What are your thoughts about Slumdog Millionaire's Oscar triumph considering your next film Kambakth Ishq has a lot of Hollywood stars and technicians including Sylvester Stallone?
Well I am very excited, very happy. Any event which reaches its peak like the world cup win in 83, though people who were not associated with cricket still enjoyed and were happy. It's a world victory. Oscar is a major thing.
We are growing in all departments whether its sports, culture, economics… everywhere we are making a mark and the world is looking up to us. We were surprised to see so many awards bestowed on the same person - Rahman.
I think in the years to come, we will be shocked if we don't get an award like that. I remember we were shooting there about six months back and I was sitting in the front row at Kodak theatre while sharing a cup of coffee with Sylvester.
I was just telling him that the way the Indian films are being made and the way the Indian actors are performing today, the day is not far that we will be here.
Mr. Mukesh Bhatt while talking to us immediately after the Oscars had a few reservations about the film. He said we already have 11000 Gods and now the latest one is Oscar bhagwaan and it's shameful the way everyone is going overboard in celebrating this win.
I have not heard about it actually. Besides I don't want to react on somebody else's comments. But I do know that I have celebrated. I have celebrated on every event where an Indian is associated.
We are always underdogs and whenever the underdogs win there will always be celebrations all over the world. When the world is looking up to us, I don't know why we should look down upon ourselves.
Alright, we know that Kambakht Ishq has some really big Hollywood names like Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards and Brandon Routh. We have grown up watching Stallone and trying to emulate him. How did you get the idea to approaching Sylvester?
See what happens is that the story (Kambakth Ishq) has Hollywood as its backdrop, Akshay Kumar plays a stunt man. So when you place your film in Hollywood, you need Hollywood actors. There's a love triangle with Denise Richards, there is an action sequence by Sylvester Stallone.
When you want to cast a big star it is necessary to see who you want and whether they are available. I would like to have the moon but I have to see whether it is available or not. We have grown up on Sylvester and he was our first choice. It was just a shot in the dark to begin with.
When we were writing the script we would easily take his name and talk like ‘then this happens and Sylvester comes…then he does this and then there is action and Sylvester does that' we used to laugh at it.
When we are writing it, we used to think ‘Is it possible to actually meet him, forget signing him?' But we kept on giving names. Denise Richards was there because we wanted a James Bond girl. We started mailing people, we started writing. We have some common friends, we started mailing them.
There were some friends who introduced us with an agent, then the script process happened, writing happened and eventually after four months before they said ‘Yes', we were almost there.
Then the day came when I actually had to meet him (Sylvester). We have been his fans, with the Rocky and Rambo series. So 4-5 days before I had to meet him I had goose flesh.
I did not know how to react. I had to discuss the agreement with him and I am about to meet him face to face. When I went to his office the first time I did not know whether to sign the agreement or to get his autograph first.
Whatever message we sent in the universe came back. Whatever we wanted we got it. They were expensive. They were cheap according to their standards but they were expensive according to our standards.
How was the experience of bringing Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor together?
Both are very professional. When we shot in Hollywood everything was on paper. They have this clause called pay and play, so we had to be very careful.
They have to be booked three months in advance so once you booked those dates and if your actors for some reason don't attend the shoot then all your money is gone. We are talking about big money, so we needed somebody.
Let's talk about Sylvester Stallone. I think he is one of the USPs of Kambakth Ishq. There's a lot of curiosity as to what his role in the film is and what's the duration of his role?
He is playing himself in the film. I wouldn't like to kill the curiosity of the audience by telling any definite time duration that they will see him in the film. But he certainly will not have just a walk on role.
We have taken him for what his strength is - action. So there is a major action scene in the film of which he is a part. The first charisma for me was when I chatted with him on mail, then the first experience of sitting face to face and having a cup of coffee. We met o twice, went to his house and he gave me his Rocky gloves. It was beautiful.
Then he started coming on the set in his Ferrari and he used to drive himself. I thought the excitement was over till the time I saw him and Akshay in the same frame and interacting with each other. That was very different.
Again it's a big excitement seeing that and later we shot with him and Bebo. There's an action scene where he saves Kareena, again at this point we felt excited. He has also spoken Hindi in some parts of the film, so it's very exciting for the audience.
Talking about Akshay... his last film Chandni Chowk To China didn't work at the Box Office. Till a few days back people were calling him a super star, but now questions are being raised about films involving him…
It was bound to happen. Anyone who has a success record like his is bound to be pulled down if and when he gives a flop. Australia had five back to back disasters when they lost in cricket, they were pulled down because earlier they were winning left right and centre, so it's overdue.
When I had six back to back hits it was overdue for Jaan-e-Mann. What Akshay has done in the last two years is just unbelievable. Where do you see this!
In my 20-25 year career I have seen this happen just once or twice and the moment they give you one flop, they are pulled down so badly and you have to accept that. It is part of your profession. You have to be ready for it.
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