Mumbai:
Farah Khan speaks to Sarita Tanwar about her next release Tees Maar Khan, her new leading man and her relationship with SRK.
It's fun to interview Farah Khan. She says the most outrageous things. From how she is using her kids to promote her films (she showed me a video of her three-year-old son Czar singing the Wallah Re Wallah song) to how she wants her actors to throw themselves at her (somewhere in this interview).
She may kid around and not take herself too seriously but she is the only successful female commercial film director in the country. Her films are funny and defy logic.
But like she says, "If it makes you laugh and makes money, then it's worth it." Here, Farah speaks about her latest film Tees Maar Khan, old friends, new actors and why she desperately wants to play the role of a producer's wife. Read on...
It's ten days before the release. What's going through your head?
Right now, it's so hectic there is no time to get nervous or tense with this hectic promotional city tours across the country. Something has gone wrong with the titles, special effects and the mixing. Shirish and I are just running around all day. I think when we finally get the first copy and have the first screening is when the jitters will start.
You seem calmer this time. What's different?
See last time it was a different ballgame because we were coming with Saawariya and it had become like a war with both of us pushing our films to the hilt.
Are you aware that four other films are releasing along with TMK?
(Pauses) Yeah ¦ (laughs) I know there are four other films this time. But no war with anyone.
Realistically, what are your expectations from the box office?
Realistically? (Laughs) I think it should be a super duper bumper hit.
The biggest hit of the year?
Now that I can't say, yaar. Because I am not into figures but in my head, of course, I will want it to be the biggest hit of the year.
Is TMK funnier than your previous films?
I think it is funnier than my previous films. My first two films were funny but there was emotional content too, then some thrilling scenes would start, there is a mummy, a brother... I have five different tracks going on, so there is too much happening. This is one storyline. This is pure comedy. Maybe because it is Shirish's script, the screenplay follows that one line and takes you till the end.
Has anyone told you that you are becoming a female version of Aamir Khan, with the cross-country marketing campaign you have planned.
(Grins) I like Aamir Khan's last interview in Mid Day and have decided to become like him. Now I am going also to think 48 times before I say anything. But seriously, I feel there are a lot more eyeballs on the movie, a lot of people are waiting to see the film to see how it will be...
I guess that's because this is your first film without SRK.
I think so. For whatever reason, a lot of credit for my films used to be given to the fact that Shah Rukh acted in them. A lot of people in the industry want to pull you down, and they always said, 'Oh, her films run because he's in it.' But I want to tell them that Shah Rukh was in many movies that didn't run. So this time, good, bad, ugly... whatever, it is going to be my movie.
You have a certain work chemistry with Shah Rukh. You both have and enjoy the same kind of humour. How would you describe your work chemistry with Akshay?
With Akshay, our work ethic is the same, so there is a different type of chemistry. We both get up at seven in the morning. (Rolls eyes) Actually he gets up at five! And so we start early. I have to say that with Shah Rukh, it was easier because he'd done two films with me, and lot of songs together, so I didn't have to explain the humour. With Akshay, it is a different kind of humour..
And Akshay has done a lot of comedy films...
This is very different from all the funny films that he has done before. Because you have to control him and say, 'don't do comedy'. It happens around him and the dialogues are very funny. I didn't want him to do buffoonery, slapstick or like 'main comedy kar raha hoon.' I wanted him to look like a hero, and have him do humour. He's very good at straight-faced humour and his comic timing is superb.
You and SRK were always a team. Was it difficult to take the decision to make a film without him?
Yes, it was very difficult. Very tough in the sense that it was an emotional decision. But in all other ways it was the right one. I knew that it was going to rock the boat and I could've just stayed in that position but there were too many things happening that maybe, I didn't like at that time and my decision was a reaction to that. And if I hadn't done this, maybe the boat would not have rocked but I would not have felt good about myself. I had to take this decision. I think more than anything, he also reacted radically to my decision. There also, things went a little haywire. He reacted more than I thought he would when I told him that I was starting my film with another hero.
You think things will go back to being normal again between you and him?
(Thinks) Well, things may go back to being normal. Of course. Why not? There is nothing permanent here, I have realised that. And even now when I meet him which hasn't happened in the last six months things were normal, as if nothing was wrong. We met at the hospital, where we'd both gone to visit Bobby Chawla.
