by Subhash K Jha

Q: Sony Pictures Entertainment has just entered an unprecedented deal with you. Does it put a sense of responsibility on you?
A: I think Indian cinema deserved this kind of entertainment collaboration long back. I guess it's never too late. The fact that it's happening with my film, and that too Saanvariya, a project really close to my heart, makes me proud.

This is the right time for us to go global in a big way. The world wants to reach out to us, and vice- versa. Indians are scoring in every sphere, so why not our cinema? I'm proud that my film has flagged off this process.

Q: Does this deal put an extra burden on you to deliver?
A: No, not at all. I feel every filmmaker, big or small, has a dream. And we cannot define that dream by the size of the resources available to a filmmaker. Every film is made just once and you better give it your best shot.

Saanvariya is as precious to me as my earlier films. But this time the world will be looking at me to deliver. Now I've to live up to my own expectations, and the expectations of people who are putting so much faith in my abilities.

Q: Wouldn't it make your creativity selfconscious?
A: No, challenges are always stimulating to creativity. Saanvariya will take me further than my earlier films. Sony has chosen me to make their first Hindi film . And I feel honoured. Now I've to give everything I've to this project. This doesn't mean Devdas or Black weren't given everything I had.

You know very well what difficulties I went through in making Devdas...or even my first film Khamoshi wasn't a cakewalk. Saanvariya will be easier to make. It will reach out to the optimum audience in a far more organized way.

Q: Do you think Devdas and Black would've been better marketed by a corporate company like Sony?
A: Oh absolutely! Devdas was chosen for Cannes. It was bought by several countries. It had the song-and-dance routine , and yet it was perceived abroad as art. Earlier too a Hindi filmmaker like Guru Dutt was very popular abroad. But his films weren't marketed properly.

That's where my Saanvariya will score over Black and Devdas. ...Devdas did become a rage. Aishwarya Rai became internationally known through this film. I hope my actors and technicians in Saanvariya would make the same impact. Sony will make the marketing promotion and overall projection of my film so streamlined, I just have to concentrate on making my film.

Q: Sony thinks your cinema embodies sensitivity and visual splendour?
A: I think the authorities saw Black and Devdas . They liked the latter. But it was Black that really swayed them. They feel it was on a par with anything from anywhere. They decided to put their trust in this Indian filmmaker who thinks and visualizes purely Indian dreams on celluloid.

I hope Saanvariya will transport my vision to a larger audience. I think I'll be learning a lot from this experience. I've always been disciplined. Now it's time for my cinema to go into a more organized infrastructure.

Q: But Sony will exercise its own pressures on your creativity?
A: None at all. Of course the project will involve huge resources. So there's bound to be a participative spirit prevailing during the shoot. There will be no interference, only collaboration. I feel my creativity will be considerably enhanced by the atmosphere of professionalism.

And I want to thank the Sony team in India—Uday Singh, Kunal Dasgupta and Shreedhar—for helping in making it happen.

Q:There're many other prominent filmmakers in the country. What made them come to you?
A: I can't say for sure. Maybe they looked at Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam , Devdas and Black as very Indian films, though in India Black wasn't seen to be as that Indian. You know Japanese, Indian and Italian cinema are far more passionately emotional. Filmmakers from these countries operate from the heart. I think these are the qualities that Sony saw in my films.

The song and dance legacy is what they see as Indian cinema. These components will be an integral part of Saanvariya. Perhaps they related to my cinema in some instinctive way. Saanvariya was destined to be the first Indian film made in collaboration with Sony.

Q: When do you start?
A: The principal shooting begins in March.

Q: And the cast?
A: Ah, that's surprise. Let's reveal it later.