He's softspoken to the point of not being distinguishable in a crowd...just like the wannabe Madhuri Dixit in Chandan Arora's first film Main Madhuri Dixit Ban-na Chahti Hoon...or Mithilesh Shukla in Main Meri Patni Aur Woh.

Chandan Arora makes movies he believes in. "Both my films so far are grass-root fables. Madhuri Dixit was about a small town girl's starry dreams. My new film is about a man who's insecure about his height and position in life. Either way , my protagonists are people who could be sitting in a theatre in Bhagalpur on Chandanpur living out a dream through characters who dare to dream."

Chandan shocks you by revealing that Madhuri Dixit... had gone over-budget.

"Yes! The film might not have looked posh by the city-slick standards of the average multiplex product. But we made several location shifts shot mostly outdoors. Ramu is the kind of producer who doesn't think twice about budget shifts. If we needed ten extra days of shooting we just did it. That's how flexible things are with Ramu."

The budget was far more inflexible the second time.

"For UTV we decided to be far more economical. I guess I've grown since Madhuri ," confesses the film editor turned director. "The entire film has been shot on location in Lucknow in 32 days."

"We didn't allow a single moment to be wasted...This film had to pay for itself. Credit for this must go to Rajpal . Being from a small town—I've lived in Mumbai all my life—Rajpal was able to give invaluable inputs in both my films. I don't think Main Meri Patni...could've been possible without Rajpal."

Chandan gets slightly emotional as he talks about his favourite actor. "I don't know whether casting Rajpal is a risk. I just had to cast him. Though Main Madhuri ...was Antara Mali's film he walked away with a lot of recognition. That's one of the reasons why I decided to design my second project around Rajpal's personality."

"The character is meant to be physically deficient. If Rajpal wasn't short I'd have altered the character according to the actor's shortcoming, whatever it might be. That's how much faith I've in him. It doesn't matter if Rajpal suits the definition of a conventional hero. I don't make conventional films anyway."

What kind of success is Chandan looking for?

"UTV is going to give Main Meri Patni Aur Woh a piecemeal release. They'll first test the waters on Friday with about 45 prints and then proceed further. Am I nervous? Not really. I've waited a while to get this project going. In-between I was supposed to make a metro-centric thriller Table No 3 about a waiter who overhears a murder plan, for Varma Coperation."

"Of course Rajpal Yadav was supposed to play the protagonist. But that didn't happen. Now when my second film is finally ready I feel I've done exactly what I wanted to. I don't want to make the films that are expected of Ramu's protégé. I want to surprise myself by constantly searching for ways to extend my line of creative vision."

Next?

"A sci-fi film or something with lots of action. I need to rustle up more energy on screen. Madhuri Dixit was a swipe at the make-believe world of cinema. I don't want to become part of that grand illusion."