I took a sabbatical after Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna to understand where I wanted to be. It was then that I developed relationships with people and a vision for the company. I established an infrastructure and then acted on it. So it took me two years to set the ball rolling. I needed everyone who I could trust, love and respect to take the company to another level.

And are you satisfied with the results of this paradigm shift?
Absolutely. I am really happy with Dostana and Wake Up Sid. I am also very excited about the new films that we are making.

You have successfully launched new directors with a few more in the pipeline, so is that going to continue?
For me, that’s the criteria. I am only going to make films with first-time filmmakers. I don’t want to take established directors because they are already established, I can’t do much with them and then there will be a clash. And one doesn’t want that. All directors working with us are new – some are here to make two films, some three and some just one. But there is a clear understanding that if I am launching you as a brand then sometimes I might leverage it by taking you for a three-film contract. Then again there is a lot of flexibility within that as Dharma is a very democratic organisation. There is no hierarchy, so literally, figuratively and geographically we are at one level. People barge in and out of the cabin and I encourage that.

First-time directors don’t have a body of work to go by, so how do you pick who you want to work with? Does an association with Dharma help?
For most part, it’s instinct. Barring Rensil (who I have interacted with on a screenplay) all of them have had a background with me. With Rensil, I felt that he had a desire to direct a film and I had great respect for his sense of aesthetics and his writing so Kurbaan happened. Otherwise, Tarun(Mansukhani), Ayan (Mukerji) and Siddharth Malhotra have all worked with me as assistant directors. I choose my assistant directors with great care because I don’t want people just occupying space. I think everyone who Dharma employs should have a potential of growing with the company. I don’t like people fly in and out for an assignment and go. I want people to come in and stay.

What made you opt for Stepmom as a movie to be adapted in Hindi? And how did you decide on the director?
I didn’t decide on Stepmom, Siddharth Malhotra brought the idea to me. He had worked it out with a writer, Vinita. I asked him if he wanted his first film to be an adaptation and he nodded. He had a really good adaptation, so I agreed. But for me, the only way to do it would be to take the official route, so we got into talks with Sony Pictures and it worked out. I remember crying buckets when I watched it. It’s a good cry, that’s what the film is.

Dharma has also ventured beyond its existing fold of business allies. For Wake Up Sid, you tied up with UTV for distribution – will this trend continue?
I have had a superb association with UTV and yes, there will be more of that as we have the same sensibility. We have a great understanding of the market and we have great communication. Ronnie (Screwvala), Siddharth Roy Kapoor and I have a great understanding of how things are. On Wake Up Sid we knew this should be a smaller release – 450 screens and then let word of mouth take over. And they agreed.

And then there is the famous 100-crore deal with Star Fox Studios for My Name Is Khan…
I am very excited to work with them because they have a huge infrastructure and their credentials are unquestionable. It’s strange that I have dealt with all the people working at Fox– Aalim and Vijay, Jim Jeannopolis, the president of Fox…Jim is a wonderful, compassionate, cinema-friendly man and I just feel very safe that the film is in his hands. I felt that he understood where I am coming from and knew what I wanted. At the very outset, I said that MNIK is not Slumdog Millionaire - it is not an English film. I am not Danny Boyle. I don’t have a past of directing international or Hollywood films. It is at heart an Indian film, but I do believe that it has the potential of crossing over and above the diaspora. It’s not like I want a thousand print release in North America. No. but at least we could try and go beyond the NRI market by even a small percentage, so that a filmmaker’s desire of getting maximum eyeballs is met.

Are you bullish about any territory in particular?
There are lots of territories that Fox wants to open up. They are involving the world markets to see which ones might do so. Among those that look favourable are the Middle-East by virtue of its content and every part of Europe. Fox is also trying to look at Japan and Korea.

During a recent conversation with film enthusiasts from Germany it came about that women love Shah Rukh Khan and films such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... due to the overt romanticism. What has been your observation?
I remember when I was at Cannes a long time ago and there was a huge crowd queuing up for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...– I changed the title to La Familie as the audience comprised people from various European countries. It was surprising that everyone came out of the film weeping and crying. I was quite intrigued and asked a lady about it and she said, “I don’t think I have felt the emotions in my whole life that I felt in these three hours.”

The fact is that Indians walk around with our emotions pretty much on our sleeves and that is sometimes reflected in our cinema. Our emotionally-charged films as opposed to the subtleties of European cinema, are a welcome change for their lifestyles and emotional graphs.

All that plus the music and the interval makes our format very different from the rest of the world and that is what intrigues the global audience.

