Mirza’s films draw heavily from the story of his life: films like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Yes Boss narrate the stories of lovers who hail from humble backgrounds and finally unite after overcoming the odds of life, a feel-good genre that has now almost become extinct in Hindi cinema. “Kismat Konnection, though set in Toronto, is a story of middle-class people who struggle to retain their values and live a good life,” says Mirza, who launched a production house with brother Saeed Mirza, renowned writer and director, and Kundan Shah in the Eighties.
In the early Nineties, the director’s first film Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman carved out an identity for the now superstar Khan, who was then just one film-old. The movie successfully paired him with Juhi Chawla, then already a big star. Over the next one decade, the duo emerged as one of silver screen’s most loved couples.

“Juhi is also part of Kismat. When she first heard the idea, she said that the hero’s role would have been ideal for Shah Rukh 15 years back. But at 42, Shah Rukh is no longer the young kid he once used to be,” says Mirza, one of the people who had faith in Khan’s potential in his early days of struggle.
The long-lasting friendship of Khan, Chawla and Mirza that began with Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman culminated with Dreamz Unlimited, their production house. However, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, the first film to come from Dreamz (starring Khan and Chawla), ended up as a box-office disaster, leaving the three devastated. The topic still enrages Mirza. “Phir Bhi was loved by many people; I still get congratulatory messages. It is just that the movie was written off by critics, even before the audience’s verdict was out,” he says.

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