Nikhil Advani is busy globe trotting for multiple premiers of his film 'Chandni Chowk To China'. Any film maker would be hassled with a 24X7 routine that would not just involve multiple Q&A sessions pre and post the screening but also 'hazaar' scribes who would be in line to get a byte about the film.

Add to that the pressure of being at helm of a truly international film (Warner Bros. distributes 'Chandni Chowk To China') and it indeed is an exciting yet tense situation out there.

As Nikhil catches up for the final leg of the international promotion of the Akshay Kumar & Deepika Padukone starrer before catching a flight back to India, he somehow manages to squeeze in time to catch up with Joginder Tuteja at 2 AM (his time of course) over the phone.

With all the premiers at Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and London, this is indeed turning out to be a big film for you Nikhil, right?
And the most exciting too. We are on a jet as we travel from one city to another and believe me, it's a high to see your film getting to enjoy such huge mileage and audience. We could have had a premier in Mumbai and Delhi as well but we are looking at paid previews instead.

The influencing factor being 'Ghajini' success?
You can say that! The way 'Ghajini' has done so well in the paid previews has been unprecedented. Still, let me add that even for 'Chandni Chowk To China', we had been talking about this for quite some time.

It may be a new concept in India but hosting paid previews is a very prevalent practice in the West. Warner Bros. had suggested it as well and we all believed that it made sense to bring the film an evening before the all around release on 16th January.

After handling 12 stars in 'Salaam E Ishq', it must have been a cakewalk to work with 4-5 major protagonists in 'Chandni Chowk To China', isn't it?
I wish I could say it was cakewalk. In fact it was a challenge of a different kind because from the feel good world of 'Salaam E Ishq' (and 'Kal Ho Na Ho' before that), I was getting into an action genre for the first time.

While in romantic movies, you can do improvisation while the scene are being shot, in action films you can't do that. You have to be so very well prepared for every shot and with every location. With factors like an action director, VFX and all, it is a completely different ballgame together.

Add to that some virgin foreign locations that the film boasts of..
Absolutely. It was a challenge to be shooting in China and there were quite a few different production hassles. We were shooting with an international crew and while we were getting used to them, they too were getting used to us.

We had to put up an entire village set for the film, but somehow we weren't able to do in China. Because China plays an integral part of the film, we had to get the right ambience on so we had to shift to Thailand.

Seems like all of this was quite challenging to say the least.
I can say that 'Chandni Chowk To China' has truly been the most challenging assignment I have been a part of. For the first time I was working with an action crew and that too from Hong Kong. The production designers were from Thailand, India as well as China. I had to bring in a consistent look to my film and always be on my toes.

When someone like Akshay Kumar is on board, do others (read Deepika Padukone) get lost in the film?
How could you even say that? In fact the the big surprise element of 'Chandni Chowk To China' is Deepika herself. One does expect spontaneity from Akshay but as for Deepika, she has completely bowled me over with her performance.

The kind of action that she has done in the film has to be seen to be believed. She plays a double role in the film and while one character is very cold and heartless, another is very frivolous.

Frivolous?
Yes, but with a purpose. She is the comic element of the film. It was my choice to use Deepika in the film because there is so much physicality in the film. She is tall and an ex-sportsperson. Being athletic was a prerequisite for the leading lady in 'Chandni Chowk To China' and she has satisfied that criteria.

Tell me frankly; when you have someone like Akshay Kumar on board, how difficult is it to let your own direction style do the talking without being carried away with an actor's image?
It was the script written by Sridhar Raghavan that attracted Akshay. And as long as you have a strong script in hand, you don't have to fear about an actor's image taking over the proceedings. 'Chandni Chowk To China' has an extremely strong emotional script and Akshay is the soul of the film.

As a director I had just to follow the character of Sidhu more than anything or anyone else.

The backbone of the film is an emotional journey that the character of Sidhu goes through. The film has a new story and revolves around Sidhu who becomes a hero. And then there is this entire USP of Kung Fu and martial arts.

Yes, people will get to see what they expect from an Akshay film but in addition they also see an emotional side of him that hasn't been brought to screen for a long time now.