Two years ago, when I interviewed you, you said you would never make a film without SRK.
You have to learn in life that you never say never.
When you decided not to cast SRK, you must've considered several actors. What worked in Akshay's favour?
We considered a lot of actors. But I think Akshay's persona worked in his favour. A boy could not do this role, it had to be a man. It had to be a tall, strapping good-looking man who took his looks for granted. When people see this film, I think they will not ask this question. I could only visualise him in this role.
How were things between you and Akshay on the first day of the shoot?
It was very strange. The first three days were like that because you have to find that comfort level and learn to trust each other. It's like a new marriage. You tiptoe around each other. You don't know how much you can say to that person and get away. I am sure it must've been the same way for Akshay too. It must've been too weird for him to work with a new director.
And a female one at that.
Yeah, but not that anyone thinks I am a female director. That's the least of their worries. (Giggles) I don't come with powder, rouge and lipstick to sit in their van and seduce them. But for the record, he has doneTanuja Chandra's Sangharsh.
Are you worried about the fact that his last few films haven't done well?
Well, he had a Housefull this year which everyone seems to have forgotten which is sad. Yes, this will be his fourth film this year. It's always lovely if your actor's last film is a rocking hit. No one can say it doesn't affect me but Akshay is doing so much work that I don't think he has time to mull over the fate of his films, so it actually doesn't. If an actor is doing only one movie a year like a lot of actors and that is the debacle of the year and for another year, he doesn't have a release, he can get really affected. In Akki's case, people have already forgotten about Action Replayy because TMK is releasing. In two months, there will be another release...
Didn't you think that Akshay-Katrina was a been there-done that pair?
I did. It did stop me from signing her for very long. I didn't cast her for almost two months after announcing the film. I felt what is interesting about this pair was: They had done five films together. Lot of people did tell me, 'take them, they are a lucky couple' but now Anu Malik and I have been nominated for the best couple judge (laughs) for an award night so... I think luck is how hard you work. After a point, I didn't have a choice, because I wanted a new girl and I could not find someone who suited the role. So I took it up as a challenge to cast Kat and do something different with her.
And you did. You starved her till she became size zero.
You know that's really silly. I'm the last person to starve anyone. I'm fond of feeding people and of eating. When I told her 'This is what you have to wear', she took it upon herself to get that body.
Earlier, actresses wanted to act in Yash Chopra films because he made his leading ladies look ravishing on screen. In Main Hoon Naa, you did the same with Sushmita Sen and now with Katrina in TMK.
Wow! Manmohan Desai to Yash Chopra. Not bad! Please spread this rumour. I like it. But seriously... Sushmita was far from size zero in MHN. Yes, I present my heroines well. Considering Karan (Johar) calls me a heroine hater, I think I am doing a rather good job of making them look stunning, like you say. (Smiles) They should all be falling on me. However, I would like the heroes to fall on me. Sab ladkiyaan hi mere peeche bhaag rahi hain!
In your last film, you created a trend with SRK's six-pack. With this one you've bared Kat, not Akshay. Why?
I stripped Shah Rukh no, abhi sab ko strip karoon? And Katrina has not really stripped. She just bared her midriff, which she has never done before. I think she trusted me that I was not going to ogle at her, or make lecherous advances...
You've done star appearances in songs, qawwalis, films set against the film industry. Too many similarities in your films.
Main Hoon Naa didn't have qawwalis or star appearances.
But this one has Salman and a qawwali...
True. But TMK isn't about the film industry, the industry is just the backdrop.
Isn't it time to do something different? Even Hey Babyy had 30 actresses in a song.(Pats her hair) What can I say, I'm a trend-setter.
Set new trends now, then..
I didn't set the trend, yaar. Manmohan Desai did it years ago in Naseeb. I just followed what he did. I didn't invent this.
Okay, be serious.
