Farah Khan speaks to Sarita Tanwar about her next release Tees Maar Khan, her new leading man and her relationship with SRK

Realistically, what are your expectations from the box office?
Realistically? (Laughs) I think it should be a super duper bumper hit.

The biggest hit of the year?
Now that I can't say, yaar. Because I am not into figures but in my head, of course, I will want it to be the biggest hit of the year.

Has anyone told you that you are becoming a female version of Aamir Khan, with the cross-country marketing campaign you have planned.
(Grins) I like Aamir Khan's last interview in Mid Day and have decided to become like him. Now I am going also to think 48 times before I say anything. But seriously, I feel there are a lot more eyeballs on the movie, a lot of people are waiting to see the film to see how it will be...

I guess that's because this is your first film without SRK.
I think so. For whatever reason, a lot of credit for my films used to be given to the fact that Shah Rukh acted in them. A lot of people in the industry want to pull you down, and they always said, 'Oh, her films run because he's in it.'

But I want to tell them that Shah Rukh was in many movies that didn't run. So this time, good, bad, ugly... whatever, it is going to be my movie.

You have a certain work chemistry with Shah Rukh. You both have and enjoy the same kind of humour. How would you describe your work chemistry with Akshay?
With Akshay, our work ethic is the same, so there is a different type of chemistry. We both get up at seven in the morning. (Rolls eyes) Actually he gets up at five! And so we start early. I have to say that with Shah Rukh, it was easier because he'd done two films with me, and lot of songs together, so I didn't have to explain the humour. With Akshay, it is a different kind of humour..

You think things will go back to being normal again between you and him?
(Thinks) Well, things may go back to being normal. Of course. Why not? There is nothing permanent here, I have realised that. And even now when I meet him which hasn't happened in the last six months things were normal, as if nothing was wrong. We met at the hospital, where we'd both gone to visit Bobby Chawla.

When you decided not to cast SRK, you must've considered several actors. What worked in Akshay's favour?
We considered a lot of actors. But I think Akshay's persona worked in his favour. A boy could not do this role, it had to be a man. It had to be a tall, strapping good-looking man who took his looks for granted. When people see this film, I think they will not ask this question. I could only visualise him in this role.

How were things between you and Akshay on the first day of the shoot?
It was very strange. The first three days were like that because you have to find that comfort level and learn to trust each other. It's like a new marriage. You tiptoe around each other. You don't know how much you can say to that person and get away. I am sure it must've been the same way for Akshay too. It must've been too weird for him to work with a new director.

And a female one at that.
Yeah, but not that anyone thinks I am a female director. That's the least of their worries. (Giggles) I don't come with powder, rouge and lipstick to sit in their van and seduce them. But for the record, he has done Tanuja Chandra's Sangharsh.

Didn't you think that Akshay-Katrina was a been there-done that pair?
I did. It did stop me from signing her for very long. I didn't cast her for almost two months after announcing the film. I felt what is interesting about this pair was: They had done five films together. But I didn't have a choice, because I wanted a new girl and I could not find someone who suited the role. So I took it up as a challenge to cast Kat and do something different with her.

And you did. You starved her till she became size zero.
You know that's really silly. I'm the last person to starve anyone. I'm fond of feeding people and of eating. When I told her 'This is what you have to wear', she took it upon herself to get that body.

Earlier, actresses wanted to act in Yash Chopra films because he made his leading ladies look ravishing on screen. In Main Hoon Naa, you did the same with Sushmita Sen and now with Kat in TMK.
Wow! Manmohan Desai se Yash Chopra. Not bad! Please spread this rumour. I like it. But seriously... Sushmita was far from size zero in MHN. Yes, I present my heroines well.

Considering Karan (Johar) calls me a heroine hater, I think I am doing a rather good job of making them look stunning, like you say. (Smiles) They should all be falling on me. However, I would like the heroes to fall on me. Sab ladkiyaan hi mere peeche bhaag rahi hain!

In your last film, you created a trend with SRK's six-pack. With this one you've bared Kat, not Akshay. Kyun?
I stripped Shah Rukh no, abhi sab ko strip karoon? And Katrina has not really stripped. She just bared her midriff, which she has never done before. I think she trusted me that I was not going to ogle at her, or make lecherous advances...

You've done star appearances in songs, qawwalis, films set against the film industry. Too many similarities in your films.
Main Hoon Naa didn't have qawwalis or star appearances.

But this one has Salman and a qawwali...
True. But TMK isn't about the film industry, the industry is just the backdrop.

Isn't it time to do something different? Even Hey Babyy had 30 actresses in a song.
(Pats her hair) What can I say, I'm a trend-setter.

Are you upsetting anybody in this one?
I hope not. I hope so. This time we've got a no-objection certificate from Manoj Kumar.

Manoj Kumar? Again!!?
No we don't have him. We have used his song Mere Desh Ki Dharti in TMK but we bought the song from Sa Re Ga Ma. But just in case it upset him, Akshay and I went to his house for breakfast. We showed him where and how we're using the song. He was very happy and he signed a no-objection certificate.