The star also produces

Shahrukh Khan has a lot to say about his latest production venture, Paheli, and also his approach as a producer.

Paheli has been directed by Amol Palekar and will have a synergy of two schools of thought: art and commerce. Excerpts from the intervew:

Amol Palekar, whose ardent fan I have always been from my childhood, has directed Paheli.

The film also has formidable actors like Rani Mukherjee, Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Aditi Gowatrikar, Rajpal Yadav, Suneil Shetty, Anupam Kher, Dilip Prabhawalkar and Neena Kulkarni.

Is Paheli a love story?

Paheli is about a woman's decision to love a man she likes. It is fast-paced and shorter than my earlier films as a producer.

It is an experiment to bring Amol Palekar's style of making films to match that of ours. Amol has sought to achieve a blend of the so-called parallel and mainstream cinema.

Paheli is, in fact, his interpretation of Vijaydan Detha's Duvidha.

The film deals with quite a progressive subject. Mani Kaul had made a film called Duvidha almost 33 years ago based on the same novel by Vijaydan.

My wife Sandhya has made some changes in the screenplay and made the subject modern in context.

On the wedding night, the husband leaves home for five long years on account of his business.

Then a ghost falls madly in love with her. The ghost takes on the husband's appearance and enters the life of the wife.

A few years later, when the husband returns home, the villagers and the relatives are bewildered.

How this situation gets resolved forms the crux of the film Paheli.

Paheli, in short, is the dilemma of the girl who has to choose between the ghost's eternal love and her husband's insensitive monotone and the dilemma of the husband who has to face rejection from his own people.

Why did you volunteer to produce the film when Amol offered to cast you in it?

I had earlier produced not one or two but four films — Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindusthani, Asoka, Chalte Chalte and Main Hoon Na under the sister companies Dreamz Unlimited, Arclightz and Red Chillies.

I was keen on making an experimental film, as an exercise in just 45 days.

When Amol came to me and asked me if I would like to act in his film, I grabbed the opportunity and told him I'd be delighted to produce the film as well as act in it.

In fact when he came to me, our production house was sitting idle.

What has been your approach as a producer?

Allah has been kind to me for the last four years. I am happy to have been associated with hits like Main Hoon Na, Chalte Chalte and Veer Zaara.

I have been working for the last 15 years. As an actor I am trying to do my best. As a producer I also want to make films which will be remembered.

God has given me strength to make an attempt to produce different kinds of films.

Paheli is one such attempt. It is not in the genre of Bad Boys but is an entertainer like Main Hoon Na.

Is it true that Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla and Suneil Shetty are playing cameo roles in the film?

Yes. I requested Amitabh, Juhi and Suneil to do small cameo roles in my film.

I genuinely feel that all the three of them have been very kind to me because they went out of the way to accommodate my film in their schedules and didn't even charge me.

What is your role in the film?

I play Kishan, a nice, loving, likeable ghost as well as the husband in Paheli.

I didn't recommend Rani's name, though Rani is part of my family now.

What did you learn while working with a director like Amol Palekar?

Working with a director of the calibre of Amol has been an eye opener. I have learnt the nuances of detailing.

Paheli will be a nice mix, a synthesis of two schools of thought: of art and commerce.

It will appeal to the youth because it will have a lot of special effects. It will also appeal to all those who are in love.

I feel that in this world there are more lovers than anybody else.

To what extent were you inspired by Aamir Khan to grow a moustache in Paheli?

To get into the skin of my character, Amolsaab asked me to sport a moustache.

I am ready to put on even a poonch [tail in Hindi] if that is essential for me to get into my character.

Anyway my moustache is different from the one Aamir has sported in The Rising.

In any case, let Aamir sport a moustache for the next ten years. I have no objection at all.

I sport a moustache in Paheli because I always bow down to the demand of the script.

What is your take as far as the music of Paheli is concerned, as a producer?

I don't understand a lot about music and hence I cannot give my expert opinion.

Paheli does not have any major number and hence we are releasing its music one and a half months before the release of the film.

However all I can say that music director M.M. Kreem has done a fabulous job.

How economically viable has Paheli been for you?

Paheli has been made on a modest budget of Rs 13 to 14 crores (about Dh1.1 million).

As a production house, we tried to sell it with the aim of just recovering the production costs.

Our idea is to see to it that our distributors have the least amount of pressure when they exploit our film and hence we have sold the film at a very moderate price per territory.

What are your forthcoming projects?

After Paheli is released, I will start work on Farah Khan's project Happy New Year. The star cast is yet to be finalised.

I will also work in Farhan Akhtar's adaptation of the hit of the 1970's — Don.