I decided to direct Jaane Tu in 2005 because I realised that after 12 years of writing, I'd become sick of it. I never thought it would happen to me. I was becoming crazy, loony, eccentric... I was always sitting alone and writing. I was so involved in writing that I lost touch with my subject: People. I wanted some challenge. So I decided to turn to direction.

Also, I couldn't start writing 120 pages of a script, knowing that it may just sit there and not get made.

So you turned to direction because your scripts were not selling, or that your scripted films like Mehmaan and Barf did not get made?

It wasn't that the scripts weren't selling. It was the fact that the films I wrote never got made. Exhaustion had set in, and I couldn't bring myself to write a film anymore.

I am amazed that you referred to Mehmaan and Barf. Many people don't know about them. When I wrote them, I thought they were the best movies I wrote. Two years later, when I looked back I realised that I could write better.

But when you had scripts like Mehmaan and Barf -- that you thought were great scripts -- why did you choose to direct Jaane Tu?

Jaane Tu was the easiest to sell and get a producer excited. Plus, it is one of those scripts that makes you think will work. I did not want to start my directorial career with a struggle. If I had a dark script, I would have to struggle hard to convince people.

I don't believe in genres, I believe in stories. A good story can be told in all genres, as long as you have a good setup of characters, who are going through a journey that will enrich the viewer.

How did you get the late producer Jhamu Sughand to produce your film?

Three days from the day I decided to direct a film, I got a call from Jhamu Sughand, asking me to direct a film. That's how it happened.

When Jhamu Sughand went into losses, you changed your producer. Was he okay with it?

Jhamuji was a friend and a wonderful human being. It got to a point where both of us realised that the cash crunch would delay Jaane Tu. At that time, he was also producing Anurag Kashyap's Gulal and Sriram Raghvan's Johnny Gaddar, and the shooting had started for both. Obviously, his priority was those films, as he wanted to complete them.

So I asked him whether I can take the film to another producer. He told me to go ahead because he didn't want to hold back my career. I think he is the most generous human being I have met in my life.

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