Tuesday,
September
25,
2007
His
first
film
had
the
stars,
and
it
did
not
fare
well
at
the
box
office.
However,
Saif
Ali
Khan
and
Urmila
Matondkar
managed
to
impress
the
critics
with
their
performance
in
Ek
Hasina
Thi.
Now,
director
Shriram
Raghavan
is
all
set
to
make
a
mark
with
his
next
release,
Johnny
Gaddaar,
starring
Neil
Nitin
Mukesh.
This
time,
he
hopes
to
stay
put
in
Bollywood.
How
is
Johnny
Gaddaar
different
from
Ek
Hasina
Thi?
This
one
is
just
the
opposite
of
my
first
movie.
In
that
movie
my
hero
played
the
role
of
a
villain.
But
in
my
present
film,
I
have
five
people,
who
are
doing
things
they
are
not
supposed
to.
There
is
a
mystery
in
the
film,
not
for
the
audience,
but
for
the
characters.
And
I
am
sure
the
audience
will
enjoy
the
movie.
What's
new
in
this
film?
I'm
working
with
Dharmendraji
in
this
movie
for
the
first
time.
And
five
minutes
into
the
movie,
the
audience
will
forget
Ek
Hasina
Thi.
What
was
it
like
to
work
with
Dharmendra?
I
have
been
his
fan
since
childhood.
I
have
seen
all
his
movies,
and
he
mostly
played
a
thief
or
a
smuggler,
especially
during
the
70s.
Keeping
that
in
mind,
I
wrote
this
character
for
him.
Dharmendraji
plays
the
role
of
a
smuggler
from
the
70s,
who
knows
the
business
inside
out.
Neil
plays
a
young
man,
who
wants
to
learn
a
lot,
within
a
short
span
of
time.
Dharamji's
character
tries
to
advise
him,
to
tell
him
that
the
field
he
has
chosen
is
not
acceptable
in
society,
but
Neil
does
not
listen
to
him.
How
did
you
discover
Neil
Nitin
Mukesh?
I
saw
him
sitting,
with
some
of
his
photographs,
at
a
production
office.
Ashok,
Hritik's
PRO,
made
me
meet
him
later.
We
spoke
for
some
ten
minutes,
during
which
time
I
found
out
that
he
had
assisted
Aditya
Chopra.
Then
I
narrated
my
script,
and
he
showed
interest.
Ten
days
later,
he
auditioned
for
me,
after
which
he
attended
a
workshop
for
two
months.
I
was
looking
for
a
Punjabi
boy,
who
speaks
and
thinks
in
English,
and
Neil
was
the
best
choice.
Jhamu
Sugandh
was
the
producer
of
the
film
at
the
beginning.
What
happened?
I
did
not
want
to
bring
in
his
name.
Anyway,
he
was
the
official
producer
for
thirty
shoot
days,
but
he
had
to
drop
put
due
to
some
financial
difficulties.
Too
much
hard
work
had
gone
into
the
film
to
abandon
it,
so
I
sent
a
proposal
to
Adlabs,
and
they
agreed.
Were
you
nervous
about
this
hitch?
Of
course
I
was
a
little
anxious,
but
I
always
try
to
stay
positive
when
things
go
wrong.
In
Ek
Hasina
Thi,
you
presented
Saif
Ali
Khan
in
a
new
light,
like
he
was
never
seen
earlier.
How
have
you
prepared
Neil
in
this
film?
I
did
not
present
Saif
in
a
different
way.
He
had
worked
in
at
least
25
films
when
I
met
him.
He
liked
the
script
and
was
willing
to
play
the
character.
Things
are
different
with
Neil.
I
have
given
him
a
more
contemporary
character,
someone
from
the
present
generation.
Ek
Hasina
Thi
was
Saif's
first
negative
role,
much
before
Omkara.
'Omkara'
gave
Saif
better
mileage.
It's
all
a
question
of
being
in
the
right
role
at
the
right
time.
You
are
being
generous
in
your
compliment.
I
believe
in
team
work.
My
spot
boy
deserves
the
same
importance
that
I
get,
for
my
films.
Why
did
you
not
take
Saif
for
this
role?
He's
absolutely
unfit
for
the
character.
He's
thirty
plus,
Neil
is
young.
The
story
revolves
around
two
and
half
crore
rupees
and
Neil
fits
in
the
story
very
well.
These
days,
people
talk
about
500
crores,
and
if
Saif
is
shown
getting
affected
by
such
a
small
sum,
it
will
become
a
comedy.
What
are
the
hurdles
that
you
faced
during
filming?
There
is
a
scene
where
a
train
coming
to
Mumbai
has
some
action
on
it.
It
is
a
12-mimute
sequence.
We
shot
in
an
actual
train
for
this,
traveling
between
Mumbai
to
Surat
and
back.
We
also
shot
at
Pune
and
Lonavala
stations
at
night.
Our
unit
began
shooting
at
Mumbai
Central
at
night.
That
was
difficult.
Parvez
Fazal
Khan
is
the
man
responsible
for
the
action
in
that
scene.
Tell
us
a
little
about
your
next
film,
Happy
Birthday.
I
am
not
doing
'Happy
Birthday'.
My
next
is
an
unnamed
movie,
produced
by
Ramesh
Sippy.
It
is
a
love
story,
starring
John
Abraham.