Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in kAmbakkht Ishq

You are calling ishq kambakkht. What does ishq mean to you?

Hamesha kambakkht hi hai. Ishq can never be simple. It’s one emotion that nobody has been able to understand in the universe; it’s like music. Sometimes you connect to music even though you don’t know the language the person is singing in. It’s the same way with love. Nobody has been able to define it. But… it’s not simple.

How did you pull off such a huge star cast for your maiden venture?

We didn’t set out to make the biggest film. It just became big. My producer Sajid Nadiadwala is school friends with Akshay. I have seen Akshay working in Heyy Babyy and Jaan-e-Mann and being completely available to the filmmakers. I worked with Akshay as an assistant director on Mujhse Shaadi Karoge. He was supportive even when I was a nobody. He would always tell me: “Sabbir, whenever you decide to make a film, I would love to hear the script and would like to be a part of it.”

Sabbir Khan

Why did you set Kambakkht Ishq in Hollywood?

When I was writing this film, we portrayed Akshay Kumar’s character as a stuntman and Kareena as a supermodel. So the film had to be set in the movie industry but Bollywood was done to death so the only way to go was Hollywood. It was an impossible dream at that time. But we dreamt big and lived in Hollywood for a year and approached the biggest of stars and managed it.

Did you feel nervous while directing the likes of Stallone?

No. I spent a year there meeting them and interacting with them. When Sylvester Stallone came on the sets for the first time, there was a moment when I felt a little nervous; but I overcame it very soon. When I had seen Rocky and Rambo, I never thought I would be directing him one day. Sylvester Stallone is playing himself in the film and Akshay Kumar is playing his body double who performs his stunts.

Did Akshay Kumar give any creative inputs?

No. I wrote Akshay’s character keeping him in mind. So he didn’t have to come and interfere.

Akshay’s last two films haven’t worked. Will it have any bearing on Kambakkht Ishq?

I don’t think so. Those films didn’t work because they were not good films. Lots of people are fans of Shah Rukh, Aamir or Akshay Kumar. If they don’t like some films, they move on; but the respect and adoration they have for their favourite stars don’t disappear. A star’s job is to do a film with complete honesty and integrity and move on.

What is the one thing you like about Akshay and Kareena?

I have worked with a lot of actors but I have not seen a superstar like Akshay Kumar who will reach the sets at four in the morning and will shoot till 11 in the night even for a first-time director like me. He keeps the atmosphere on the sets very light, he keeps cracking jokes. He doesn’t come on the sets with starry baggage.

I feel Akshay could be successful in any other field too but Kareena could not be anything but an actress. Kareena was born to act. She needs very little direction. When she comes on the sets she is happily eating and playing but as soon as the camera is switched on, she is so focussed.