Maybe it won't be required in the next movie. There was a song in the script and Shirish said 'You do what you want in this song'. Somehow this rumour began that Salman was doing it. When I met him during a tv show, I said to him, 'I am fed up of people saying you are doing this song. Why don't you do it?' And he said, "Ok, kab karna hai?' It was as simple as that. Of course, I designed the song to suit him. Salman has a lot of fans and his strongest fan base is Muslim fans, so I thought I should do a song for that audience. With a tapori look, with that topi and that Mahim ka chokra look. I could've just as easily have had a club number but that's done to death. Actually, every song is done to death. I thought a qawwali still isn't overdone, let's do it.
Are you upsetting anybody in this one?
I hope not. I hope so. This time we've got a no-objection certificate from Manoj Kumar.
Manoj Kumar? Again!!?
No we don't have him. We have used his song Mere Desh Ki Dharti in TMK but we bought the song from Sa Re Ga Ma. But just in case it upset him, Akshay and I went to his house for breakfast. We showed him where and how we're using the song. He was very happy and he signed a no-objection certificate.
This is your third film and there is already a 'Farah Khan' kind of cinema. How do you feel about that?
I think I should feel flattered. But it is also scary because if I want to try and make a thriller, or a small film, that is going to bite me in the ass.
Karan Johar faced that too. Everyone said he was making the same films but when he did different films, they said he was letting his audience down.
I'll make a film if I feel like making it. If the subject excites me, I'll do it. I will not make a different film because someone else expects me to make those kind of movies. And I know if TMK does well, that brand is going to stick and it will be difficult the next time if I want to do something radically different. I think you just have to go and make what you want to make. You can't worry about what people will say.
Shirish has been very hands-on on your film. Comment.
I can travel all over the country for promotions because I know that he is sitting there till 5 am doing the mixing of the film and is taking care of whatever crisis happens in my absence. This would not have been possible without him.
He starts shooting his film in January. How hands-on will he be?
(Laughs) I think Shirish may want my hands on him, but definitely not on his film. I think I will be there as a loving wife. Actually, I'll go on the set as the producer's wife. In my career, while we technicians were sweating it out all day after getting up at 6 am, I used to envy these producers' wives who used to come at noon for lunch and then say, 'We are going shopping'. I want to do that. Unfortunately, we are again shooting in Malshej. Not a very glamorous venue. Yashji had Switzerland, we have Malshej.
Whose opinion will matter most in TMK?
It better be the box-office.
It's fun to interview Farah Khan. She says the most outrageous things. From how she is using her kids to promote her films (she showed me a video of her three-year-old son Czar singing the Wallah Re Wallah song) to how she wants her actors to throw themselves at her (somewhere in this interview).
She may kid around and not take herself too seriously but she is the only successful female commercial film director in the country. Her films are funny and defy logic.
But like she says, "If it makes you laugh and makes money, then it's worth it." Here, Farah speaks about her latest film Tees Maar Khan, old friends, new actors and why she desperately wants to play the role of a producer's wife. Read on...
It's ten days before the release. What's going through your head?
Right now, it's so hectic there is no time to get nervous or tense with this hectic promotional city tours across the country. Something has gone wrong with the titles, special effects and the mixing. Shirish and I are just running around all day. I think when we finally get the first copy and have the first screening is when the jitters will start.
You seem calmer this time. What's different?
See last time it was a different ballgame because we were coming with Saawariya and it had become like a war with both of us pushing our films to the hilt.
Are you aware that four other films are releasing along with TMK?
(Pauses) Yeah ¦ (laughs) I know there are four other films this time. But no war with anyone.
Realistically, what are your expectations from the box office?
Realistically? (Laughs) I think it should be a super duper bumper hit.
The biggest hit of the year?
Now that I can't say, yaar. Because I am not into figures but in my head, of course, I will want it to be the biggest hit of the year.
Is TMK funnier than your previous films?
I think it is funnier than my previous films. My first two films were funny but there was emotional content too, then some thrilling scenes would start, there is a mummy, a brother... I have five different tracks going on, so there is too much happening. This is one storyline. This is pure comedy. Maybe because it is Shirish's script, the screenplay follows that one line and takes you till the end.
Has anyone told you that you are becoming a female version of Aamir Khan, with the cross-country marketing campaign you have planned.
(Grins) I like Aamir Khan's last interview in Mid Day and have decided to become like him. Now I am going also to think 48 times before I say anything. But seriously, I feel there are a lot more eyeballs on the movie, a lot of people are waiting to see the film to see how it will be...
