I will love to work with Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor again- Rajkumar Hirani

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The director who created a new wave ‘Gandhgiri’ and swayed the nation with his National Award winning film ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ - Rajkumar Hirani, is coming up with yet another intriguing film ‘3 Idiots’ that stars the perfectionist Aamir Khan and sultry Kareena Kapoor.

The versatile director Rajkumar Hirani started his career as an editor with the film ‘Mission Kashmir’ but rose to fame with the rib-tickling ‘Munna Bhai’ series and now he is one of the most sought after directors in Bollywood.

His latest flick ‘3 Idiots’ is constantly in buzz and the songs are already a hit among the audience, in a conversation, Rajkumar Hirani speaks at length on behind the scene gossips and the making of ‘3 Idiots’…

The buzz around ‘3 idiots’ is amazing; it seems you have hit the bull’s eye before the release of the film.

No, no…it’s not like that; the initial buzz does not decide the fate of the film at the box-office. I think it’s all up to the film and how it has shaped up. For me, I think content is the king, which will eventually help you to get through any market.

It’s said that ‘3 idiots’ is inspired by Chetan Bhagat’s novel ‘Five Point Someone’, how tough has it been to give a cinematic vision to a writer’s book? Have you taken everything from the novel or just the plot of the story?

Yes, it’s inspired but it is not a copy of the novel. I think, print and cinema are two different mediums and they cannot be compared. The canvas of both the mediums is totally different, but yes the characters are driven from the book that’s it. However, when you see the film you will realize the difference.

How Aamir Khan came on-board? And what was his reaction when you narrated the script of ‘3 Idiots’ to him?

I approached Aamir Khan and narrated the draft of the script of ‘3 Idiots’ which he pretty much liked. But then Aamir advised me to rework on the script, although, even I was working on those issues. Thereafter, only when I finalized the script, did Aamir said yes to it.

What is ‘3 Idiots’ all about?

‘3 idiots’ is the story of the three IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology) engineering students who are friends and in the middle of the story one goes missing. Beyond this I don’t want to give out anything from the story. For that you have to go and watch the film in the theaters on 25th December. So, wait and watch!

What is the reason that you take long time to come up with any film?

I think if you want to come up with something good then you need to give time to that. Same is the case with me and I like to do some quality work which everyone would like to see.

How was it directing Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor? And what’s the character of Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan?

I had a fantastic time working with both of them, they are thorough professionals and when you have such a great team then the work of director becomes easy. I would love to work with them again. Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan both play engineering students and how they tackle their college life is what the film is all about.

Share some memorable moments you had while shooting for ‘3 Idiots’.

(Pauses) Memories… we had a great time shooting at the IIT campus, where all my actor turned students blended with the IIT students like they are one of them and also played Badminton with them, it was fun.

The other one was at Ladakh where we had a tough time shooting, as it was freezing cold and it made shooting more difficult for us. In fact, we have to wait for one year so that conditions become suitable for shoot, but overall we enjoyed shooting there.

In the past, it has been said that Aamir Khan interferes in direction and comes in the director’s way, have you experienced any such thing?

There is nothing like that, he’s an actor who gets involved in the project with full honesty and that’s what makes people think that he’s interfering in the film, but it’s vice versa.

All the songs are really rocking the music charts, what were the guidelines that you gave to lyricist Swanand Kirkire?

Actually, I haven’t given any guidelines, in fact he started working on the lyrics along with the script and we have a good tuning with each other as he’s a very dear friend of mine. But yes, the songs are very important part of the film and take it ahead.

Swanand Kirkire said that though the lyrics seem very casual but they have a deep meaning. How far do you agree as ‘Aal iz well’ and ‘zoobie doobi’ are essentially feel good light-hearted tracks.

Yes, he has rightly said about the lyrics and that you will realize when you watch the film.

‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.’ is a cult film in Indian cinema and a milestone of your career, so how have things changed for you after that? And how do you describe your Bollywood journey so far?

Yes, things have changed because it is obvious when you are credited with success things become easier and to a certain extent filmmaking also has become a bit trouble-free for me.

You have acted in advertisements so can we see you acting in near future in films?

(Laughs) If any director wants to take this chance, then why not! Though I have not acted in any films, but yes I have done several ads.

What’s your expectation from the film ‘3 Idiots’?

As such there is no expectation from the film and I have made it the way I wanted to. So, I’m relaxed and waiting for the verdict of people.

What is the status of ‘Munnabhai Chale Amerika’ and besides Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi who else is finalized for the film?

After this (3 Idiots), I will start working on ‘Munnabhai Chale Amerika’, as it is still at scripting stage so I will decide the star-cast once I’m done with the script. You will have to wait and watch for the star cast.

-Anil A Kanojia/ Sampurn Media