As he gears up for the release of his debut film as a director Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na, Abbas Tyrewalla sits down for a free wheeling chat with us. Not known to mince his words, we ask Abbas about Jaane Tu, working with a producer like Aamir and whether Pappu Can’t Dance is really a dig at Salman Khan!

What was the inspiration behind the film?

I wrote this film quite a while back… this happened right after Main Hoon Na and Maqbool. There was a time when I just couldn’t find any interesting director to work with. And that’s when I decided to write Jaane Tu… and then sometime in 2005 I realized that I wasn’t as happy and interested in writing as I was earlier. That’s when I felt I needed a new ambition, a new direction and so I decided to take up direction. And at that time the only script that I had on hand which was most viewer and producer friendly was Jaane Tu…and so I decided to direct this film.

How difficult is it to change roles from script writer to director?

In life I have never thought and said I won’t be able to do something. When I take on something I have no doubt that I will be able to handle it. But sure my friends who are directors like Vishal Bhardwaj and RGV told me that you think direction is about creativity. But direction is about people – their emotions, their feelings and to manage all that while motivating them to work better for you. So while writing is 100% creativity direction is 100% people management. So for years as a script writer I used to work independently all alone. I wasn’t dependent on anyone but now I was in a job where if 100-150 people didn’t do their job then I wouldn’t have been able to do my job. So the big challenge for me was to learn to rely on people again… to learn to motivate and inspire them to do their job better so that my work turned out better. And I think that was a major shift for me.

Speaking about Jaane Tu… it’s your first film, you have a newcomer in it and you have an Aamir Khan backing it. So if there any pressure on you?

The pressure would have been there had Aamir Khan been a producer who had come to me saying that I want to launch my nephew and you write a film for him. And if I was making the film to make him happy then there would have been pressure. But that was not the case… the film’s original producer was Jhamu Sugandh and when we cast Imran it was because he fit the role and not because Aamir was my producer. In fact by the time Aamir got involved and became the film’s producer by that time I was accustomed to my role of director. Also Aamir never threw his weight around or said that my nephew is here so pay more attention to him. All he said was make the film based on what you have written or what you see the characters in your mind like.

You’ve scripted films in different genres… from Maqbool to Main Hoon Na. Where do you get your inspiration from?

I am someone who pays a lot of attention on life… I enjoy analyzing and studying people and circumstances. And the other thing is that I am also very fond of stories… so I love making khyaali pulao. I also love reading stories and watching films and all that helps. I don’t travel too much or really research my stories as such. I try and give life to different characters based totally on my thinking.

Not only as his director but as someone who has interacted with the best in the industry how would you describe Imran to us?