Sohail Khan tells Jyothi Venkatesh

How nervous are you about the fate of your film Main Aurr Mrs Khanna since it is clashing with two other biggies like Blue and All The Best?
I am not nervous at all, because I have seen my film and am confident about its success. Yet I think there is absolutely no point if I say that my film Main Aurr Mrs Khanna alone should run.

All the films should do well and the film industry should prosper. If the film industry is not there, what will I do? I would only wish that all the three films should run at the box office, especially because all belong to dynamically different genres.

Would you go and watch the other two films?
If Main Aurr Mrs Khanna is a romantic film, All The Best is a comedy and Blue is an action film. I will make it a point to see the other two films. It all entirely depends upon what the mindset of the audiences is when they decide to go and watch a film during Diwali holidays.

How happy are you with the way Main Aurr Mrs Khanna has shaped up?
No one launches a film thinking that he will make a bad film. I am happy with the way Main Aurr Mrs Khanna has shaped up.

The entire credit goes not only to me, the producer or Salmanbhai the actor cum producer or Prem R. Soni the writer and director. Every one starts a film with the right intentions. It is not the actor alone, but the team work that is important for a film to shape up as well as the producer expects it to.

It is sad that sometimes due to external factors, even good films do not run at the box office, but you cannot help it. What is important for a film is that it should be released at the right time at the right place

Do you think the audiences have faith in your film since Partner and Wanted had clicked?
If you, as a producer and your leading man have a track record of delivering hits, the audiences have faith in your product. Luckily for us not only did Partner, my last release as a producer do well at the box office, Salmanbhai's Wanted too has created history at the box office.

What is the USP of main Aur Mrs Khanna?
Besides Salmanbhai who is the main USP of my film, there is a lot of involvement of the youth in every department of the film. Prem. R. Soni is just 34 year old and is making his debut as a director. When we decided to launch Main Aurr Mrs Khanna, we planned well in advance and then executed the project.

Is it true that Ronnie Screwvala has withdrawn the name of UTV as the producer because he and you have had a tiff?
Let me re-iterate that I am only the creative producer of Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. Ronnie Screwvala of UTV is the main producer.

If he did not want to announce the name of UTV in the publicity at the time of release, the reason is that he is in the midst of transition as far as his company is concerned and not because Ronnie and I have had a tiff, as was splashed in a section of the media.

What made you decide to back a new director like Prem R. Soni?
I had confidence in myself when Prem narrated the script to me and Salmanbhai in just five minutes. I realized that there was soul in the story. Bhai also liked it immensely, because it is a film on relationship and friendship and hence as a production house we decided to engineer the project.

What is the message that Main Aurr Mrs Khanna set out to drive home?
Communication is what attracted me in the first place to the subject. The film sets out to drive home the subtle message that in every relationship on earth, there should be proper communication.

Did you cast yourself just because you are the producer of the film?
I cast myself along with Salman and Kareena because Prem wanted to cast both me and Bhai together in the film. I play the role of Akash. How Salman, Kareena and I come into one another's life forms the crux of the story.

What do you like the best about your job as a producer?
I confess that I have not seen success at all as an actor, though I have received a lot of appreciation. However, as a producer, I have succeeded. I am of the opinion that producing a film is the biggest gamble that I indulge in.

I do not know to play cards. I like putting people together and pooling in talent and producing films because I like to learn from different talents.

Why do you think Kisaan did not click at the box office?
You obviously feel happy when a film of your clicks. If a film of mine flops, I sit back and think and analyze why it flopped. I think that you tend to improve when you taste failure.

I feel that you tend to learn more from your failure than your success. Though I did enjoy making films like Partner earlier and Main Aurr Mrs Khanna, I would say that Kisaan was close to my heart as a producer. It was my bad luck that the film was released along with seven other films during Ramzan.

It was a learning process for me as a producer. I learnt that as a producer if you do not know how to market your film, your film would not click at the box office.

What are your plans as a producer after Main Aurr Mrs Khanna?
After Main Aurr Mrs Khanna, I have plans to launch Partner 2. We have not yet decided whether it would be a sequel or an extension of Partner. If it is a sequel, we may cast other actresses opposite Salman and Govinda, but if it is an extension of Partner, we plan to rope in both Lara and Katrina in the film.

Besides this project, I would also be the executive producer of Arbaazbhai's production venture Dabang which will star Salmanbhai and Sonakshi, Shatrusaab's daughter in the lead.