The film has an eclectic period track which has you team up for the third time with AR Rahman and Javed Akhtar.
It’s the first time that Rahman and Javed sahab have done a film set in the Mughal era, so we did have our discussions as to how to approach it. We wanted to create sounds and melodies that depict that past and carry the scene forward, and yet appeal to today’s generation. Also the language we wanted had to have just a hint of Urdu and be very simple. Even in the script and dialogues, any word that I don’t understand is not in the film and my Urdu is very limited.

Does the burden of expectations affect your working process?
The most important phase is when I am writing the script. For me direction is 80 per cent on paper. In the other 20 per cent, I only focus on translating that script on to the screen as accurately as possible. When I am doing that, I am not looking at what’s happening every Friday. I am not looking at changing trends, whether action films are working or comic films are a hit, or if the genre of horror has taken over. A Friday can shake a creative person because when a film works or fails, you immediately start drawing parallels to your work. So I don’t let myself be influenced. But now that the film is done, I am going to push it, promote it, market it, and hope that people like it.