The viewer, of late, has been rather unkind to Rajkumar Santoshi. But he has one ardent fan and she is sitting quietly in his lap while Santoshi meets a salvo of quick-fire questions. It’s his daughter, who has seen his new film five times.

It’s been a while since we last saw a Santoshi film. After a two-year-long hiatus, Halla Bol is slated to be released in a theatre near you on December 21. And with a series of flops behind him, the much-acclaimed film director is, clearly, pinning his hopes on the Ajay Devgan-Vidya Balan starrer.

“It has a message that will make people think. But it will also entertain them,” he says. “Halla Bol is about how we make a vital difference to society, and how each of us should be ready to attack wrong doing with our collective spirit.”

Sounds a tad serious — but Santoshi insists it’s pure entertainment. “The first thing I want in my films is entertainment. The audience comes for entertainment — not to learn anything. But if I can send a message without compromising on the entertainment value, why not?”

Some of his films, however, have failed to entertain. China Gate and Pukar were box office turkeys, The Legend of Bhagat Singh was critically acclaimed, but did not make much money. Lajja, despite having everyone from Madhuri Dixit and Rekha to Manisha Koirala and Mahima Choudhary in it, flopped. And while his 2005 film Khakee did fairly well, Family in 2006 underlined the fact that the director needed a hit — and ASAP.

But Santoshi is cool. “All those who have seen the new film have liked it. My daughter has seen it five times, and she likes it. I hold this as proof that people will like the movie.”

With his thick glasses, Santoshi looks more like a school teacher than a film director. In fact, there is little in him to indicate that he is a much acclaimed, though financially unsuccessful, director. But the man who gave audiences films such as the woman-centric Damini, the hard-hitting Ghayal and then the comic Andaz Apna Apna is often described in and outside the industry as a vastly talented film-maker.

His subjects, for one, are always intense — dealing with issues such as marital rape or societal violence. “Films have to come from the heart,” he says. And, no, Santoshi holds that he does not believe in hits and flops — all that he wants to do is make films on issues that move him. Sunny Deol won his National award under Santoshi’s direction for Damini, Ajay Devgan won for The Legend of Bhagat Singh and Anil Kapoor for Pukar. And that explains why the top actors are always keen to work with him.

Halla Bol revolves around the life of a star. “Everybody admires a star,” he says. There was some speculation that the film had been based on the Jessica Lal murder case. But Santoshi insists that the film has nothing to do with the Delhi model who was shot dead at a restaurant where she was bartending. “We have such an incident in the film but it is not based on it,” he says.

This, clearly, is the era of films that seek to make a change. After Rang de Basanti inspired a generation to embrace candle light vigils as a form of protest, the director expects Halla Bol to set people thinking. “I don’t know how much it’s going to inspire the people but I am very sure that it definitely will get them thinking. It will make them aware and conscious of the responsibilities of every citizen. If they want to bring change, it’s time they raised a voice. In a democratic set-up we can bring about change. And a gun is not the way.”

This seems to be Santoshi’s philosophy, for he is clearly a mild-mannered man. The interview is being conducted in a Mumbai hotel on the sidelines of a press conference for Halla Bol. In a black shirt and baggy trousers with his shirt-tails out, Santoshi is more comfortable speaking Hindi than English. He is patently unassuming — the kind who’d rather travel by an autorickshaw than wait for his driver if he is running late.

That’s not surprising. Santoshi’s beginnings were humble. The boy from a lower middle class Thane family made his mark in the mid-eighties as an assistant to director Govind Nihalani. In 1990, his first film, Ghayal, showcased him as a director of no mean talent. But the man lives like a recluse with his wife and two children. A threat from the underworld has forced him to keep a low profile. He is out now, though, to talk about a film that has stirred up considerable interest among film buffs.

Unfortunately for Santoshi — though he doesn’t quite see it like that — his film is being released at the same time as Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par. We all know what happened to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya which was released on the same day as Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om. Khan is gurgling all the way to the mint, and Bhansali is in some corner, sulking very seriously.

“It’s a co-incidence,” says Santoshi about the film’s release date. “It’s possible that we may shift our dates if necessary. That issue should be tackled and discussed with the distributors.”

Like Om Shanti Om — which had a class of 31 top stars gyrating to one song — Halla Bol is said to feature a great many actors and actresses. “Since the film is about a hero, we have to show actors around him when he is working. But this is not a publicity gimmick. That’s why I am not revealing who they are and not mentioning anything about them in the promos.”

Santoshi’s next film after Halla Bol is on Ashok — based on the emperor’s life after the war of Kalinga. And it will be, he promises, vastly different from the 2001 Asoka, starring Shah Rukh Khan. “While all films and most history stop at Kalinga, my film will look at life beyond the war. It’s going to be a mega-budget movie.”

Ajay Devgan will figure in the new film, for the actor is clearly a Santoshi favourite. The director breaks out into a smile. “Yes, I am an Ajay Devgan fan. I like him as an actor and he is a good friend as well. But all my good friends need not be in front of my camera. I have taken him in my film because of his talent, because I think he is one of the most versatile actors around who can merge and interpret just any character.”

His role in the film, he adds, is that of a man with a complex character. “I thought Ajay was the one who could bring that out well. He might not be a conventional looking star but nor is Amitabh Bachchan. In Ashok, I needed a dark-skinned person with sharp eyes. And Ajay is perfect for it.”

Will there ever be a Santoshi masala potboiler? Unlikely, going by present trends. “I have never done a masala film. I have made comedy but have done justice to it. When I take up a subject, I try keeping it clean. When I make an action film I don’t put a comedy track to it. Andaz Apna Apna had no emotional scenes. I never mix things,” he says. “And I am not a person who can sell a movie by making girls dance in bikinis,” he adds with a smile.

Why haven’t film-goers seen another Andaz Apna Apna, a rollicking and musical comedy with Aamir Khan, who is still remembered for wearing a quirky cap with a pom-pom?

“That’s because there has not been any such director. Let’s see, may be I will do it myself,” he says, and chuckles. “I am working on a script.”

So here’s to the Return of Andaz Apna Apna. It’s the age of sequels, after all, but Santoshi had better be careful. He’d do well to remember a man called Ram Gopal Varma.