There has been much talk surrounding London Dream’s genesis and star cast, so what’s in store?
It is a human drama with a musical backdrop, the journey of two friends from childhood, till they are 35; their trials and tribulations.

It has the three values that are the bedrock of my films—it has to be entertaining, sensible-not a no-brainer and it has to be fit for family viewing. London Dreams is a film that has been made with the intention of pleasing the audience and I hope it does that.

Namastey London and now London Dreams-what’s with the Punjab-London combination?
There is no fixation. This story, by default, was set in London and Punjab so I could not change it. It is about two boys, who want to make it big in the international music scene and it is a common phenomenon in Punjab where boys go to either U.K. or Canada and cut music albums. So London was a natural backdrop for the script.

You have had the most successful films with Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, so why the change in cast?
Before I started, I had a chat with Akshay and told him that using him as the central character once again with Punjab and London as a backdrop might look repetitive. We are doing Singh Is Kinng 2 and I told him that we should save the best of Punjab for Singh Is Kinng. So that was joint decision. Salman and Ajay were the first choice.

Is it true that the stars took a pay cut?
When we started the script, the world was looking like a different place for Indian cinema. By the time we were closer to the shoot, the economy, world over had collapsed and India was no different. So we had a chat and discussed the option of a compromise on the making of the film and still take the same payment or cut our salaries and make the film the way it should be made. Everyone agreed that there should be no compromise on the film and without their support we could not have made this film.

What made you opt for Asin from the lot of newcomers who have made their debut in the last couple of years?
Asin is playing the part of a South Indian girl who is born and brought up in London and knows both Indian classical dance and western dance. I have seen her work in South Indian films and know that she is a fabulous dancer, so she was a natural choice.

Ajay Devgn and Salman Khan play musicians in the film–any particular quality that made you opt for them?
I could not have imagined any other actor play the two characters. Ajay for instance, is known as an intense actor. He is not very comfortable dancing so I have used him like that on stage. International stars when they perform on stage, don’t dance. They just stand and perform. With Salman, I let him do what he wanted to because he has his own style. I have seen him perform on stage and I didn’t want to change that. It was not a problem.

This film was originally meant to star Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan…
This film was originally meant to be made by Rajkumar Santoshi. He had met Aamir and Shah Rukh I think. Things didn’t work out and eventually, he dropped the film. Salman gave me the script and I felt that it needed a complete revamp because every director thinks differently. I rewrote the whole script and then narrated it to Ajay and Salman who loved the story.

There are talks of the film being inspired by Amadeus–so are there any musicians whose lives the film may have drawn from?
There are instances in the film inspired from the lives of real musicians but I don’t want to name them. For example, the concerts have been executed exactly the way concerts of a Bono, Rolling Stone or Madonna are done. So it has been done with keeping our audience in mind and the aesthetics of an international concert.

Did the thought that there could be comparisons with Rock On!!, a film with music at its core worry you?
We are nothing like Rock On!!. It was a very good film but it addressed a different audience. My audience is much larger, my film is for mass entertainment. For that reason alone we had to be totally different from Rock On!!.

Film budgets now-a-days have skyrocketed–is London Dreams yet another extravaganza?
These days it’s fashionable to quote astronomical prices for films. If the cost is Rs10 crore, people will say 100 crore so I’d rather not say anything. London Dreams is a high-budget film, but I would rather people say that we gave them value for the expensive tickets. I hope I can give people their money’s worth. For me, the budget of the film is decided by the content.

The widely held belief these days is that even a big budget film can recover its cost within the first three days – is it possible?
A big budget film has to last four weeks to recover the money. In two weeks we recover 75 per cent. If there are too many movies then one has to spread the reels even wider. If only the first weekend were important then marketing gimmicks would have been enough to ensure a successful run for the movies.

The overseas audience versus the Indian audience, which is your target audience?
My effort is to please everyone but if I were to choose between the two, I would choose the Indian audience. After all, India has a population of over a billion. It is never easy but one can try to please the maximum number of people.

What sort of films do you think work best?
Good films, of any kind goes down well with the audience. Wanted, New York and Love Aaj Kal, are all very different movies but have done well, so the audience is receptive to any good film.