There is a formula

And that formula is entertainment, feels Sajid Khan. A high success rate with the genre makes him believe that

And that formula is entertainment, feels Sajid Khan. A high success rate with the genre makes him believe that

I have always thought of Sajid Khan as a brash guy, which is why our communication has been limited to formal hellos and such. Also, knowing that he hates critics makes him my natural-born enemy, but somehow a casual

Sajid Khan and Akshay Kumar. pic/ Pradeep Dhivar

post-release phone conversation leads to an over-coffee chat with the Housefull director. The film has taken a phenomenal opening. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala is thrilled to be calling distributors to request for tickets for friends and relatives. The star cast is celebrating their "big hit". Just how big? I'll let SK tell you. Read on...
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So you have managed to deliver what you promisedu00a000 a hit film.
I knew that Housefull will be the biggest hit of 2010. I had said that the title of this film would be synonymous with its fate at the box-office.

You even gave letters to the cast members at the onset saying this would be the biggest hit of their careers?
And that has become true. I wrote in those letters that 'Guys, you need to have blind faith in me and not cross question me because I know that I am making the film for the audience and not for you and me'. I said, 'Let's make this film for a ticket-paying audience and not for ourselves'.

But it also said that you would give them their career-best?
Yes, till our next one together (laughs). So far, the indication is: it is the biggest hit of their careers. Except for Boman Irani, who has 3 Idiots. I don't think I will be able to beat that film's collections.

Wasn't that a cocky statement?
How is it cocky?

Filmmaking is a gamble. You never know what will work. And promising a hit is cocky.
No, filmmaking is not a gamble. It's like a batsman saying, 'Main pehle ball pe chakka maroonga.'

But no one says that. Or claims that.
Aur player ne maar diya toh?

Maar diya, toh maar diya.
Toh maine sixer maar diya, na? Are you aware of that we have taken the biggest opening after 3 Idiots? I was cocky/ confident even during Heyy Babyy, when even Akshay, Riteish and Sajid Nadiadwala weren't sure. I'd told Akshay at the time that I'd give him his career's first 50 crore- opening film. I did. Housefull will be Akshay Kumar's first 100- crore grosser. You know that there are only two 100 crore grosser films in India? One is Ghajini (106 crores), and the other is 3 Idiots (204 crore). I am hoping Akshay joins that league now.

Have you found a formula?
There is a formula. And that formula is entertainment. When you go to the number one heart surgeon with the biggest of problems, you know there is a 95 percent success rate. There will always be a five per cent chance of failure but we pay such a premium, for a good doctor because we know ke yahan pe kaam hone hi wala hai.

But that's a procedure.
And so is this. Entertainment is the simplest procedure of them all which people have forgotten. The formula is, believing in yourself, and believing in the audience for whom you are making the film. You fail when you stop believing in the audience and start believing that you are God and that whatever you make will be accepted.

If there is a formula, why don't more people get it right?
They don't because they don't make films for the audiences. They make films for themselves, or to please some critic sitting on some high horse somewhere. Or some section of audience which wants to see new, surrealistic films that don't work.

Some also make films to win awards.
Awards, to be very honest,u00a0 don't make the kind of difference they used to ten years ago. I think no one's price or respect goes up after getting an award. Today, they are merely TV shows. And very soon, not only will people charge for accepting awards, they will start charging to accept invitations to them.

I disagree. All actors love awards.
Of course they love awards. Ok, tell me something. When five actors are nominated for the same award, how many actually turn up for the award function?

Only one. The guy who has been told he is winning the award.
(laughs) There you go... So that speaks for the credibility of the award. But at the Oscars, when they announce the winner, you have all the five nominees there cheering.

Arindam Chaudhary had made a "fool-proof film" that bombed. Now you seem to have found the fool-proof method.u00a0
Stop being sarcastic. The formula is very simple. Believe in what you are doing. You have to update with the times. No way is Housefull a tacky film. The starcast, the sets, the clothes, everything is looking good. There is no vulgarity in the film, there is no dishonour to women or...

