When he saw it [the scene] at the first preview, he wrote me a letter saying, "You are right. The entry is fantastic. Just make sure my exit in your film is fantastic." He knew I was doing a death scene [in Kal Ho Naa Ho].

It was written one way. I shot it in a completely different way. When we were in New York, I realised I was introducing Shah Rukh Khan. As much as I wanted to introduce Aman Mathur as a character -- I didn't want to get into the whole star game -- I knew I was introducing Shah Rukh Khan. He was coming after 25 minutes into the film. The audience would be waiting with bated breath.

One evening, we took Shah Rukh on a boat and took shots of his back to the camera. Those were not there in the script. I just kept putting them in. I was very impressed when I saw the edited version. I was shooting for Mahi ve when I called up my editor and asked him, "Are we are done with the introductory scene?" I was quite sure it would be rubbish. So much confidence in my editor [smiles].

But then when I saw it, I said, "Okay I have taught you well." I love the introduction scene especially because they got an emotional angle into it from the moment Gia (Jhanak Shukla) says, "Hamara angel kab aayega?"

In the picture: Shah Rukh Khan sings Kal ho naa ho.

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