His purpose has always been to entertain the audience. And after three such entertaining films – Heyy Babyy, Housefull and Housefull 2 – Sajid Khan promises to light up the day and mood of his audience with his promising upcoming flick, Himmatwala. With Pratishtha Malhotra,Sajid Khan shares his thoughts on filmmaking and challenges as a filmmaker.You had tried your hands at hosting shows and you also worked as a fashion choreographer before you took to direction. Was it a conscious decision to explore these avenues or did you just go with the flow?
I had started working since the age of 14 and I just did whatever came to me most naturally. I think every aspect of entertainment like holding a crowd and entertaining them came very naturally to me. I was not picking work, work was picking me. It was not that I was doing it to have fun; I was working to earn a living. However, I always wanted to make films. I was doing well in television and once you start doing well there, you don’t want to move ahead and do something else. But by the time I was 34-35, I decided that I would give up television and concentrate on doing films.
From Heyy Babyy to Housefull 2, your movies have grown in terms box office collections. What according to you is the reason for your success?
I don’t consider myself a great director, but I do consider myself a very great member of the audience. I don’t make films to satisfy my creative urges. I make films to satisfy the audience. My films will always be very successful because their purpose is to entertainment the audience. I would never ever make films for critical acclaim or for self-praise, but I will always make films to make sure that my audience has a great time. When they leave the theatre they should feel that their money was well spent.
A filmmaker recently made a statement that one can’t take reviews to the bank. You seem to agree with this…
I don’t agree with two things. One, in reviews and secondly, I don’t believe in making films for the bank. I have never ever been worried about my films not doing well or how much money it’ll make because I know for a fact that if my films will entertain, they will do well. I feel that any film that does well is an entertaining film irrespective of its budget. Any film that flops is simply not entertaining. It’s that simple. I don’t care about reviews no matter how good they are or how bad they are. They don’t make any difference.
The response to the rushes of Himmatwala has been good. But even before the shooting had started, you had claimed that theatres will be full for the first three days and no tickets will be available…
There are two reasons for this. One is that it’s my fourth film and I know for a fact that there is a very very loyal audience waiting to see my film because they know that it will be entertaining. And I will never ever disappoint my audience. The day I disappoint my audience will be the day I will not make films again. The second reason is my teaming up with Ajay Devgn. Lots of people are very curious to see what Ajay Devgn and Sajid Khan’s team is going to do. For that, again, I want to tell them that they’ll be incredibly happy and not at all disappointed. So that’s why I said it that it will be very difficult to obtain tickets in the first three days in current booking.
You’re known to send written notes to your cast that the film they’re shooting for would be the biggest of their career. How are you sure of this even before the first shot?
It’s wishful thinking. I give them a welcome note on the first day of the shoot, which is sort of a thank you letter for having faith in me and doing the film, and promising that if they listen to me and do exactly what I ask for, we will make a film for the audience. And if we keep our audience happy, we will together make the biggest hit. This way, the work starts on a very positive note. I’ve always done that and what’s wrong with it? I have made three films and all three of them have been blockbusters.
You and Akshay Kumar have been a great team in the past. Didn’t you consider him for Himmatwala?
Well, I always wanted to make Himmatwala with Ajay Devgn. Actually, Ajay and I have been friends since college. It’s just that we never got a chance to work with each other. This is the first time that we are working together and I’m sure you will see more films of mine with Ajay.
How did you decide to cast Tamanna?
I wanted a south Indian heroine, someone very big in the south. That’s because the 1983 version of the film had Sridevi who’s from the south. So I cast Tamanna.
You had once said that your films will never have violence and bloodshed, and Himmatwala is an action movie. How did you managing action without bloodshed?
Well, it’s not a full-on action movie. There is a lot of action in the film, but there is no violence. There is a huge difference between action and violence. Jackie Chan films have action and Quentin Tarantino movies have violence. I don’t believe in certain things like violence, cleavage show, sex and double meaning dialogues. I don’t endorse it, I wouldn’t see it and I wouldn’t want to put any of it in my films… something which you cannot watch with little kids, ladies and family. My films have to be clean and wholesome that families can enjoy. Himmatwala also has a lot of comedy and a lot of drama. It’s a complete entertainer.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a director?
The biggest challenge for me has always been the script. It has to be such that I don’t disappoint my audience. While writing a screenplay I always make sure I write a scene for people to enjoy where they don’t think about me as a director, but more about the scene. That always is a challenge.
Do you think a film’s promotions play a big role in the success or failure of a film?
No, I don’t agree. No amount of promotions can save a bad film and a good film doesn’t need promotions. Promotions are important because, today, the media is very active. Promotions are important, but they are not the only factor for a film working or not working. I can name 25 films in the last five years which have been promoted very heavily and have been disasters at the box office.
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