Sohail Khan in heroes

Sohail Khan, who has two major releases in October — Hello and Heroes — reveals his plans...

Hello has had a decent opening. How do you look back at the film?

The film was great fun. The entire team was like an extended family. Sharman (Joshi) was a pleasure to work with — he’s a great actor. There is a lot of chemistry between the two of us. Gul (Panag) and I were working together for the first time, while I have already worked with Amu (Amrita Arora) and Ishaa (Koppikar).

Heroes is an interesting title. Who are the ‘heroes’ of the story?

Heroes is about the soldiers who have lost their lives for the country. And their loved ones who live without them, but with pride, are also the heroes. It is the story of Preity (Zinta), Mithunda (Chakraborty) and Sunny (Deol). Preity loses her husband, Mithun loses his son and Sunny loses his brother.

Did you spend a considerable amount of time with the armymen during the shoot?

Oh yes! When we were in Ladakh, I spent all my evenings in the army mess with young captains and jawans. It was great fun being with them; they are the real heroes. They have real stories to tell and have encountered real adventures in their lives.

What was the experience of working with Preity and Mithun for the first time?

Preity is such a big star but on the sets she is just like one of us. Vatsal (Seth) and I are junior to her but she is very accommodating. She takes care of you and guides you too. Dada has won three National Awards. He is a very competent actor, you can’t get better than him.

How did Vatsal and you make Mithunda breathless?

In Ladakh, we were cracking jokes at lunch time. I have forgotten the joke but Mithunda found the joke very funny and just couldn’t stop laughing. As you know, Ladakh is at a great height and when you get there you need one day just to get acclimatised due to lack of oxygen. Mithunda began losing his breath and had to lie down. Vatsal and I didn’t realise the gravity of the situation and we just broke down laughing. Dada gasped: “Main saans nahin le sakta aur tum dono hans rahe ho.” He burst into laughter again but we became serious and called for a doctor who had to give him oxygen.

Of course you have worked with Salman (Khan) and Sunny before...

With Salmanbhai, I have a very good comfort level and I have worked with him before. I have worked with Sunny in Lakeer earlier. When I got to know that Sunny Sir has agreed to be a part of the film, I heaved a sigh of relief. Director Sameer Karnik’s wish list for the film had come true. Everyone has done really well in the film.

I believe you even stripped for the film...

In the film, it’s the birthday of Riya Sen, who is dating Vatsal. Vatsal and I are not invited but we pile-on and hide behind a huge cake. Riya’s friends mistake us for strippers. Riya realises that we have gate-crashed into the party. She instigates her friends to rip off our clothes and ultimately we are left with just our boxers.

How would you describe your rapport with Vatsal?

Superb! He is a great kid who is very eager to learn. When you are working on a film like Heroes which requires a long outdoor schedule, you hope to find someone you can get along with. Thankfully, Vatsal is a good guy.

Acting, producing or directing — what gives you the biggest kick?

Direction because it is a very responsible job. You are the captain of the ship. You drive the complete team.

Then why are you not directing despite having helmed the successful Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya?

At this moment, I have nothing to say and therefore there is no film in the offing. God has been really kind as far as my production is concerned. I have four films on hand which will be out by 2009. I can only consider direction in 2010. Right now, I want to establish my production house.

What next?

After my acting roles in Hello and Heroes, I am the actor-producer in Kisaan and Main Aur Mrs Khanna. By May next year, we will start Partner 2. I don’t even have the capacity to think of, leave alone, execute anything more.