It has been almost four years since your debut film Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. What took you so long to come up with Yes Boss?

After Raju..., I was looking for a story idea but nothing really appealed to me for a long time. Then I came across a subject which I thought would work out well with Nana, Shah Rukh and Juhi. I worked on it for five-six months but it didn't shape up very well so I dropped it. Then I saw Jack Lemon's Apartment. I liked the character he played. We developed the character but eventually it has turned out to be quite different from the original. It has shaped up quite well.

Yes Boss has Shah Rukh and Juhi but not Nana Patekar.

I did not take Nana because eventually I didn't have a role for him. But my next film, Jai Surya, has a role just suited for Nana, that of a comedian. Contrary to his agressive image, I see Nana as a man who has a great sense of humour.

Yes Boss... isn't that a rather unusual name?

This is a story of a guy who is his boss' man. He always plays upto him. This is true in real life too. Nobody wants to be in the bad books of his boss. We all are `yes bosses', in one way or the other.

Go on...

Shah Rukh comes from the village to make it big in the city. He works for Aditya and falls in love with his boss's girlfriend (Juhi Chawla). He (Shah Rukh not Aditya) forsakes his love for ambition. He even helps his boss get the girl. But then before it is too late he realises where his priorities lie and tries to win his love back.

The film is about the conflict between ambition, wants and doing the right thing. `All we want is money, all we need is love'. That is the essence of the whole film.

It's a very romantic film, a love story. But it doesn't follow the cliched Romeo-Juliet pattern. It is a mature love story.

It sounds very similar to Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman.

I agree Yes Boss is along the lines of Raju Ban Gaya .... Personally I feel a man makes one kind of film throughout his life. He just keeps repeating different aspects of the same story. Raju... was the story of an ambitious young man. It was inspired by Raj Kapoor's Shri 420. Yes Boss is different in its approach to the same subject. If I show Shah Rukh as a satyavadi people will think he is an idiot. So, though my hero is a village boy, he is not naive, he makes his commissions on the side. But he is still a struggler, trying to make it big.

You seem to have a particular fascination for strugglers.

All my life I've made serials and films on strugglers, people who are trying to make a decent living. I like to portray normal people. My hero waits for his girlfriend at a bus stop not in a Mercedes Benz. I am not interested in a rich man's story.

Is that because you are not a Merc-driving director?

You could say in a way it is a reflection of my personal life. I also used to wait for my wife at the bus stop before marriage. Even as a youngster I was influenced by Charlie Chaplin's films — of a man struggling, trying to make it big. Strugglers have always influenced me and kept me going.

Your serials and films are always light comedies.

That's because I myself am suffering from depression. I have been on heavy tranqulisers for the past ten years. I can't make a film which has a lot of blood and gore. I don't mind a violent film, but that violence should aleviate you.

But comedies are not always commercially viable.

True, but I have never gone by rules. My first serial, Manoranjan , had a story writer who goes to a producer with his story. The producer asks him if there is a mother in the story. The writer shakes his head and the producer tells him he is not interested. I like a fool made my first film, Raju..., without a mother figure. This time, though, my story has a mother in since the story demands one. A film is like putty in your hands. You can mould it any which way you want.
Nobody knows what the audience wants. So, the least you could do is make a film that you want to and hope that the audience likes it.

Your characters are very down-to-earth.

I believe if the audience can relate to a character, the film has a greater reach. Some directors believe in the escapist theory of larger-than-life characters living in huge mansions and having millions. I can't relate with such films. I always prefer the common man.

Why did you take a has-been like Aditya Pancholi ?

Because he is ideally suited for the role. I wanted a handsome fellow who can pass off as a person who may or may not be married. Aditya has that look.

Shah Rukh's performance of late has come in for a lot of flak. He's being panned for being stereotyped and monotonous. Will the audience see a new Shah Rukh in Yes Boss?

Yes, you will see a different Shah Rukh in my film and I am sure you will love him. He has handled his character very well. He is very close to me and I expected him to do a good job. It's like expecting something from your son. And he hasn't disappointed me.
I had worked with Shah Rukh in the teleserial, Circus. When I signed him for my first film Raju..., people told me to take a bigger star, but I had visualised the film with Shah Rukh, so I took him. Now, fortunately, he has become a big star but even if he wasn't, I would have still made Yes Boss with him because that role is tailor-made for him.

Juhi hasn't had a hit for a long time. Do you think Yes Boss will make a difference to her career?

I don't think Juhi's career needs a turning point. She has always been a good actress. Unfortunately, she did some wrong films. But anytime she gets the right film she will bounce back. My script demanded a matur girl, who has seen life and who is very ambitious. Juhi was perfect.

It was said the Jain brothers of Venus interfere a lot during the making of the film?

Where did you hear that? It's completely untrue. In fact, I have never seen a production house which was so non-interfering.

You must be thrilled the music is doing so well?

Credit for that goes to music-directors Jatin-Lalit and lyricist Javed Akhtar. The music is reminiscent of the late '50s and '60s, very soft and soothing. I don't like the music of today, I find it very loud and jarring.
Making of Yes Boss was fun all the way. And I genuinely believe that if the unit enjoys making the film, the laughter and the joy comes across on the screen.