• Was there any role he was upset about?

He was upset about Saajan.

• That was your first romantic film?

Yes. He couldn’t understand. He said, ‘You have an action image, and what are you playing? A lame man!’ But then, after it did well, he patted me on my shoulders.

• He didn’t think you were capable of romance?

I don’t know.

• Like you, he did romance, he could do action, dacoit roles, he could do comedy. Padosan was my favourite comedy of all time, until Munnabhai came along. I’d have loved to see you in something like Padosan.

We were trying to make it again.

• A remake of Padosan?

But we never got the rights to do it. Mehmood Saab’s role was to be played by Govinda, Riteish (Deshmukh) they were thinking of for Dad’s role, Bhola. Kishoreda’s role was me. I would have been the music teacher. And then Johny Lever Saab and all the people in the gang.

• Who would have played Saira Bano’s role?

That we never thought of. Before that, they refused to give us the rights.

• That could have been something.

Yes.

• But your father had preferences?

Initially, yes. Then eventually, he let me do what I wanted. And he just told me, ‘Learn from your mistakes.’

• When you came out of jail, one of the most important films you did was Vaastav, which was really a gangster film. Didn’t your father say, ‘You ought to be moving away from this world?’ Didn’t he ask, ‘Why are you doing it?’

... contd.