krrish or there are more superhero projects in Hindi, we should wholeheartedly come forward to support each and every one of them because superhero projects may look the same but are very unique by themselves. India should have its own share of Batman and Superman and Harry Potters, if it has to compete with the changing world cinema. To what extent do you interfere with your directors? It is almost 20 years since I had made my debut in Bollywood with Raj Kanwar’s Deewana but even today I do not give ideas to any director of mine because I have believe that it is the director, who is always the captain of the ship. Finally, how would you rate Aamir Khan as an actor? Aamir Khan is one actor who is not only intelligent but also very conscientious. I am glad that though he was a big introvert by his own admission in the initial days of his career as an actor, he has, of late, developed a terrific sense of humor. With all honesty, I’d say that his films are not only good, but also always ‘look’ good.
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