This is the second time you lost in the elections. It must be disappointing.
It’s a loss, but I am not defeated. I got a whole new experience of meeting people and learning new things, it was amazing. Also, the entire task of contesting and campaigning is really gruelling. Lots of things have to work for you to succeed and win. In my case, half the things did, but half of them didn’t work out, like the coalition of the Congress. Saadhu Yadav turned out to be my nemesis. Besides, there was an undercurrent of Nitish Kumar wave. My constituency (Bettiah) is a BJP stronghold and Nitish couldn’t wriggle a seat out of them. The other option I had was joining the BJP, which I would never do.

Does that mean you will not contest again?
It’s a long time away. Let’s see what happens in these five years, which way things are going and whether my enthusiasm for politics remain. But I will continue to work actively for my people. I have been working in various sectors like the health sector and industry among others. People in my constituency know me because of the work I do and not as a filmmaker.

Your were said to be building a multiplex in Bihar.
Yes, it is coming up in Patna. Already four floors have been constructed.

Now that elections are over, are you back to filmmaking?
Yes. The day I came back to Mumbai I started taking stock of the shooting schedules, production activity etc. Making movies is therapeutic for me. Currently, I am overseeing the film Turning 30, which is directed by my assistant Alankrita.

What about Rajniti? How much of it is complete?
I have finished shooting all the scenes with lots of crowds. Now I have to shoot the main drama in the interiors. My next schedule will be in August.

Are there any parallels to real life in the film?
A political drama, it is about democracy, the manipulations, coalition governments etc. All the incidents in the film have been experienced at some time or the other. The story and the characters are fictional, only the happenings are real. Apart from politics, there is also an important emotional story in the film.

So, is Katrina Kaif’s character based on Sonia Gandhi?
No, not all. I know people will try to make inferences with all the characters of the film, but as I said it is fictional.