I guess that's because this is your first film without SRK.
I think so. For whatever reason, a lot of credit for my films used to be given to the fact that Shah Rukh acted in them. A lot of people in the industry want to pull you down, and they always said, 'Oh, her films run because he's in it.' But I want to tell them that Shah Rukh was in many movies that didn't run. So this time, good, bad, ugly... whatever, it is going to be my movie.
You have a certain work chemistry with Shah Rukh. You both have and enjoy the same kind of humour. How would you describe your work chemistry with Akshay?
With Akshay, our work ethic is the same, so there is a different type of chemistry. We both get up at seven in the morning. (Rolls eyes) Actually he gets up at five! And so we start early. I have to say that with Shah Rukh, it was easier because he'd done two films with me, and lot of songs together, so I didn't have to explain the humour. With Akshay, it is a different kind of humour..
And Akshay has done a lot of comedy films...
This is very different from all the funny films that he has done before. Because you have to control him and say, 'don't do comedy'. It happens around him and the dialogues are very funny. I didn't want him to do buffoonery, slapstick or like 'main comedy kar raha hoon.' I wanted him to look like a hero, and have him do humour. He's very good at straight-faced humour and his comic timing is superb.
You and SRK were always a team. Was it difficult to take the decision to make a film without him?
Yes, it was very difficult. Very tough in the sense that it was an emotional decision. But in all other ways it was the right one. I knew that it was going to rock the boat and I could've just stayed in that position but there were too many things happening that maybe, I didn't like at that time and my decision was a reaction to that. And if I hadn't done this, maybe the boat would not have rocked but I would not have felt good about myself. I had to take this decision. I think more than anything, he also reacted radically to my decision. There also, things went a little haywire. He reacted more than I thought he would when I told him that I was starting my film with another hero.
You think things will go back to being normal again between you and him?
(Thinks) Well, things may go back to being normal. Of course. Why not? There is nothing permanent here, I have realised that. And even now when I meet him which hasn't happened in the last six months things were normal, as if nothing was wrong. We met at the hospital, where we'd both gone to visit Bobby Chawla.
Two years ago, when I interviewed you, you said you would never make a film without SRK.
You have to learn in life that you never say never.
When you decided not to cast SRK, you must've considered several actors. What worked in Akshay's favour?
We considered a lot of actors. But I think Akshay's persona worked in his favour. A boy could not do this role, it had to be a man. It had to be a tall, strapping good-looking man who took his looks for granted. When people see this film, I think they will not ask this question. I could only visualise him in this role.
How were things between you and Akshay on the first day of the shoot?
It was very strange. The first three days were like that because you have to find that comfort level and learn to trust each other. It's like a new marriage. You tiptoe around each other. You don't know how much you can say to that person and get away. I am sure it must've been the same way for Akshay too. It must've been too weird for him to work with a new director.
And a female one at that.
Yeah, but not that anyone thinks I am a female director. That's the least of their worries. (Giggles) I don't come with powder, rouge and lipstick to sit in their van and seduce them. But for the record, he has doneTanuja Chandra's Sangharsh.
Are you worried about the fact that his last few films haven't done well?
Well, he had a Housefull this year which everyone seems to have forgotten which is sad. Yes, this will be his fourth film this year. It's always lovely if your actor's last film is a rocking hit. No one can say it doesn't affect me but Akshay is doing so much work that I don't think he has time to mull over the fate of his films, so it actually doesn't. If an actor is doing only one movie a year like a lot of actors and that is the debacle of the year and for another year, he doesn't have a release, he can get really affected. In Akki's case, people have already forgotten about Action Replayy because TMK is releasing. In two months, there will be another release...
Didn't you think that Akshay-Katrina was a been there-done that pair?
I did. It did stop me from signing her for very long. I didn't cast her for almost two months after announcing the film. I felt what is interesting about this pair was: They had done five films together. Lot of people did tell me, 'take them, they are a lucky couple' but now Anu Malik and I have been nominated for the best couple judge (laughs) for an award night so... I think luck is how hard you work. After a point, I didn't have a choice, because I wanted a new girl and I could not find someone who suited the role. So I took it up as a challenge to cast Kat and do something different with her.
