You are bound to love your job if your co-worker happens to be your friend. Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK aka Raj & DK, are the lucky few who have that privilege. The engineers-turned-directors from Andhra Pradesh, quit their stable job in the US to pursue their lifelong dream of making a film someday. A decade later, the duo, popular for making Shor In The City and Go Goa Gone, have already earned the reputation of making genre-bending cinema. In a free-flowing conversation, the filmmakers share with BT, thoughts on their forthcoming film A Gentleman - Sundar, Susheel, Risky row over a kissing scene in it and who among the two wins, in case of an argument. Excerpts...

Why did you opt for Raj & DK as your screen names?
Raj: Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK as names were too long for the screen.
DK: My real name is Krishna but everyone calls me DK so I went ahead with that. Raj & DK was easy I suppose.

Does it bother you if people interchange your names or mistake one for the other?
Raj: People should know that a film has been made by Raj & DK. It's okay if they don't know who exactly is Raj and who is DK. We face that all the time.

From engineers to filmmakers, how did the shift happen?
Raj: Actually, most Indians are filmmakers at heart. Everyone has a story to tell or a point to make about a film. We knew each other for a very long time. We went to college together and even worked together in the US.
DK: We were always crazy about movies like most South Indians are. Today, everyone gives instant reviews about a film. What's wrong and what's right. (Laughs)

Is that annoying for you as filmmakers?
DK: Attention spans are reducing. Even during a marketing discussion, putting out a three-minute song is considered to be long. One prefers a two-minute song. There's always a time crunch.

The kind of films that interest both of you are not regular Bollywood stories...
Raj: Something unique, slightly offbeat but still entertaining like a mainstream film gets us going.
DK: Even this film (A Gentleman...) has been marketed as an action film, which it is, but I think there's also a lot of quirkiness to it. It's not a typical action film.

A Gentleman... wasn't the original title of the film, was it? Also, what's with the Sundar Susheel Risky bit in the title?
DK: The working title was Reload, but that was never meant to be. We always wanted 'A Nice Guy' or something that describes Sid's character.
Raj: We took a boring NRI life that we use to lead - nine to five job, same sh**, different day. Then you upgrade your life - take bigger loans, buy bigger homes, want a wife and kids...the typical life. So we thought, 'Why don't we get some Mumbai crooks, gangsters with guns into this boring NRI life?' That's how the film shaped up.

So the story was drawn from your personal experiences?
DK: Boring NRI life, yes. Guys with guns, no. (Smiles)

How difficult is it to work as a team, given the difference of opinion that's bound to occur in any collaborative work?
DK: We are doing this for a long time now. It's been nine years since we made our first Hindi film here. The journey started much earlier. Obviously it's difficult for two individual filmmakers to come together and make a film, but we are two individuals who grew into it together so we are the same entity. 95 per cent of the time we are pretty much on the same page.

What happens in case of an argument?
Raj: The guy with a stronger viewpoint convinces the other guy otherwise there is no going forward. If there's no logic, there's no convincing.

What makes you click as a team?
Raj: We have similar tastes in films, sensibilities and similar backgrounds. There's no friction that way. It's not that he wants to make completely different set of films. If that was the case, it would be chaotic. Between us, there's a switching of roles that happens. DK tends to be a little more technical, as he looks after the editing and shooting. When he dons that hat, it gives me freedom to bounce off ideas without having to worry about them being great or shi***. That gives us balance.

Was the Sid-Jacqueline kissing scene in the film edited as per CBFC's suggestion?
Raj: It wasn't shortened but a couple of shots were modified or slightly rigged. It is a UA film and there's a passionate kissing sequence between them. Kissing can be done in various ways, so this scene begins in a sweet, sensual way but then it gets steamy and aggressive. And we knew somewhere that some shots may be a little too much for a UA film.
DK: We had to tone the kiss down rather than cutting it out. We replaced a few shots with some milder ones.

Were you surprised with this decision?
Raj: Even in the US, you follow certain guidelines for PG-13 movies, it's similar here. But the rating system should be more precise.
DK: We saw it coming. But six-year-old girls dance to item numbers here. They don't even know the meaning of it. I don't want to sound sanskaari, but what we need is certification instead of censorship and in this case, the CBFC didn't ask us to cut the scene. The changes that came to us were fitting into the mode of the certification system. If you want a UA certificate then reduce the kissing scene versus cutting it out.

Does Jacqueline have action scenes of her own? Very often in our action films actresses end up as glamourous props...
Raj: We don't follow stereotypes anyway. We don't want the girl in our film to be a ditsy, clueless person. Everybody should have a mind of their own. If we are creating a nice character for a guy, why not for everyone else? She breaks free in the film and gets into action later.

In your film Happy Ending Govinda played a Bollywood star, who tells the writers what to do. Did you experience such characters as filmmakers?
Raj: Yes, initially we did. Most of his dialogues were our real-life experiences. Somebody actually put two (Hollywood) DVDs in front of us and said, 'Issme se ek picture banao.' We used that part in the movie.