/> History was created at Film City when Sajid Khan filmed a song and dance which featured twenty-one leading ladies, all friends of Sajid and his feisty sister Farah.

The leading ladies who gladly participated in the marathon song included Amisha Patel, Diya Mirza, Koena Mitra, Shamita Shetty, Neha Dhupia, Malaika and sister Amrita Arora, Amrita Rao, Tara Sharma, Minissha Lamba, Celina Jaitley, Riya Sen, Sophie and Masumi.

Aarti Chabria and Hrishita Bhatt also participated.

"They're all my friends," Sajid says emotionally. "They did it for me. And I'd do the same for them if they asked me."

Sajid Khan gets emotional while talking about his sister. "Farah had once choreographed me in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Jhooth Bole Kauva Kate. And of course we've done a lot of stage shows together. And now she's choreographed my first song in my first film as director. Sajid Nadiadwala and Farah are like my two eyes or arms."

He dismisses rumours of not getting along with his brother-in-law Shirish. "We share a healthy camaraderie like any other jeeja-saala. Farah today lives separately. But we keep a constant vigil on each other. She's just a hand's distance away.

Like any brother I felt cheated when someone came and took her way. But it's an inevitable cycle of life, and I'm all right with it. At the drop of a hat I'd give my life for Farah, and she knows it."

Exhausted by all the female attention Sajid Khan seems to be unusually fatigued. "I've been shooting from early morning to late night for one week. It isn't easy. And Hey Baby is my first stab at direction. Okay. I did do a segment of Ram Gopal Varma's Darna Zaroori Hai. But I knew nothing about direction."

Sajid wants to make the kind of film he would like to see. "I'm a member of the audience first, then a director. I don't like boring films. Although everyone is raving about it, I didn't think much of The Departed. It's certainly not among Martin Scorcese's best."

The buzz is that Sajid is re-making the hit Three Men & A Baby. Sajid scoffs that belief. "Just because my film has three men and a baby in it? My film is as much Three Men & A Baby as Munnabhai MBBS was Patch Adams or Tehzeeb was Autumn Sonata or Sholay was Magnificent 7. When you see Hey Baby you'll know what I mean."

The baby being the pivotal character, how does Sajid intend to get its expressions right? "I wouldn't like to talk about it now. But yes, the baby's expressions will be as real as real can be, with some technical wizardry helping us to get it right.

We've got the F-X guys behind Matrix, Lord Of The Rings and King Kong to assist us. Look at how technically slick my brother-inlaw's Jaan-e-Mann was. I intend to do my entire post-production and sound mix in Australia at the 20th Century Fox studios. "

Sajid's says he understands sound. "I was a deejay for eleven years. At 17 I started buying and selling sound equipment. I realize the importance of sound. I genuinely feel the person who does the background score should be paid a fortune."

Hey Baby will be shot in Australia, France, Udaipur and Mumbai. Says Sajid, "It's going to be unlike any other story one has ever heard on screen. I gave the scripting two years of my life. For the first six months I constantly kept changing the story until I got it right.

I've grown up watching films of every kind. I won't make the mistakes that I've seen my predecessors make. That's why I laugh when people accuse me of re-making Three Men & A Baby. I'm not that stupid."

Before one reacts to that Sajid poses a question. "Do you know why I chose Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to do the music for Hey Baby? That's because their name doesn't figure in the list of copycats on a website devoted to exposing plagiarism in Hindi film music."

Sajid and namesake-producer Sajid Nadiadwala have been experimenting extensively on how to get the little baby's looks right. "Sajid likes to spend a lot of money. But I'm not one of those who'll splurge my money's producers. I want to make a film that will justify the Rs 40 crore budget."

Sajid is excited about the cast. "Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Fardeen Khan, Vidya Balan are all working together for the first time. None of these actors have worked with me, Farah or Shankar-Ehsan-Loy before. Trust me you've never seen these actors do anything like this before."

Doesn't the budget scare Sajid? "I'd be as scared if I was making a 4-crore movie. The responsibility is the same. I've given my career on television a backseat. Once Hey Baby goes into post-production I'll return full-on to television. Unlike tv actors I don't have shoot round-the-clock to be visible.

Even now negotiations are on for a huge tv show in April. I'll be doing a lot of live shows. I need to earn my keep....Not that I lack money. My producer Sajid Nadiadwala is extremely generous. Not only are our names the same, our roles too are interchangeable.

On the sets he's as much the director as the producer, and vice-versa. It's OUR film. The atmosphere on the sets is very give-and-take. When Akshay Kumar wants to do a scene his way I let him. I like to share my space with like-minded people."

Any marriage plans? "I'm 35 now. I'll give myself another five years to settle down. No,I don't have a girlfriend. I don't like to be answerable to anyone. I'm alone. But I'm not lonely. And besides I'm never at home.

I've realized how hard it is to direct a film. You've to be answerable to everyone from your hero to the spot-boy. And you've to have all the answers. It's like being the general on the battle field."