Let’s start with movies. Was it true that you fired Kylie Minogue while shooting for a song in Blue?
Why would I fire Kylie Minogue? Am I a mental person or what? (Laughs) She was absolutely lovely to work with. I must have fired somebody in the crowd. I think my voice sounds like I am firing someone!

Why do Hindi films have this fetish for foreign dancers?
The trend has been around for the last four-five years probably because they are good dancers and have great bodies. They wear revealing clothes and don’t look vulgar. Also, because movies are being shot abroad so when you are doing a song, you need foreign dancers. It started with Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... and that was eight years ago. Karan flew down 50 dancers for the song You are my Soniye and most of them settled here. But like all other fads, this too shall pass.

You feature in a Nasreen Munni Kabir’s book on Women In Indian Film, so what has changed for women in the industry?
One thing that has changed for the better is that now actresses can have a career even after marriage. Aishwarya is rocking after marriage as is Kajol–she was the only one who worked after she got married and there was a demand for her. Women are still paid less than men and they have shorter career spans.

Is it true that that Mallika Sherawat is acting in your next film Happy New Year?
No. Shah Rukh Khan is the only one from the cast who is final.

Also, there is talk of you taking Shirish as one of the younger actors for the film…
Where are all these rumours coming from (rolls her eyes exasperatedly)? Let me tell you how this one started. I had gone for Shilpa Shetty’s event and the photographers present told me– ‘Shirish ko launch karo kyoonki woh bahut acche dikh rahe hain.’
I joked with them and said ‘Haan, next picture mein launch karti hoon.’ And the next thing you know is this. People have lost their sense of humour! I still have to finish writing the script. My daughter tore it!

What do you look for in people who work with you?
Quality. They should be talented. I love Shah Rukh and he’s wonderful to work with but I would never have loved him if he wasn’t talented. For a movie you have to be selfish and work with what’s best for the movie.

In a lighter vein, is there a casting couch to your films?
I wish there was! I keep telling SRK that we should do something about it. But jokes apart, if you cast for the wrong reasons you movie will never do well. At least I believe so. If you make a movie because you want to do the heroine or have fun on the outdoor, or just make money, it will never do well.

What’s your USP as a director?
I have an eye for making people look talented. I can make people act well according to the character. I know Shah Rukh, Zayed, Arjun, Deepika or Sushmita will be a little more special in my movie. If for some reason they can’t do something that I ask of them then I will work the camera around and make sure they look good in it. I am also very organised.

Ismail Merchant was known for cooking up a storm even when shooting—does food play an important role when you are at work?
Absolutely. If I get bad food, I’d be in a bad mood. My film set catering used to be personally selected by me. The cooks had to be changed every month so that you get a different taste. People from neighbouring sets would come to eat. Shah Rukh could not understand this obsession because he’s been having the same chicken for the last 20 years. And I would be like “Tomorrow’s breakfast has to be from Muthuswamy”. And after a week it would be a full English buffet. You have to have fun yaar to enjoy the process. I am such a foodie, somebody should offer me a food show. I totally envy Vir Sanghvi’s job!

So what’s your chatting-up-celebs style on Tere Mere Beach Mein? You had mentioned Oprah at one point.
I preferred Oprah though the channel had Ellen De Genre in mind so it’s a good mix of the two. But frankly speaking it’s my style I am not copying anybody. For television you have to be yourself which works for me because I am politically incorrect and have an opinion on everything. The idea is to not be boring.

The last time you spoke about your television show, you were quite firm that it would not have celebrities as guest. Tere Mere Beach Mein, however, has an impressive line-up of celebrities. What happened?
I wanted to do it without celebrities but the channel said they wanted celebs and finally, we reached a compromise. There are celebrities and a common person too. After all, Karan and Simi have done it and really well at that, so I wanted it to be different. It’s not about asking the stars about controversies and affairs plugging their movies—the viewers will take back something from the show. There are many inspirational stories from stars’ lives that people are not aware of. A lot of research went into that. Also, I insisted that celebrities don’t get a gift hamper as they have everything . So what we do is that we give a certain amount to a relevant charitable organisation. We also take something from them, which we will auction and use for my charity. People can bid for it on eBay.

