Currently out on bail, film producer Nazim Rizvi was arrested in 2000 along with Bharat Shah for having underworld links, using mob money to make Chori Chori Chupke Chupke and coercing his actors and crew to work with him. After spending nearly three years in jail, Rizvi was out on bail in 2003. Since then, he has quietly gone back to making films. Today he is ready with two films ? Hello? Hum Lallan Bol Rahein Hain and Undertrial. Both films star Rajpal Yadav. A third film starring his favourite actor Salman Khan will roll out soon. Breaking his silence, Rizvi speaks to S. Ramachandran on a host of issues.

What’s the progress on the case?

The courts have granted me bail because they do not feel that the prosecution’s case holds much. I am fighting it with my lawyers at the moment.

What brings you back to making films?

I am a filmmaker and shall remain one. I was making films earlier when I was arrested and now that I have my finances in place again I am making films.

You were arrested in December 2000 and released on bail in December 2003. Why have you been silent till now?

I did not wish to talk. Too much had already been said. People wrote what they wanted to. After I was arrested, everyone whom I know distanced himself from me. Nobody called even my family. Only the police kept calling. I was very worried about how people would behave with my family. But the people who were funding my earlier films were the ones who stuck by me and are financing my film projects today.

What is Hello... Hum Lallan Bol Rahein Hain all about?

It’s a comedy. Rajpal Yadav has done a very good job in the film.

What about Undertrial?

It is based on some of my experiences in jail. I spent a long time there. Three years and 13 days to be precise. Some characters are inspired by my experiences. There is one such character called Mukesh Tiwari who’s close to my real life. In the film, he is the one who helps and inspires the main character, played by Rajpal Yadav, to fight his case and win.

You also have ex-cop T.K. Chaudhary in your film ?

Yes, he is playing a cop in both Undertrial as well as Hello? Hum Lallan Bol Rahein Hain. I wanted a good personality who had worked in the police department and could understand the nuances of the police force. I had seen Chaudhary at a few social events and was introduced to him by some common friends. I narrated the script and he agreed to work in my film. I have one more cop in my film ? PSI Digamber Jangle who was arrested in the Telgi scam.

Did you shoot Undertrial at Thane Jail?

I saw the shooting of Shriram Raghavan’s Ek Hasina Thi when I was at Thane Jail. Hence I wanted to shoot there as well. Initially the jail authorities refused to give me permission as I was lodged there earlier. But I pointed to the inscriptions in the jail that said that it’s a place where one betters one’s life. They agreed to allow me to shoot there for 10 days.

Any comments on your jail mates and Big Bulls Ketan Parikh and Harshad Mehta?

Harshad Mehta was a very spiritual person who wanted to learn the postures of namaaz just a few hours before his death. He even gifted me a book on spiritualism with his autograph which I treasure. His death was natural. It was due to a heart attack. There was no foul play as speculated by some people, including his brother. I was the only witness to his death. He had a stroke and the doctor came to see him and called for the wireless van. That was the procedure in jail. I have written a film script with that in mind. It’s called Seven Days before Death. All this is a part of a book that I have written called Aankhen Meri Baki Unka.

Something like your jail dairies?

Yes. But it is a complete book. I got a call from a television channel which wants the rights to produce a TV serial on this. It was offering me Rs 5 lakh per episode with a minimum guarantee of 102 epsiodes. But I refused.

You’ve maintained that you are innocent.

I know what I have done and what I haven’t and God knows that as well. Salman Khan, whom I know for 25 years now, also believes that I am innocent. He even said in court that he would work with me again and again. And yes, he is going to do a film with me soon. People have read and interpreted Preity Zinta’s statements in many styles. I would like them to ask her and others from the film whether I really belong to the underworld or whether I have ever behaved badly with them. In fact, I have paid people more than what they were getting in the market. When directors Abbas and Mustanbhai suggested that I cast this new girl Preity Zinta in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, I paid her Rs 25 lakh. Abbas-Mustan worked with her in Soldier and felt that she was good. I signed her because they wanted her.

What now?

I will continue to make films. I don’t have anything against people who had me arrested. I know God is up there.