His next film is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, after which is scheduled Mr Mehta & Mrs Singh in 2007. So where's the children's film? He smiles, cornered. "Well, I've kept my promise with Blue Umbrella. Now it might not be exactly every alternate film, but I'll keep making children's movies."
What about more films based on books by Ruskin Bond? "Oh, definitely!" Vishal's face lights up. "Now I want to make one of Mr Bond's ghost stories. His ghost stories are as chilling as his children's stories are magical!"
Does Vishal himself watch children's films? He doesn't get much time, but he admits to being a big Harry Potter fan. "And the latest one, Goblet Of Fire, is my favourite! I really loved it!"
When making all these literary adaptations, is casting more limited? Does he cast keeping in mind the physical attributes of a character? "Well, of course. There is a certain reason a character is built a certain way, so one has to try and keep that in mind while casting characters that already exist."
Which brings us to Othello, and one has to ask Vishal about how he has cast Kareena Kapoor as Desdemona. Vishal chuckles. "We'll talk about that later. Right now, all I want to talk about is Blue Umbrella, and I want everyone to watch it."
As well they should.