With 'Dil Chahta Hai' being the first film and 'Lakshya' being the second, what people can expect from Excel Entertainment as a company, and from me as a director, is just good, clean entertainment. And hopefully, some residue of an idea or thought that you can take home and mull over.
'Dil Chahta Hai' is not the first film about friendship. 'Lakshya' is not the first film about war and coming of age.
'Lakshya' is a different genre of movie. While 'Dil Chahta Hai' could be categorised as a romantic comedy, this is a war drama.
'Dil Chahta Hai' was too raw. We only thought about the film. We never thought where the film was going to go. We wanted to make a film on our own terms.
I was very focused when I wanted to make 'Dil Chahta Hai,' though it was difficult for me to convince people that I know how to make films and I will be able to direct and put a film together.
Aamir Khan told me that I was doing Sameer's character all wrong in Dil Chahta Hai
After 'Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai,' 'Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hai' and 'Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai,' my presence as a director will be felt. These three films have been very successful and 'Badhaai Ho Badhaai' is going to be the climax. My work is finally recognised.
I'm a 90s child and I have grown up on a staple diet of David Dhawan films, Baazigar, Rangeela and Dil Chahta Hai.
I believe that science fiction is as profound as you want it to be or it can be very simple entertainment, and I'm all for very simple entertainment. Every now and then we all need to come home, veg-out, watch something and not think too deeply about it. It's what you want it to be. We tend to steer clear of being pedantic; it's entertainment first, otherwise we'd be on a lecture circuit.
There must be a story within him/her that wants to come out. That's the reason why 'Dil Chahta Hai,' 'Lagaan,' and 'Rang De Basanti' worked so well: Ashutosh, Farhan, and Rakesh had a story inside them. It's very important that the director should have the fire in the belly to tell the story.
Who are critics? Do they know about music? Have they proved themselves in the field? I remember, when we came up with the music of 'Dil Chahta Hai,' some of the critics said that the songs sounded like jingles.
I continue to see good growth in the mobile space; I expect to see PCs being the core driver in the home. And I mean that for entertainment along with the work-at-home space.
I think there's often a negative associated with being passionate or geeky about entertainment, but for me, entertainment has always been a greater, psychological escape, so I think it's unfortunate when others don't appreciate the depth of passion entertainment offers.
Everything I do is gauged under the shadow of 'Dil Chahta Hai.' Even 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' and 'Rock On,' which are very urban films. So I am always seen through that lens.
It never occurred to me to be a film director, partly because I hadn't seen a single film by a female director, but I liked the idea of being a writer moving to Hollywood and being unhappy; that sounded romantic and fabulous to me.
Filmmaking is essentially about entertainment, but it's amazing to realize that it has this other muscle that could actually help. Do you know what I mean? People permit entertainment to wash over them, but every once and a while, entertainment - and this is entertaining - also galvanizes something else and that would be a really good thing to have happen in this case.
We have always tried to be guided by the basic idea that, in the discovery of knowledge, there is great entertainment - as, conversely, in all good entertainment, there is always some grain of wisdom, humanity, or enlightenment to be gained.