How is Sarfarosh different from other films?

The film shows how Pakistan has been waging a proxy war against India through ISI. There have been movies dealing with terrorism, gun-running, narcotic traffic, but the intention has been to create a villain. In the seventies, the smuggler was the villain; in the eighties, the police officer and the politician joined the league. The terrorist, too, has been shown similarly.

The treatment in Sarfarosh, however, is different. The movie puts the terrorist in properperspective. The director, John Matthew, has dealt the issue sensibly.

While choosing a role, what are the things you take into consideration?

I look at the director, the script, and the role I am offered.

What are your other films to be released in the near future?

There is Mann, a love story, directed by Indra Kumar, to be released in June. Then there is Mela, an entertainer full of romance, action and comedy. The director is Dharmesh Dharam.

Do you also intend to do the so-called art cinema to gain respectability in certain circles?

This is not a fair way of putting it. Actors do films which excite them. I have done Raakh, an offbeat movie. And I am open to offbeat cinema.

The point is that the art cinema is often promoted at the expense of the mainstream cinema. The entire film criticism revolves around movies which attract more critics than film-goers. Don't you think that the mainstream cinema is being ignored by critics?

That is perhapstrue, but I choose and do movies which excite me, not to gain respectability. I think that I have earned enough respectability.

As a person who is on the lookout for new themes and roles, don't you sometimes find it stifling in the Hindi film industry, where there is hardly any novelty in themes, the same boy-meets-and-dances-with-the-girl kind of stuff?

The framework, the canvas of Hindi cinema is not very large, but the scenario is changing. Bombay Boys and Hyderabad Blues are two examples of the change. As far as the boy-and-girl aspect is concerned, even Hollywood movies have a romantic angle. Love is an eternal emotion.

Another reason for the repetitiveness of themes is that the audience like them.

But Guide was a successful movie. And its theme--a married woman flirting with a guide--was quite unconventional, at least by Indian standards.

But if you compare it with, say, Amar Akbar Anthony, you will find a world of difference in the business each ofthem did.

Do you have any regrets in life?

None, at this point of time. On the whole, I am happy with the decisions I have taken.

Was it your childhood ambition to become a film star?

No. It was only when I was in college that I decided to join the film line. I worked for four years as an assistant director, and then Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak happened.

Who are the heroines of yesteryears you would have liked to work with?

Nargis, Madhubala, Waheeda Rehman, Meena Kumari.

And the directors?

Guru Dutt, K Asif, Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan.