He is one of India's most successful filmmakers and has spawned any number of imitations of his dreamy romances. But Yash Chopra says disarmingly that he is as "nervous as a newcomer" about his latest "Veer- Zaara".

The indefatigable movie mogul is ready with his first directorial effort in seven years after five decades of trend-setting hits like "Dhool Ka Phool", "Waqt", "Kabhi Kabhie" and "Dil To Pagal Hai".

He says his Shah Rukh Khan-Preity Zinta love story is one of the most difficult films he's ever made. It is also the film with which he is making history by reviving the melodies of Madan Mohan 30 years after his death.

Yash Chopra has started his own music company with "Veer-Zaara" to keep his head "high" and escape from music companies who dictate terms on how music albums should look and sound.

The mega director took time off to talk to us while putting finishing touches to his ambitious India-Pakistan love story to discuss the recipe for his abiding success.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: From "Dhool Ka Phool" to "Dhoom", there has never been a success like yours.
A: God is kind. I don't deserve all this success. There's no formula for success, except a pure soul. Look at Lata Mangeshkar, she's a prime example. Like her, I'm completely focussed on my work. I've never looked back. I've always taken risks. When in 1995, my son directed "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge", the overseas distributors started acting tough. So we opened our own offices abroad. Today we've our own overseas network all over the world.

God gave me so much money for "Dilwale Dulhaniya..." I decided to invest it in a dream studio. That dream, too, is on the verge of completion. Now I'm ready to release my first film in seven years, and I'm as nervous as a newcomer.

Q: Why this long hiatus?
A: My son Aditya made "Mohabbatein" which took a lot of time and energy. Then we started looking for a script for me to direct. Nothing seemed to excite us both. There's a complete bankruptcy of screenwriting in our cinema. I wanted a very earthy and Indian subject. I was tired of the promos on television. 

With "Veer-Zaara" around the corner I'm as nervous as I was when I directed my first film "Dhool Ka Phool". At that time I was judged as B.R. Chopra's younger brother. Then in 1973 I was again nervous as a schoolboy on his first day of school when I branched out on my own to produce and direct "Daag". I knew I was doomed if it failed. But to my relief, the film was a super hit on the first day.

Q: Why this sense of secrecy about your new directorial venture?
A: Perhaps people are more curious than we're secretive (laughs)! "Veer-Zaara" is one of the most difficult films I've ever made. We had no time to think of anything else but how to complete the film. We needed to shoot in Punjab during a particular season. By the grace of god we got all the stars' dates. When we returned we completed the indoors shooting. So people presumed we were secretive about the project because of its sensitive (India-Pakistan) subject when in fact we never got time to make announcements.

Q: Why have you chosen to make a cross-border romance?
A: I'll tell you something. I had finalised another script. Even the casting was done. At this point my son Aditya came up with another idea. He told me he couldn't make this subject, that I had to do it. He narrated a few scenes, and I was hooked. Though it's a film about cross-border love, there isn't a word of politics in it. Forget politics, there isn't slap, not even a raised voice in "Veer-Zaara". It's a very intense, humane and emotional story.

"Veer-Zaara" is a humble tribute to my home in Punjab. It's my tribute to the oneness of people on both sides of the border. Shah Rukh Khan has given his career's best performance in "Veer-Zaara". Though he's cast with two leading ladies, it isn't a triangle. Shah Rukh's love interest is played by Preity Zinta. I wanted a girl whose look and entire personality could be transformed. She's always presented as tomboyish and westernised. In "Veer-Zaara" I wanted to change her into something different.

Q: The music of "Veer-Zaara" is composed by the late composing genius Madan Mohan. How did that happen?
A: For me there's no creativity without challenge. With "Veer Zaara", I've taken on another challenge. The music isn't what I'd call a routine music score. I feel it isn't just music, we're trying actually trying to create history here.

The tunes were composed by Madan Mohan and kept away for use in the future. Unfortunately he died young. When I planned "Veer-Zaara", I approached a number of other music directors but nothing worked out. It was then that Madan Mohan's son Sanjeev Kohli who's the CEO of my company suggested I listen to his father's unused tunes. From the hundreds of tunes we selected around 30 and they were dummy-recorded. The music fitted my theme completely. Almost 30 years after his death we've recorded his tunes in his - and my - favourite voice Lata Mangeshkar. When she came for the recording she had tears in her eyes.

Q: You're also starting your own music company.
A: I never intended to start my own music company. But the music business is in the doldrums. All the music companies are dictating terms on how albums should look and sound. To keep my head high I've started my music company with "Veer-Zaara".

Q: How do you explain the immense success of your productions like "Hum Tum" and "Dhoom" that you don't direct?
A: That's my son Aditya Chopra's domain. He handles the creative side of our productions. I handle the financial aspect. When Aditya or I make film then we discuss everything in detail. But a film like "Dhoom" is orchestrated entirely by him. Being a romantic film "Hum Tum" wasn't so costly. Though I'm the producer, I don't have anything to do with "Dhoom's" creativity.

Q: And yet in the 1970s you made action films like "Deewar", "Kala Patthar" and "Trishul"?
A: Those subjects came to me and I liked them. But thereafter I had a series of failures like "Vijay", "Parampara" and "Faasle". Then one day I was driving down to town from my home in suburbs of Mumbai. Every hoarding that I saw had men holding guns in their hands. I realised I was losing my way. I believed in romantic films, so why wasn't I making them? That's how I made "Chandni". Its success reaffirmed my faith in my vision and my audience. That faith has stood by me all these years.