Hirani: Exactly. If I got the script of Rang De Basanti, I would’ve been definitely inspired by its superb idea. But it would not be the same film. I would’ve shot it differently according to my sensibility. But I love how Rakeysh has shot it. I love the way he has used sound and the locations. When I compare Lage Raho Munnabhai with Rang De Basanti, I feel I’ve shot my film very simplistically.

Let’s shift gear and focus on the real reason we are here today. Today being the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, how relevant is the Mahatma in today’s world?

Mehra: I’d like to confess that for a long time, Gandhi was more of an idea than a person to me. In fact, sometimes he even ceased to be an idea. Sirf naam ke vaaste hi reh gaye the. I had even forgotten that his picture is printed on the currency notes. But Raju’s film has brought Gandhi back in my consciousness. He has made the idea of Mahatma Gandhi relevant for me again.

Hirani: I didn’t study Gandhi in school. Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi was the only influence. I also grew up hearing ‘ki aaj ke zamane mein Gandhi nahin chalta’. But I always felt that there were two sides to him; one the person who fought for freedom and the other that was the Gandhi way of life, which spoke about simplistic goodness. People say his methods won’t work in today’s world but those times were more turbulent, so if Gandhi could work then, he can surely work now also. Of course, he wouldn’t use the tools of fasting or hadtal, he would have thought of something unique. Like in Lage Raho..., when Sanju gives flowers to Lucky Singh, he is protesting but in a non-violent way. Maybe Gandhiji would’ve done something like this.

... contd.