Not a happy ending

What do you think didn’t work for the film at the box-office?

We really don’t know. What is disappointing is that the opening itself was not encouraging. On Saturday and Sunday, the film did pick up, but if the opening is low, no matter what happens, it doesn’t have a chance to attract viewers. It’s been a month, now, since its release so in a way, we can say it is doing fairly well in mainly cities. Having said that, I have to confess that I don’t quite follow the logistics and that I have only learnt that it is doing fairly well. I have found out that the film is doing well in certain multiplexes and certain centers, but that doesn’t really translate into much money as this is a big film. It is still an uphill task to draw audiences. The film was released in 1600 to 1800 domestic screens and was not targeted for the single screens.

It is strange that a Saif Ali Khan film has taking a beating. This is your second film with him after Go Goa Gone. Don’t you think this should have captured the audience’s interest in the project?

All said and done, Saif is fun to work with. He is the most passionate actor and is one of Bollywood’s underrated actors. He has great comic timing and it is a joy to work with someone who will tell me what he wants to do.

Does the fact that the film has a new pair with Ileana D’Cruz as the heroine, not work for the film?

I always like fresh pairs. Even the audience like new faces, but here I really don’t know what went wrong. Maybe the audience felt Happy Ending was an Hinglish film. I was also told that not much interest was shown towards the lead pair by certain sections of the audience, and that the duo did not catch their eye; It is strange, but true. Someone commented that Ileana is shown to be an author and doesn’t look like one, but this theory only applies after one sees the film. If you haven’t seen the film, how can you analyse it?

Are you ready with your next project?

 Farzi, starring Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Nawazuddin Siddiqui will take off early next year.