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The promos of Jodi Breakers seem pretty interesting. What is the kind of feedback that you have been getting?
Exactly the same as what you said (laughs). The feedback has been nothing short of overwhelming. People are liking the look of the film. The music is a big hit already. The reaction to the promos as well as the music has been extremely warm and heartening.
What prompted you to sign the film?
It’s a very fresh story. Most of our films are about making people fall in love; this one is about causing a rift between those who are in love. So in that sense alone, it’s kind of virgin territory in Bollywood. That’s what drew me to the film.
What is your role?
I play a guy called Sid who gets divorced at the beginning of the film and that makes him realise that people who are in relationships are generally unhappy people (laughs). So he becomes this break-up specialist who helps in smoothly putting an end to the relationships of those who hire him. He joins hands with a girl (Bipasha Basu) who is in the same profession. What happens to them after that is the story.
From the promos, Jodi Breakers seems inspired by the Pierce Brosnan-Julianne Moore starrer Laws of Attraction and now the makers of the 2010 film Heartbreaker have claimed that Jodi Breakers has lifted portions...
It’s an issue that has been hyped up for nothing. I have a very simple question to put to the producers of Heartbreaker: ‘Why don’t you come and see Jodi Breakers and see how different the two films are?’ I have read the screenplay of Heartbreaker and let me tell you that there are no similarities whatsoever between the two films.
Bipasha Basu and you seem quite an unlikely pair. How was it working with her?
It was lovely. Bipasha is an amazing woman… extremely sorted, with a solid head on her shoulders. She’s very professional and a complete pleasure to work with. I don’t think the audience has seen Bipasha in the way you will get to see her in Jodi Breakers. She is doing a romantic comedy for the first time, and let me tell you, she is very good in the film.
Bipasha had told us recently that she wants to marry someone like you! Your reaction?
Any man would feel flattered, especially when it comes from someone like Bipasha. I am very, very flattered… in fact, I am blushing right now! (Laughs.) I don’t know what I have done to invite such great words. But yes, I can live with it (laughs).
Is it true that she recommended you for the film?
In a roundabout way, yes. She was the one who first got the script, which was some three years ago. She read and liked it and she suggested to the producers who were handling the project then that they should try me out. But then the film didn’t take off then and the producers had changed in the mean time. The new producers came and pitched the film to me after a year or so, but by then Bipasha had moved on to her Hollywood film (Roland Joffe’s Singularity). But when I read the script, I realised that the film demanded Bipasha more than me. The director (Ashwini Dhoop) wanted to sign on some other heroine, but I put my foot down and said that I would do the film only if Bipasha was in it. She recommended me… I waited for her to finish her projects… and then finally we did this film together.
Did the surprise success of Tanu Weds Manu last year change things for you as a solo romantic lead?
Not really. I have always done one film in a year. Even after Tanu Weds Manu became a huge success, I did just one film in Bollywood, and that’s Jodi Breakers. I am always very clear about the fact that I will not do more than one Hindi film a year. Besides Jodi Breakers, I was busy with my Tamil film Vettai.
You effortlessly straddle the Hindi and Tamil film industries. Where does your priority lie?
My priority lies with a good project and a good script. But both the industries (Hindi and Tamil) are now complaining that I am not devoting enough time to either of them (laughs).... That’s the maximum that I can stretch myself. Jodi Breakers and Vettai both left me very exhausted last year. This year, I have already come across a couple of good scripts. I am hoping to do a bilingual this year, so that at least my two-film-quota-in-a-year is done in one shot! (Laughs.)
How do you look back at your 15-year-old career?
Oh, there is always room for improvement. But I have to say that I have generally been very lucky, yaar. I don’t know if my career has been very illustrious, but I can definitely say that I have had a good life. I have done all the things that I ever wanted to… I have done the films I wanted to. God has been very, very kind to me. But then, sometimes, an overwhelming sense of gratitude overshadows ambition. And that is something that I have often been accused of… that I am not ambitious enough. But this year, I plan to change that and become a little more active… chase down a lot of things. At 41, I am looking at changing certain things in the outlook I have had about life (laughs).
Which do you prefer — a huge multistarrer like 3 Idiots or a small film like Jodi Breakers where you are the solo lead?
A film like Jodi Breakers is always more exciting for an actor like me because a large part of the film rests on my shoulders. Unless it’s a film by someone like Rajkumar Hirani where one knows what one’s standing in the film is right from the start, I would always prefer a small film like Jodi Breakers or Tanu Weds Manu where I play a pivotal role. Right now, multistarrers don’t work for me, unless it’s another 3 Idiots which I would gladly give a limb to work in!
You are all set to play math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan in a biopic called The Man Who Knew Infinity…
I am under a contract and can’t speak about it yet. All I can say is that yes, I am doing the film and I am very excited about it. Eventually, the producer (Edward Pressman) and director (Matt Brown) will come to India and then only can I talk about the film. |
