We had some films on the floor that time. Later, somehow other subjects kept coming to the fore. When we really wanted to make it, the video boom had begun and films were flopping left, right and centre. At this point of time, we decided to venture into television. Besides, my father has not been keeping well since past few years. Ultimately, I decided to pick up the gauntlet.

My first choice for this film were Dilip Kumar and Waheeda Rehman. That was years back when we were toying with the idea of beginning this film. The story is essentially a love story of a 60-plus couple. Today, Dilip saab and Waheedaji have moved away from the 60-plus bracket. I couldn’t have thought of a better jodi than Amitabh and Hema, could I? Amitabh has worked for us in Zameer, and since then, we had become close friends.

Yes. There’s this man who has never stayed apart from his wife, but he is forced to do so due to a split in the family. What the couple feels and undergoes due to the separation forms the crux of the story.

Wrong. It’s not like Avtaar. In Avtaar, the man takes revenge from his sons. They drive him out and he rises like a Phoenix from the ashes. Here, the husband and wife are forced to stay apart. There are questions thrown at the audience: If parents help the children
to walk their first step, why can’t the children help the parents to walk their last step? It’s mauj masti (fun) if children come to their parents’ house, but why is it maatam (sorrow) if parents come to their children’s house? Salman does play the good boy but his role is different from Sachin’s.

Fantastic. They have worked together many times before- Kasauti (1974), Sholay (1975), Trishul (1978), Do Aur Do Paanch (1980), Naseeb (1981), Desh Premee (1982), Satte Pe Satta (1981) and Andha Kanoon (1983)- and you don’t feel that they’e paired opposite each other after a gap of 20 years.

Well, first I offered the role to Shah Rukh Khan. He said his back problem had aggravated and I should go ahead with someone else. I went to Salman and he agreed.

I called her and told her that I wanted to do the film. She said, ‘Are you sure that you have a good enough role for me?’ I told her, ‘Do you think I would dare to offer you something fluffy?’ She laughed and agreed. We have a wonderful equation. I know her from the days of our home-production The Burning Train. See, it’s a love story between a man and woman. The woman needed to look very good. Who would have fitted better than Hema?

Initially, we had decided that he would lend his voice to only one song. But sometime later, I heard him humming the other songs. I loved the way he was singing. I coaxed him into singing the other three songs which are filmed on him. That man is amazing. According to the original plan, Sudesh Bhonsle was going to lend his voice to Amitabh’s songs, but in the end, Sudesh sang only one number.

That man is punctual to the dot. He will crack jokes on the sets, and you feel that he doesn’t know anything, isn’t involved with anything. The next moment, he is ready! Besides, he doesn’t need to be told what and how he has to do a particular scene.

Nobody knows his job better than he does.

Of course, I know. But I can’t make two statements in one film. If I want to show bad parents and good children, I would prefer making another film.

I am reading a couple of scripts. I have narrowed down to two of them. One film would be a biggie starring the Big B. The other one would be a quickie with lesser known actors. TWF