Subhash K Jha for Sify

The most obvious question first….Why direction so late in your life?

For the simple reason that it didn't seem right earlier on. I remember myself as a typical kid with dreams of directing a film starring myself. I had some ideas at 19 which I'd still like to direct. But I never wanted to become a filmmaker earlier, I only wanted to act. I didn't want to go knocking on doors to make a film. It didn't mean that much to me. I had no statements to make, no burning messages that I wanted to deliver to the world. I wanted direction to happen organically. That's why Yun Hota To Kya Hota took so long.

The film offers a very unusual format of presentation?

That's right. It's four different stories all of which can be defined as love stories, all presenting couples from different age groups. There's a teenage couple, a slightly older couple, then a guy obsessed with a much older woman and finally a middle-aged couple. The couples and their stories collide at the end. The segmented storytelling isn't so unusual. Mani Rathnam did it in Yuva recently. And long ago Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Musafir . Then the same format was seen in Italian films like Vittorio de Sica's Yesterday Today & Tomorrow and another called Woman Times 7 which had seven separate stories. And now there's Crash. It gave me a complex. I was always fascinated by the episodic format. The stories are by Uttam Gada who's a Gujarati litterateur. He gave me a skeletal script. All four stories appealed to me instantly. I thought I could make them credible on screen.

So many actors felt left out of your film. Om puri was complaining.

I'll talk to him about that. It was sweet of him to feel left out. I know he'd have done any part I asked him. But there was no part for him When I cast him I'd like to justice to him. Everyone who's rallied around has become a friend, like Paresh Rawal, Irrfan Khan and Konkona. They're such marevllous actors. And the novices went through rehearsals before going on the sets. I had a blast directing them. I may just be doing direction for the rest of my life. Straining myself for a part even for something like Paar doesn't excite me right now. I'd like to help other actors do that kind of stuff. Hence my fascination with teaching.

Is direction as stimulating as acting?

It's much more stimulating acting. There used to be times when I used to be miserable doing movies. Now I know why. Acting in movies is the most miserable job in the world. Sometimes you've two minutes of work after waiting on the set the whole day. I enjoyed it while it lasted. But now I want to move on. In fact I'm not acting in my film. I've dubbed for two or three incidental characters.

Just to be part of the cast?

No. There was no one else to do it. We needed American accents….Okay I confess I wanted to upstage my actors(laughs ).

Are you bored with acting because you aren't getting the right kind of roles?

No no. In the movies I've been getting satisfying work for some years. I've enjoyed Monsoon Wedding, Parzania, Valley Of Flowers…even the small parts in Mixed Doubles and Omkara. Direction gives me a much bigger high. It feels like my whole career has been a preparation for this. Mind you I still enjoy acting in theatre immensely. But in a movie you sit around twiddling your thumbs for the whole day and then it could be for just one shot. Frankly I wouldn't act in a film unless it really excites me. I'm trying to do small parts in films by friends.

Did you enjoy playing God in Benaras?

Benaras was a little beyond me, I've to admit. There're many films that I didn't understand while they were being made. But on seeing them finally, I did. I didn't understand Benaras even after I saw the end-product. Maybe I'm not mature enough to understand it.

I loved your goofy villainy in Krissh.

Thanks. I had a ball doing it. To begin with the part didn't excite me. But Rakesh Roshan was keen on me. You can't argue with success.

Is it a sorrow that you don't command the same commercial stature as Amitabh Bachchan?

I've never aspired to occupy the position that he does. It's very lonely up there. And I'm sure he has a lot of problems. Becoming a huge star didn't mean the world to me. I've been doing the kind of work that I want to do. I don't deny that I wanted to be known to the world, and that I wanted to lead a cushy life. But I've been ambitious only about finding the right kind of work. For example at the moment I derive immense pleasure from teaching acting at Subhash Ghai's Whistling Woods institute. He came up with the idea that I should hold classes on career strategy and self-projection. I told Subhash he'd have to find someone else to do it for him. The only career strategy I've had is to know the job. He found it hard to believe.

What else are you looking at as an actor?

There's a film by Milan Luthria which will be shot in November. It's again an episodic film, just like my own Yun Hota…Hemaji and I are playing an over-the-hill romantic couple who never came together . She's still gorgeous , isn't she? I adore her. I think we'll make a good couple.

What about Shabana? She's dying to work with you again.

The right part hasn't come along recently. Some projects fell through. She accuses me of not wanting to work with her. Why should I do that? Why should I do a film just because she's in it, or not do a film which doesn't have her? I don't want to do crap with her . But it'll happen again. I somehow have the feeling that all these years when we haven't worked together has done our pair a whole lot of good.

It's been a wonderful innings for you.

Oh yes! I look back with great satisfaction and contentment. I feel fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time, that's how I have been able to make the most of my life. I've got to look for new challenges now, like teaching acting which I'm doing now….and filmmaking. I still feel a lot of anger about a lot of things. But I know when to use the temper constructively. Otherwise it only damages you.

Are your children interested in acting?

My daughter Heeba is an actresss. My son Imaad is playing a small part in Yun Hota To Kya Hota. He was hanging around home doing nothing. That's how he got into the film. He's interested in a lot of things including music and movies. He's in college right now so he has a lot of time to make up his mind. I'll support my children in whatever they want to do. My father didn't want me to be an actor. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.