‘The male lead had to understand that it was not his film alone’

Debutant director Siddharth Malhotra is no newbie in tinseltown. This young director credits his mentor Karan Johar and several years of working on television programmes in his father’s production company Cinevista in taking calculated and practical decisions when it comes to his work – especially while deciding to cast Arjun Rampal as the male protagonist in the middle of two female bigwigs Kajol and Kareena Kapoor in his debut direction We are Family.

The director confirms that though most of the storyline in his film has been kept similar to the Hollywood film Stepmom, he decided to make the Bollywood hunk into his film’s “surprise package”.

“With Kareena and Kajol in the film”, points out Siddharth, “we needed a real father to play out the character of another father, this time to three kids. This actor needed to be good looking enough for two women to be able to fight over him. The reason why I didn’t cast Shah Rukh Khan or Saif Ali Khan in my film was because I didn’t want to overcrowd the star cast. The male lead had to understand that it was not his film alone.”

The director also adds that the role of Rampal had been especially scripted in his film, very different from how Ed Harris’s character was in Stepmom. He explains, “I have already had people telling me that Arjun is the surprise package of my film.”

Cousin to Kareena, Siddharth has been a regular in the Karan Johar camp. Having worked with Karan in Kal Ho Na Ho, his next film is also slated to be produced under the former’s banner. Siddhart gushes, “Karan Johar is the best producer to work with.” Is he apprehensive that the industry might label him as belonging to a particular camp? The director explains, “You should always be loyal to the person who made you. I am old-fashioned and do not believe in camps. I am grateful to Karan and there is no reason to be apprehensive.”

While attending a launch at the Oxford Bookstore, Siddharth also points out that joining hands with Karan made work even more fun despite the fact that it took almost three years to make the film. He says, “Karan is such a calm person. He does not keep things in his heart. Even though I signed up with him for We are Family in mid 2007, delays kept happening from my side. We went over drafts several times. Acquiring the rights took another nine months. It can be painful, but with KJo around, you will have fun”.

By Sujata Chakrabarti