But some people from the gay community are offended. They think you are homophobic.
Really? There is nothing offending about the gay scenes in Housefull. They areu00a0 cute. I have gay friends, I hang out with them. I think they are very creative and talented people. I mean no disrespect, but whatever you do, you end up offending some section of the public. I am definitely not homophobic. I am very heterosexual. I love women.u00a0

The climax has got mixed reactions. Were you prepared for that?
Yes, I was prepared. But I had two options. Going the complete slapstick and hogwash way of all of them falling on top of each other or a house balancing on a tree, or hanging on top of a bridge. Or going in for something totally unusual, illogical and bizarre, but something fresh and new. And I chose to do the latter. I had many alternatives but this kind of climax has not been done before. It was unique but no one leaves the film without a smile. Which is also what I had said a year ago. That I guarantee when you leave the theatre, you will be smiling.

You are supremely confident, aren't you?
No. I feel that at the end of the day, nothing matters but the audience. I have full faith in my ability to connect with the audience. I don't think I am a good director, very honestly, and very realistically. I think there are a 10,000 other directors who are greater technicians, who understand the craft better than me. I am still learning. The difference between Heyy Babyy and this films was that in my first film, I was asking my DoP (director of photography) for advice and in my second film, I was telling him what to do. HB will always have a special place in my heart but with Housefull, I have jumped ahead by leaps and bounds in terms of technicality. I guess my third one will be even better in terms of how I shoot it.

Aren't you scared of being labelled as a comedy maker now? Would you want to do something dramatically different in your next?
Yes, I would. I started my career with a horroru00a0-- Darna Zaroori Hai. I feel there is no genre I cannot do because I haven't worked with a director or I haven't come up in a particular school of filmmaking. My school of filmmaking is watching films, so I think I may attempt something different but for now, I don't know what genre that will be.u00a0 Don't think Heyy Babyy and Housefull are comedy films. They are entertainers. A comedy has to have nonstop laughter. Both my films have emotional quotients. Like both the Munnabhai films are known as comedy films. Ditto for 3 Idiots. But these films are entertainers, not comedies. And my next film will also be an entertainer. I am very happy with the film, and I feel by the first week of January 2011, when the top-grosser chart is out, Housefull will be number one.u00a0u00a0u00a0
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The year has just started, we might get big hits down the months.
We have already had a bonafide hit. My Name Is Khan made 71 crores in India. We will cross that figure in just the first week.

You don't think any other film this year will top your film's collections?
I hope Farah's (Khan) film Tees Maar Khan beats my film. Honest to God. There are many big films coming this year. There is Kites and Raajneeti, which I think will do very well. Also, Bhansali's Guzaarish. These are all big films which have the potential to do great box-office business. That is why it is too early to say anything but a year later, we will see which movie is biggest in terms of box-office.u00a0

When you made statements like your film's collections will beat MNIK's collections, don't you stop to think about offending your friends Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan?
I never said that. It's like me saying, 'Roko. Mat maro.' And it gets presented forward as 'Roko mat. Maro.' I was asked in an interview if I thought my film would do more business than MNIK in India. And I said, 'Yes, it will'. Then I was asked, 'So it will be a bigger hit than MNIK?' and I said 'Yes, it will be.' My first week will be about 55-60 crores. My second week will be 30-35 crores. I don't think I will be able to get anything close to MNIK's overseas collections.u00a0 It is phenomenal there. People over there are crazy over SRK and Karan -- they are champs overseasu00a0-- but in India, of course, I will beat the film.

Farah made two films with SRK and is making a third with Akshay... You have made two films with Akshay... you see where I am going?
My third with SRK??? (laughs) I don't even know what the third one is. But of course I would love to work with Shah Rukh. Which director would not love to work with him? And my dream is to get the two superstars (SRK and Akki) together.

Now that would be something.
Exactly my point. And if they come together, sab se bada faayda kiska hoga? Audience ka. They both have such strong fan bases, imagine the two of them coming together, like '70s jodi Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna -- the best two-hero pairing, both superstars. Now imagine Akki-SRK together, doing a comedy, action or a song together. And who better than me in the world to pull it off?

You tell me.
I openly say it that no other director will be able to do it with so much passion as I will be able to, because I grew up watching movies like Parvarish and Khoon Pasina.u00a0 I think the big clash of two heroes at their peak was Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha fight. I love this kind of cinema. The audience too goes ballistic. And it's my dream to do that but I don't know what I will do next.

Any plans to become a producer like your sister Farah?
No, no, no. (Laughs) I don't think so. A producer has to take too much stress. I see my friend Sajid Nadiadwala doing that and I don't want to do that.u00a0