Is it all very sombre then?
No. There are fun topics too. Salman and Shah Rukh for instance. Salman’s episode was about mama’s boys! About why the country is full of men who like Salman, live with mummy. In Salman’s case, Salma aunty is still cooking and sending him delicious food. And obviously no girl is good enough. And Shah Rukh came for the topic of a henpecked husband!

And what about others like Karan Johar and Sonam Kapoor?
Karan and Sonam’s topic was the transition from fat to thin—what people go through to lose weight and how they do it. Shahid and Genelia, spoke about comebacks. Shahid was so candid and Genelia when she heard the story of a regular life participant, broke down crying. John and Yuvi were a lot of fun too. In the pilot episode, John had to dance to Beedi jalayle as Bipasha had challenged him that he would be unable to do it.

Any other memorable episodes that come to mind?
You think it’s all fun and games, but it can take an unpredictable turn. And none of it is doctored. I also found out hidden aspects about the stars. The episode titled Ghar Ka Beta has Bipasha Basu–she has set her family–parents and sisters up in Mumbai, looked after them and done everything that is expected of a son. For freedom of youth in the country we got Neil Mukesh and Abhay Deol.

Are there no celebrities outside the film industry?
We do have cricketers like Yuvraj. The Pathan brothers talk about sibling rivalry. Yusuf has a wonderful sense of humour. We wanted politicians too but Laluji, who was supposed to be on the show, had a cataract operation. Maybe Season 2 will have more of that. At the end of it I also don’t want it to become NDTV We, The People. We are trying to make it a little glamorous. The channel is also right in saying that for the first season you need to grab the eyeballs and therefore the celebrity quotient.

You were also in talks with Colors for a talk show. And then again is the fiercely competitive scenario (in television) unnerving?
Yes, we (Colors) were supposed to do it but I got a better deal with Star, creatively and otherwise. As for being unnerved, I am no Jay Leno to be under pressure. The only pressure is to do something I have never done.

So what has been your learning from the show? Were there any bloopers ?
I had to remember that it’s about people on the show and not you. And, to ask the right questions at the right time… That took a bit of time to figure out. In the first show I was happily sitting on the sofa and there were a thousand overlaps! I also had to alienate myself as a director. I have also become adept at doing my own make-up. I do it in the car on the way to the studio so I can spend more time with my babies. I do my eyes and then I know exactly at which signal I have to do my lips!

As for bloopers, yes, there were lots of them and they will feature in the last episode.

What’s you style statement? Also, did you work on a look for the show?
My style statement is comfortable. Anything that fits and anything that makes me look slimmer (laughs). I was supposed to lose weight but I didn’t -there’s been just no time. When I aksed Salma aunty to be on the show, she said, “Give me two months to lose weight.” She’s just like me, she’s lost nothing.

Manish Malhotra and Babita Malkani have done the styling but this show won’t be about my look or style.

Would you buy a Louis Vuitton bag?
Never. After my god bharai, Gauri sent me a Louis Vuitton bag which I returned. I said that instead of this you can buy two Nano cars. I have Louis Vuitton bags, all gifted to me by Karan Johar. They are lovely but paying so much for them goes against my core middle class values.

Which television shows are you watching?
I am watching Sach Ka Saamna but it makes me queasy. And I feel terribly upset when they lose–paise bhi gaye and wahan ghar pe bhi maar padegi. It was shocking to realise that a normal middle class person has so many secrets and has done things you would expect only those in the film industry or high society people to do
I used to watch Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao but have stopped because people are only singing and dancing. Rakhi Ka Swayamvar I watched for Rakhi but it was so doctored and scripted that it wasn’t a reality show at all. There were over-the-shoulder shots and people were given lines–it was actually a fiction show.