I always believe that my films should give some hope to the man who comes to watch them for those three hours. If he goes home on an optimistic note, I would feel satisfied at having done my duty.
Mumbai's infectious. Once you start living in Mumbai, working in Mumbai, I don't think you can live anywhere else.
I don't make romantic films. I make films about human relationships.
Human beings are very complex creatures. This desire, this greed, this love is very complex.
There are only two types of cinema - good or bad.
My technicians are my most important tools. Once I establish a rapport with them, then they would understand me in my next film. I wouldn't have to train anyone new. I give a lot of respect to all my technicians, because I'm a technician too. I wouldn't be able to convey a feeling if the writer didn't write it well, and the cameraman didn't shoot it well.
What is the point of making the film if the man doesn't marry the girl?
Films have been my only passion in life. I have always been proud of making films and will continue taking pride in all my films. I have never made a movie I have not believed in. However, though I love all my films, one tends to get attached to films that do well. But I do not have any regrets about making films that did not really do well at the box office.
I was in Lahore before the partition, so I don't believe that a border can truly separate Punjab. I still think of it as one.
I'm not making films just to be bold.
You can always make a good film but for it to be successful, you need God's blessing.
Though, technically, I'm shooting on location, my films are actually based inside a woman's heart. I think women are more emotional than men, and that's a thread I've explored in all my films. When I see TV these days, I'm shocked at how all the main women characters are portrayed as evil. Women are the foundation of everything, and they deserve to be treated that way on camera.
The secret of being a great actor is a love of food.
Though "Veer-Zaara" is a film about cross-border love, there isn't a word of politics in it. Forget politics, there isn't slap, not even a raised voice in "Veer-Zaara"(2004). It's a very intense, humane and emotional story. "Veer-Zaara" (2004) is a humble tribute to my home in Punjab. It's my tribute to the one-ness of people on both sides of the border. Every religion preaches peace. Then why the bloodshed for the sake of religion? Why are we destroying each other?.
When I was in college, I had only one ambition that one day I would like to be a director.
I've been able to make some wonderful films, but sometimes you make films with great passion - great belief - and these films slightly don't work at the box office, and they become your favorite films.
When I was in college, my brother, B.R. Chopra, who is everything to me, was a director in Bombay. He taught me filmmaking. What I am today is because of him.
[on the reason for his seven-year hiatus in direction] My son Aditya made Mohabbatein, which took a lot of time and energy. Then we started looking for a script for me to direct. Nothing seemed to excite us both. There's a complete bankruptcy of screenwriting in our cinema. I wanted a very earthy and Indian subject. I was tired of the promos on television. With semi-clad girls, they all looked the same. Of course Dhoom has them too. But I'd personally not make a film like that.
