lYou are working with another first-time director. How did this one happen?

Well, Saket (Choudhary) came to me three years back with the script of Pyaar Ke Side Effects. I found it the funniest romantic comedy I have read in my life. It was very relevant, very contemporary. Saket couldn’t find a producer for the movie for quite some time. Then I finally put him with Pritish Nandy Communications.

lSo what is Pyaar Ke Side Effects about?

It’s a film about a couple seeing each other for three years. Finally she loses patience and pops the question: “Will you marry me?” The poor guy who is watching an India-Australia cricket match is completely terrified.

Come on, love is one thing and marriage is something else, shocking to say the least. So, both run away and have a new boyfriend and girlfriend and parade around each other. It’s really a wonderful rom com in terms of wit and humour. Also, my character confides in the audiences and takes them through all the side-effects of romance.

lWhy would you agree to work with someone like Mallika Sherawat?

When I heard that Mallika would be the one, I had three concerns. One, whether she had any comic timing, because I can’t act with someone without that. Two, whether she was hard working. And three, whether she would listen as a co-actor. Well, I found that she was funny, willing to learn and very co-operative. So, the role was re-tailored for her — an aggressive Jatni girl, yet very romantic.

lMallika Sherawat’s image has become synonymous with a sexy, dumb babe. What is your take on her?

I don’t find her sexy. I don’t find her dumb. I find her to be honest, straightforward, smart and uncomplicated. She can be funny, I can tell you that.

Finally, she is like any other girl. I can understand why men find her sexy. But for me sex appeal happens in the brain. And I just can’t imagine feeling something like that about my co-star.

lSo you feel that real-life couples never work on reel?

I believe on-screen chemistry is a fluke. The sexual chemistry that people often talk about, it just happens. You can’t plan it, you can’t create it. You can be very close to your co-star, yet not ooze that chemistry.

lBeing a director yourself, would you have cast Mallika in your film?

I wouldn’t have written a role for her. But if I found the right role, I would have cast her far away from anything people know her as.

lThe USP of the film must be this odd-ball pairing…

No, I feel it is the writing that is quite wonderful. I am sure when couples watch the film, the girlfriends would nudge the boyfriends and tell them, “Hey, that’s you!”

lAfter English August and Mumbai Matinee, Pyaar Ke Side Effects is the third film where you actually interact with the audiences…

I am most comfortable in being the authorial voice. The idea of this voice is to confess in front of the audiences and thus get closer to them. It can be funny, it can also be tragic, or it can a combination of both.

lWhat other films are you looking forward to?

Rajeev Virani’s Whisperers with Manoj Bajpai should release by November. I have seen the first cut and it’s turned out quite well. Then there’s Kerala by Santosh Sivan with Nandita Das that should premiere at Cannes next year. And there’s also Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s Anuranon with Rituparna Sengupta, Raima Sen and Rajat Kapoor. That’s a lovely mix. I have never been happier.

lBuddhadeb Dasgupta’s Kalpurush hasn’t yet released…

I am really distressed about that. Kalpurush is easily the best work I have done. And despite making it to two of the four big international film festivals — Toronto, Berlin, Cannes and Venice — it’s not released commercially.

lWhat’s the status with your own directorial venture?

I am writing the screenplay now. It is based on a famous novel, which is not Indian. The casting has been done but I wouldn’t want to reveal it now. It’s an international project with a budget of around $ 1.1 million. Five or six financiers have shown interest. It should roll by March next year. Now I will start shooting for Orissa-based director Manmohan Mahapatra’s Hindi film with Nandita Das and Shilpa Shetty.