/> Vivah is a smash hit. It has been released on the internet, Sooraj Barjatya talks about the experience of rediscovering his roots, Salman & Shahid

Q: What prompted you to put Vivah on the internet?
Whenever I'd ask my friends in distant European countries if they had seen my films they'd complain they had no access to them. It was then that I decided we needed some way to reach to audiences who have no access to Rajshri films in theatres.

It's my cousin Rajat who has handled the release of Vivah on the internet. It's not just a way of increasing the reach of my film it's also a good way of stopping piracy. I must thank our collaborators Adlabs for co-operating.. It was very sporting of them to not see the internet as a threat to theatrical release.

Q: Were the reviews hurtful?
Every director likes his film to be praised. But if you look at my films even Hum Aapke Hain Koun was panned by the critics. I was prepared for the flak. My audience is the hardcore middleclass...my son's tuition teacher, my bai .... not the South Mumbai residents

Q: Even Karan Johar is your biggest fan.
It's his greatness to say that. But the response to Vivah has been amazing. During a tour of North India we were chased my motorbikers from Faridabad to the Haryana border. A lady in Kanpur told me Vivah was her love story. I never had people coming to me with this kind of response for my last film.

Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon came to after three big successes. I went into a shell and wondered what went wrong. The day I realized it was nothing personal, that people just didn't connect to my last film, I got to work on Vivah.

Q: In Vivah I could actually hear you talking through the characters...Were you trying to be someone else in your last film Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon?
I've to be honest with you. I was being told to target my cinema to youngsters and audiences abroad. Then I thought, let's do something that is market-friendly. Somewhere as I made Main Prem... I realized what my father had taught me about the uchayee and gehrayee of a film wasn't there this time.

Somehow those qualities got lost in my endeavour to make a romantic quality. Audiences were very clear in their verdict. They wanted to see Sooraj Barjatya.

Q: What was the lessons that you learnt through Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon?
There was a great turmoil within me. My selfconfidence was shaken. My father stood by my convictions. I realized every director has to do what he believes in. Vivah took me back to my roots. Throughout its making I was told this kind of films don't work, that the times have changed and the moral values are no longer the same.

But I'm so happy to see that our traditional values still exist. Filmmakers just need to tap into those values. People have asked me why my protagonists are so inhibited in these times of live-in relationships. I want to ask these people about how many live-in relationships do we really have in this country.

Q: Were Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao your only choices?
Looking back, I can't think of any other two actors in the two roles. When I started planning Vivah I thought of two newcomers. But thank God I changed my mind. Shahid, Amrita and I have shared every moment of Vivah. Their personalities are totally different from what they are in Vivah. They just surrendered to my vision.

Q: There're far less peripheral characters within your given formula in Vivah...
The formula, as you call it, and the large family canvas go together in my films. Because if the characters are shown to laugh together, they also cry together when a crisis occurs towards the end.

Q: A lot of people find the Shahid-Amrita romance to be exceedingly noble.
Vivah is actually based on a newspaper story that my father read seventeen years back. The incident about a man who stood by his wife, seemed to signify the simplicity of our middleclass. That became the basis of Vivah. This time I removed all the big sets from my earlier films, and shot on real locations.

In my film this time there are no wedding festivities and functions. That's why I called it Vivah and not Shaadi. I wanted to go behind the scenes of a marriage this time, the tensions of the bride's parents, the generosity of the groom's family. There was no room for extra characters and commercial elements.

I thought the story should be kept as minimal as possible. I shot on a realistic sets depicting a small town in North India where monkeys often get electrocuted on the wires that crisscross the skyline.

Q: When Rajshri Productions went through a low, what did you realize about the industry?
They gave us many chances to bounce back. Three of our productions including Uff...Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai didn't work primarily because they moved away from what you call our formula. Our first step towards recovering lost ground was the tv serial WohRehne Wali Mehlon Ki.

That's where we decided we needed to keep the spirit of nobility alive. We didn't want a soap where characters slipped up in their morality. It was a time for us to re-learn.

Q: How big do you think Vivah will be?
We'll have to wait and see. We released only 206 prints in India. After two weeks we'll introduce more prints. Vivah is not a glamorous film. It has grown slowly and steadily.

Q: What next? A sequel to Vivah with Salman in the lead?
(laughs) Right now I'm just too relieved about the response to Vivah. I want to read Hindi literature, travel across the world to decide what I want to do next. As for Salman, he'll always be special to our banner. But Shahid has also given a hundred percent of himself, like Salmanbhai.

All the questions that he had about an arranged marriage were turned to the film's advantage. Shahid's Prem is as good as Salman's. As Shahid acted I could see Salman return.

Q: Would Vivah have worked with Salman?
Oh, equally. Except for the age. Salman and I are both 40-plus now. Asking him to play a 23-year old would have been unrealistic. But for Shahid to perform with such conviction is amazing.

He'd wonder if he could speak the shuddh Hindi. He trusted me. When Shahid's father Pankaj Kapoor said he connected with Vivah I felt so happy. As for Amrita she surrendered her soul to Vivah.

Q: What thoughts now?
Relieved and happy.