One failure and we get to see a new Sajid Khan. He is no longer promoting “Humshakals” as a blockbuster before the release. “I realise that I started behaving like a trade pundit before the release of ‘Himmatwala’. I had become arrogant,” he admits. Putting the failure of “Himmatwala” in perspective, Sajid says it was the first film of its kind to fail. “It was followed by the failure of about a dozen films in the same space, the last being ‘Jai Ho’ but nobody talks about them. The trend changed and my film happened to be the first film to face the indifference of the public. Part of the reason is me because the media was waiting to pounce on me and I gave them the opportunity by behaving in an overconfident fashion.”
With “Humshakals”, he is returning to the space he knows. “Like ‘Housefull’ it is once again a glossy comedy which the audience expect from me. We have a fascination for double role films and here I am giving triple roles to three characters. Usually in such films the lookalikes turn out to be lost brothers but I haven’t taken that route. My idea is in this world there are seven people who are just like you in physical appearance. What if they all get all into one place and also have the same name.”
But this time he is asking the audience to bring the brains to the theatres. “I am not saying that it is realistic or believable but to keep track of who’s who you have to apply mind. It will add to the fun element.” On making Saif do something he is not known for, Sajid says he understands Saif. “The main character is in Saif’s space and it’s the two lookalikes that get to do the goofy stuff.” Writing the script for three double roles must be crazy and Sajid says he did it rationally. “First I wrote the roles for the three characters and then added double role bit. Once it was done, I looked for opportunities where I could slip in the second set of lookalikes. So it is well-knit.” As for shooting, Sajid says technology has made the task easy. “Earlier when there was one standing camera, the hero had to first say his dialogues and then had to dress up as his lookalike and respond after seeing his gestures in the monitor. Now you can do a lot of things with the software without adding days to the shooting schedule.” As for the lessons learnt from the past, Sajid says unlike “Himmatwala”, this time he has shown his script to his mother (Menaka Irani, sister of scriptwriter Honey Irani). “She has said that this should have been my first film. So even if the film fails I know I am safe at home.”