But now filmmakers want to make films minus the song and dance.
Our characters are becoming more real, more natural and more relatable and that means they can’t sing and dance. You and I don’t do that. But I don’t think we will ever lose our identity or the music. Films are now effectively blending music into the narrative, so now the music is in the background. In Wake Up Sid, there are five songs but they are all in the background.

How far have you meandered from your style in My Name Is Khan?
It’s different from anything I have done and saying that is not enough. It’s been a totally different experience for me. We have had to externalise beyond ourselves to research it and portray the characters in it. In terms of syntax and tonality it stands apart from any of my earlier works. It will certainly be a cinematic experience - whether good or bad is for the audience to decide.

Why touch upon something as complicated as Asperger’s Syndrome?
Khan did not have to be neurotypical for him to connect. The character requires a certain simplicity in order to be endearing. And this is not a story about terrorism.

There have been rumours that Kurbaan and New York have the same story.
People have based their opinion on the fact that both films are about terrorism but it’s not true. Adi and I are best friends and we’d be really stupid to do that. So of course the backdrop of global terrorism is the commonality between the two, but there is nothing similar between the two in their narratives, structure-wise or character-wise. I am hoping my film will find an audience.

After a very successful Koffee With Karan you are now anchoring a reality show for Sony. Would you have creative inputs?
For me working with Yash Raj Films is 300 per cent trust and Adi is helming it, so that’s another very important factor. I found the show very interesting. Koffee With Karan was more fun and frolic, this has more depth. And I just felt that Yash Raj producing and me anchoring it gives me great synergy. We are looking at figures with iconic following and in this country it would have to be films and cricket. Creatively it is being handled entirely by Adi and his team.

There was a controversy about the use of Bombay in Wake Up Sid, for which you had to apologise…In India is there increasingly a lack of creative democracy?
I did what I had to do. I apologised because I did not want to hurt any sensibility and I certainly did not want anything to come in the way of the release of the film. But at the end of the day, I don’t think our content or our intentions are protected enough. We may be an outer democracy but internally we are not. As filmmakers, we are not free to make a statement by putting different thoughts and ideas on celluloid. Everyone is scared of offending someone somewhere, so there is no such thing as creative democracy.

Considering that film stars campaign and endorse politicians from all parties, should they not work for protecting the industry’s creative interest?
Our industry really needs to be pushed against the wall before we can stand together, because here everyone is on his own. But we could try to come together like we did during the multiplex issue. My father said to me, “If you have upset someone, say sorry. There is no harm in saying so.” There is too much love and passion that goes into a movie, which is beyond money. People turn around and say you are protecting money. I switched on a television show and saw a woman ranting that I was a coward because I apologised. I have already sold the film to UTV, so I can have my ego and refuse to apologise, but I also have to protect their interest. How can I do that to another entity who has invested in my company and film? And then I have to protect the emotional interest of my entire crew that has toiled for100 days on the film. Should I not protect my film monetarily and emotionally? If you think that I am a spineless coward then so be it. I am the protector of my software.

The creative-business divide…
The business side is something that I am in denial of. I don’t have the kind of money people think I do because I put it all out there on the screen, sometimes very irrationally so. I am always advised by my CEO Apoorva that I am spending more than I should but I can’t change some things about myself. At heart, I am always going to be a director first.

Since we are putting rumours to rest, is Katrina Kaif a part of Dostana 2? Also, which young actors are on your wish-list?
We haven’t cast anyone for Dostana 2 besides Abhishek and John. Everything else is conjecture. I want to work with a lot of young stars–Ranbir I have worked with and Imran is doing a movie with us. I am dying to work with Shahid. Among actresses, I love Deepika and Katrina. I have worked with Kareena and am working with Sonam. I would love to work with Vidya Balan. I am dying to work with Tabu, I think she is a powerhouse.

How does it feel to be considered a star -maker?
I feel honoured, privileged and scared. Success gives me relief, never happiness. I always remember what my father used to tell me, move on to the next one and never look back at what you are leaving behind because you never know what’s coming up ahead. That’s what I do. Resting on past laurels and being deluded is not me. I feel proud, privileged and scared because no one wants to lose being where they are. You never want it to cloud your judgement so that one day when the flowers stop coming, you just don’t feel that bad.

Are you tolerant of criticism of your work?
How can you crucify people who don’t like your work? I am all for criticism, but not biased criticism. When it comes with negativity towards who you are, then it bothers me. I know what the problems of all my films are, so when it resonates with what you are aware of you know it’s not biased.

Now for the fashion connoisseur in you–does the menswear line you created with Varun Behl reflect your personal style?
Fashion is more of a hobby. It was my first career option, my first dream. Varun and I have been doing this for a long time and the opportunity presented itself at Couture Week.