•Georgina Maddox: Is that true of the main male characters in the film—Farhan’s and Hrithik’s?

Zoya Akhtar: Definitely. Look at how Zafar Khan (Hritik Roshan) says in the film: ‘I work for an image’. For me, Zafar Khan was that moment of being caught up in nonsense—I don’t get enough money, I don’t get enough this, etc. And suddenly, you just look out of the window and you think, what is he crying about? For me, that moment is a moment of truth. So you have to put yourself in everything. But there are certain things I have ignored completely.

•Namrata S. Zakaria: What do you make of the sudden foreign interest in Indian films, even Slumdog Millionaire—though technically, it isn’t Indian?

Zoya Akhtar: The only film industries that are functioning and haven’t been eaten up by Hollywood are India’s, China’s, and Hong Kong’s. And the only reason they have survived is because they have their own star system. Here, a Tom Cruise will have to wait if a Shah Rukh Khan film is being released. And Americans always want a piece of the pie. So they come and produce Hindi films. If they can’t sell their movies, they are going to make our movies. Sony Pictures made Saawariyaa and Warner Bros made Chandni Chowk to China. It is just a way of getting into the market. Slumdog Millionaire has nothing to do with Indian films even though I haven’t seen it since my film was releasing immediately after it. It is a Mumbai film because it is set in Mumbai, but it is not an Indian film. A film like Slumdog Millionaire will not work in India, it won’t be allowed to be made in India, you won’t get $15 million to make it, Anil Kapoor probably won’t work in it and the censors will not pass it.

... contd.