"Why not? I had a ball working with Farah. I'm looking forward to working with her again. She's a tough taskmaster. Men are scared of her. So am I.
She speaks her mind no matter what the consequences. She wasn't making a film to win the National award. She made a commercial film, " he shoots back, unperturbed by scathing feedback for TMK.
Family matters
Not just Khan, Kumar will also do a film with her husband Shirish Kunder.
"Why just her husband? I'm doing a second film with her brother Sajid Khan and a film with Shirish. Shirish and I will produce his film Joker. But it has nothing to do with the circus, " he hastens to add.
Kumar co-stars with Sonakshi Sinha in Joker. "I saw her in Dabangg. It didn't look like her first film. She was so confident. She complemented Salman perfectly. I hope we look as good together."
In defence
What about TMK? Defending the film, Kumar says, "No matter what people say, the fact is that our film had the biggest opening of the year, along with Dabangg and Golmaal 3. Audiences go to a Farah Khan film to see Manmohan Desai-type masala entertainment. I was doing what Austin Powers does in the Hollywood slapstick comedies."
But Kumar admits that the collections dropped from Monday.
"I'm happy that TMK took a great three-day opening, but I'd have been happier if there wasn't a drop in the collections on Monday.
Only 8-9 other films got such an overwhelming opening this
year. That I featured in two such openers -- Housefull and TMK -- is great."Last year was also special for Kumar for other reasons. "My son Aarav won two gold medals and one silver medal in martial arts, " says the proud father.
Farah and SRK
Reliable sources from the industry say trouble came from the coterie close to Shah Rukh Khan, who felt that the director was getting her comeuppance for having deserted SRK for Kumar.
Kumar is quick to point out, "I don't belong to any camp. Farah asked me to work with her and I did. Why should Shah Rukh mind? Priyadarshan, who worked repeatedly with me, worked with Shah Rukh in Billu. Did I mind? Actors must move out of their comfort zone. It helps them grow."
