Ravi Chopra is a bundle of nerves and understandably so. His film Baabul released last week. Taking time off from his schedule, he spoke to TWF correspondent Vickey Lalwani.

Keeping to the trend of films with a social message, the B R Chopra camp comes up with Baabul which deals with the subject of widow remarriage. More films on such issues are on the anvil, reveals director Ravi Chopra.

Excerpts of an interview:

What is Baabul all about?
It is the story of the rehabilitation of a young widow. A young woman loses her husband in an accident. She is given an opportunity to relive her life on her own. Amitabh plays a father who has lost his son (Salman Khan), yet makes every effort to see her happy. She is young and her entire life will get ruined otherwise. He actually goes out, finds a mate for her (John Abraham) and gives her a new life.

You have taken up the issue of widow remarriage in Baabul. Do you think these things are still a problem in India?
It happened with a family friend of ours from Delhi- he married off his widowed daughter-in-law with determination. That really impressed me a lot and my mind was ticking since then about a movie on the subject. But then Baghban, which had been my father's dream project, took off and it was our return to the big-screen after 11 years.

But why dwell on social issues all the time?
I will not change the USP of BR Chopra Films. I have always tried to make family films and television programmes and will continue to do so. We (B R Films) always try to make films with a difference ; our films entertain and have a social message. That's what made my father different from other filmmakers.

Take any of his films: Nikaah (based on the Muslim man's right to divorce his wife by saying talaq thrice), Insaaf Ka Tarazu (which dealt with rape and its aftermath), and every other film we made. In Baghban too, there was a thought: will you help the man who helped you walk your first step take the last steps of his life?

What other messages do you plan to highlight in the future?
We're working on three films that have social messages. The first is why money has become all-important in life instead of the means to an end? We're also doing a costume drama set in British India. We want to highlight that after God, it is your country that is most important.

This story is about a father and his two sons. Amitji will play the father. I'm talking with Salman about playing one of the sons. There is a third film which highlights the fact that in any relationship, the woman must have the right to say no.

The buzz going around is that Salman has a very small role in Baabul?
On the contrary, the film begins with him, and he is there in the last shot and has a major role, length-wise. In a strange way, Baabul may revolve around Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji but is actually the story of Salman's character, as you will realise when you watch the film.

Salman Khan as an actor has been completely underutilised - what we have seen of his talent so far is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg of his talent.

Amitabh seems to have become your favourite.
Yes. Amitabh Bachchan has moved into a different league... He knows exactly what to do with every twitch of his body. He knows what the smallest movement of a muscle will do to a film. And Hemaji has been a complete surprise.

I must admit that at the time of The Burning Train she had everything going for her as a top star but I somehow felt that she did not have great depth in her emotional scenes but with Baghban she homed in straight into the heart.

What about Mahabharat- The Film?
It will take off in 2008 in a planned manner. The six to seven hour film in two parts will be released across two Fridays, in a world first. Hollywood had done this with Lord Of The Rings but the gap was much more. We will shoot the films simultaneously and release the first part only when the complete film is ready.