Two
days
after
the
tepid
response
to
the
latest
Salman
starrer
Main
Aurr
Mrs
Khanna,
its
shell-shocked
debutant
director
Prem
Soni
was
bracing
himself
to
be
written
off
as
one-film
wannabe-wonder.
Salman
Khan
restored
Prem's
trust
in
his
abilities
when
on
Sunday
night
at
a
private
family
gathering,
he
embraced
the
shaken
director
and
announced,
"No
matter
what
people
say
about
Khanna,
you
are
doing
our
next
film."
Relieved
beyond
belief,
Prem
Soni
is
now
a
bigger
Salman
fan
than
ever
before.
"The
way
Main
Aurr
Mrs
Khanna
has
been
received,
I
thought
no
one
would
want
to
touch
me
with
a
bargepole.
So
many
announcements
go
down
the
drain
if
the
first
film
doesn't
work."
Relieved,
Soni
is
still
bewildered
by
the
savage
response
to
his
maiden
effort.
"It
was
almost
as
if
we
made
the
worst
film
on
this
earth.
I
could
smell
the
resentment
against
the
film.
There
was
definitely
an
attempt
to
write
it
off
on
the
day
of
release."
Salman
who
had
just
delivered
a
grand
hit
in
Wanted
showed
his
full
faith
in
Main
Aurr
Mrs
Khanna.
Says
the
director,
"He
completely
believed
in
my
film
and
his
character.
But
since
he
was
already
so
visible
for
Wanted,
we
decided
to
go
easy
on
the
publicity
for
Mrs
Khanna.
We
were
wrong.
This
was
a
different
Salman
and
a
different
film.
Not
that
aggressive
promotion
helps.
But
aggressive
anti-publicity
surely
damaged
my
film."
Whatever
the
response
to
the
film
at
home,
Main
Aurr
Mrs
Khanna
has
been
warmly
received
in
Australia
where
the
film
is
set
and
where
a
number
of
prominent
Hindi
films
have
been
lately
shot.
Says
Prem
Soni,
"Melbourne
is
not
just
a
location
in
my
film.
It's
one
of
the
characters
in
the
plot.
Has
anyone
commented
on
how
hard
we
worked
on
getting
the
locations
right?
Main
Aurr
Mrs
Khanna
is
the
first
Indian
film
to
be
shot
on
an
international
airport.
When
I
wrote
my
script
a
major
part
of
drama
was
situated
on
an
international
airport."
Salman,
Sohail
and
Soni
were
very
clear
on
the
fact
that
they
wanted
to
shoot
on
an
international
airport.
"We
didn't
want
to
erect
a
set
depicting
an
airport.
A
set
looks
like
a
set
no
matter
how
authentic.
I
made
contact
with
the
authorities
at
several
airports.
We
had
the
choice
of
shooting
on
the
airport
in
three
cities
Geneva,
New
York
and
Melbourne.
We
chose
Melbourne
because
after
much
discussion
they
offered
us
the
best
deal."
And
shooting
on
the
bustling
international
airport
in
Melbourne
was
allowed
absolutely
free
of
cost.
"Can
you
imagine?
All
we
were
told
was
to
shoot
in
the
nights
when
the
air
traffic
was
less
dense.
We
paid
nothing
and
we
got
complete
and
free
access
to
shoot
in
the
most
restricted
areas
on
the
airport.
We
shot
in
an
area
past
the
immigration,
so
any
of
us
could
take
an
unauthorized
flight
to
any
part
of
the
world.
But
all
of
us
Kareena,
Salman,
Sohail,
Yash
Tonk,
Nauheed
Cyrusi
and
Bappi
Lahiri,
were
very
careful
of
our
responsibility.
We
had
been
given
a
huge
privilege
and
a
diplomatic
immunity.
It
wasn't
just
us.
It
was
India's
reputation
at
stake."
Sighs
Soni,
"Has
anyone
noticed
that
Main
Aurr
Mrs
Khanna
is
the
only
film
to
be
shot
on
an
airport
since
Steven
Spielberg's
The
Terminal?
It's
so
easy
and
so
much
fun
to
be
clever
at
a
film's
expense."