From co-directing a children's film like Chillar Party and giving one of 2014's biggest hits, Queen, Vikas Bahl saw a professional slip with Shaandaar. The Shahid Kapoor-Alia Bhatt romcom wasn't a patch on his previous outings, but that doesn't seem to have deterred him from continuing to make movies. His next is a biopic on a celebrated Indian mathematician. The filmmaker is learning the formula to rise from the ashes of a flop. BT caught up with him:

You've been out of action since Shaandaar in 2015.
My biopic on mathematician Anand Kumar has been taking up a lot of my time. I also did a session with him at the Times Lit Fest, which was amazing. It's a tough biopic to make. I'm just focusing on writing it well. The last one year has been about putting the film together on paper. Plus, I have been hands-on with production.

How involved is Anand with the writing?
Anand is a great storyteller. He's seen such a lot in the last 16 years while training students to crack IIT. One meeting or two story sessions with him can't do much because it's difficult to club his achievements in a two-hour movie. He has so many stories to tell us. So, either we write our queries to him or he flies down to Mumbai every few weeks to spend time with us. He's completely integrated in putting the script together.

Is Abhishek Bachchan still the top choice for the role?
I'm not writing with anyone in mind because I don't want it to influence my storytelling. So, right now, if you ask me who could play Anand, I'd say it could be anyone.

How much has the Paan Singh Tomar experience come in handy?
That's the only biopic I have been a part of. I was working with the studio when Tigmanshu Dhulia made it. So, I do understand how a biopic's narrative works. In terms of writing, the experience of that film has been really useful.

Shaandaar tanked despite a promising cast. Are you under pressure to deliver now?
If anything, the film's failure has only made me stronger. I am more confident and I'm taking giant strides. To answer your question, I don't feel any pressure because I have a great story on hand.

Talking about your forthcoming films, as a producer, your partners and you were to produce the remake of Chameli Ki Shaadi. Apparently, the film is canned.
No, on the contrary, it goes on floors soon. These are rumours and I don't know a better way to react to them. The film will definitely be made.

Lastly, Harshvardhan Kapoor has progressed from a director's assistant to the lead in your upcoming production Bhavesh Joshu with Vikramaditya Motwane. How much has he transformed?
Harsh is terrific guy. He's a looker and an extremely hard working boy. Trust me, I've been on sets with him now and before. There's no difference in the way he is at work. He is as sincere, if not more. He has a long way to go. The box-office of his debut doesn't matter because the boy shows promise. And he will deliver!