And you did. You starved her till she became size zero.
You know that's really silly. I'm the last person to starve anyone. I'm fond of feeding people and of eating. When I told her 'This is what you have to wear', she took it upon herself to get that body.
Earlier, actresses wanted to act in Yash Chopra films because he made his leading ladies look ravishing on screen. In Main Hoon Naa, you did the same with Sushmita Sen and now with Katrina in TMK.
Wow! Manmohan Desai to Yash Chopra. Not bad! Please spread this rumour. I like it. But seriously... Sushmita was far from size zero in MHN. Yes, I present my heroines well. Considering Karan (Johar) calls me a heroine hater, I think I am doing a rather good job of making them look stunning, like you say. (Smiles) They should all be falling on me. However, I would like the heroes to fall on me. Sab ladkiyaan hi mere peeche bhaag rahi hain!
In your last film, you created a trend with SRK's six-pack. With this one you've bared Kat, not Akshay. Why?
I stripped Shah Rukh no, abhi sab ko strip karoon? And Katrina has not really stripped. She just bared her midriff, which she has never done before. I think she trusted me that I was not going to ogle at her, or make lecherous advances...
You've done star appearances in songs, qawwalis, films set against the film industry. Too many similarities in your films.
Main Hoon Naa didn't have qawwalis or star appearances.
But this one has Salman and a qawwali...
True. But TMK isn't about the film industry, the industry is just the backdrop.
Isn't it time to do something different? Even Hey Babyy had 30 actresses in a song.(Pats her hair) What can I say, I'm a trend-setter.
Set new trends now, then..
I didn't set the trend, yaar. Manmohan Desai did it years ago in Naseeb. I just followed what he did. I didn't invent this.
Okay, be serious.
Maybe it won't be required in the next movie. There was a song in the script and Shirish said 'You do what you want in this song'. Somehow this rumour began that Salman was doing it. When I met him during a tv show, I said to him, 'I am fed up of people saying you are doing this song. Why don't you do it?' And he said, "Ok, kab karna hai?' It was as simple as that. Of course, I designed the song to suit him. Salman has a lot of fans and his strongest fan base is Muslim fans, so I thought I should do a song for that audience. With a tapori look, with that topi and that Mahim ka chokra look. I could've just as easily have had a club number but that's done to death. Actually, every song is done to death. I thought a qawwali still isn't overdone, let's do it.
Are you upsetting anybody in this one?
I hope not. I hope so. This time we've got a no-objection certificate from Manoj Kumar.
Manoj Kumar? Again!!?
No we don't have him. We have used his song Mere Desh Ki Dharti in TMK but we bought the song from Sa Re Ga Ma. But just in case it upset him, Akshay and I went to his house for breakfast. We showed him where and how we're using the song. He was very happy and he signed a no-objection certificate.
This is your third film and there is already a 'Farah Khan' kind of cinema. How do you feel about that?
I think I should feel flattered. But it is also scary because if I want to try and make a thriller, or a small film, that is going to bite me in the ass.
Karan Johar faced that too. Everyone said he was making the same films but when he did different films, they said he was letting his audience down.
I'll make a film if I feel like making it. If the subject excites me, I'll do it. I will not make a different film because someone else expects me to make those kind of movies. And I know if TMK does well, that brand is going to stick and it will be difficult the next time if I want to do something radically different. I think you just have to go and make what you want to make. You can't worry about what people will say.
Shirish has been very hands-on on your film. Comment.
I can travel all over the country for promotions because I know that he is sitting there till 5 am doing the mixing of the film and is taking care of whatever crisis happens in my absence. This would not have been possible without him.
He starts shooting his film in January. How hands-on will he be?
(Laughs) I think Shirish may want my hands on him, but definitely not on his film. I think I will be there as a loving wife. Actually, I'll go on the set as the producer's wife. In my career, while we technicians were sweating it out all day after getting up at 6 am, I used to envy these producers' wives who used to come at noon for lunch and then say, 'We are going shopping'. I want to do that. Unfortunately, we are again shooting in Malshej. Not a very glamorous venue. Yashji had Switzerland, we have Malshej.
Whose opinion will matter most in TMK?
It better be the box-office.
