His frames look stunning, almost like a picture postcard coming out of real life. The lead pairs in his films look lovely, too, but they appear real. Like us all - beautiful and flawed, confused and complex. His next, Jab Harry Met Sejal¸ starring Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, is close to his heart. It's a story that hits the road and takes you along, and like Imtiaz Ali says, “If I had been born in Mumbai, or belonged to a film background, my journey would have been lesser. And for me, the journey is the most important part of my life.“ We catch up over coffee and chat about all kinds of things - love, movies, men, women and journeys. It's not a straight route, of course, but that's Imtiaz for you. He will still give you enough to chew on. So, read on...

Your love stories follow a certain thread - pain, heartbreak, soul-searching, repression, breaking free... Is this how you define love yourself?
I am no longer looking for the meaning of love. I am no longer trying to define it either, but while reflecting on my own work I feel that a relationship with anyone else also makes you look at the relationship you share with yourself. I feel that whenever you encounter a new person or feeling, there is always a discovery and some sort of internal travel. It's not like I have a better definition or understanding of relationships than anyone else. There was a time when I was trying to figure out the meaning of the word 'love', but it's been long since I have given up. In fact, I never use the word 'love' while working, shooting or in real life. It means different things to different people depending on their experiences. It means different things to the same person at different stages in their life. So many things are clubbed and categorized under that word that it becomes extremely inaccurate to use it liberally. If I tell my actor that you are in love with this girl, so behave like this with her, it means nothing at all.

Have your films changed the course of your own journey? How much change has it brought about in you, personally?
Yes, for sure. Sometimes when I watch my own films, I realise that now, people have a sneak peek into everything that I am trying to hide from them. Movies reveal so much to everyone and even more to the director. Personally, I draw a lot from my films, but I don't see it passing on as learning to the next film. If I had carried on something from one film to the other, today, I would have been more confident as a director than I was when I made Socha Na Tha. But that's not the case. Every time I am working on a film, it feels like I have never worked before and I don't know what to do. When I am on the set, I don't know the first thing to say to anyone. It sounds convoluted, but it's absolutely true.

Like in Jab Harry Met Sejal (JHMS), in many of your other films too, the love story hits the road. Is it symbolic? Is it trying to spell out the belief that we need to travel inwards and outwards to find love?
Personally, travel has been very important for me. I was from Jamshedpur and I had to travel a lot, first to study in Delhi and then to Mumbai for work. In smaller towns, people have to travel more as you don't find everything in your own city. Travel is the most affordable entertainment and all kinds of people travel. It is a time when they can be who they want to be. You are often defined by your location, job and the environment you live in. Once that changes, the definition also wears off. You can choose who you want to be and you can refresh yourself by being anyone else because no one knows you there. When you travel, you come to know what kind of person you really are. If you live in a society and go to school or college in a certain area, everyone there has an opinion and you are often bound to carry the same opinion of yourself that everyone has. Once you leave that environment is when you dis cover yourself.

Anushka Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan have worked together twice before doing this film. Does it make it easier directing a love story with a lead pair, who are already comfortable with each r other?
Yes, it does. It makes it easy for not just a romantic film, but for any film. Though sometimes, it also a makes it difficult as there is a certain pattern that already exists which you need to break, because each film is unique and needs a difeferent energy. SRK and Anushka are very comfortable with each other; at the same time, as individsuals, they are very different. I think that also makes it more exciting because people who are unlike each other often add other dynamics to the scenes.

Your journey from Jamshedpur to Mumbai, from Jab We Met (first success) to JHMS, has been interesting. When you come from a smaller town, do your achievements (fame, success) seem more magnified?
I don't know any other way. For me, this is the life that I have lived. I cannot compare it with any other. I feel fortunate that my journey has been long, and the fact that I have been at various places and cities in life. I have worked at a junior level and learnt the ropes the way everyone does. I can use all those experiences in the movies that I make. I feel I am more blessed that life has taken me to different places. If had been born in Mumbai, or belonged to a film background, my journey would have been lesser. And for me, the journey is the most important part of my life.

Your name features on most actors' bucket list. Yet, you say that you are insecure. Why?
Honestly, I feel completely unsure about myself as a director. I think it is the very basic nature of people to be unsure about what they are doing. Right now, I am going to the mixing studio and it will be a struggle to make the best of what I can today. Tomorrow, I won't have the chance to do it again. There is nothing that I have done, which I have not regretted later in terms of work. There is nothing that I have done, which I felt couldn't have which I felt couldn't have been better. Yesterday, at the mixing studio I was thinking...when will a time come when I will just romanticise about the film releasing and talk about all the good things about it? Before every release, I am just insecure about the nitty-gritties that could go wrong.

The characters in your movies are beautifully sketched; do you see a reflection of your own self in your characters?
I do it subconsciously, never deliberately. Your own influence on the characters of your film is also something you realise in retrospect. I try to keep myself as far away as I can, but it is difficult. Ultimately, when I watch my films, I see that there is a reflection of me and my experiences. I try to avoid it, and the reason is that I don't want my life to repeat and make my films and characters boring and repetitive.

Ranbir and you share a strong bond. In a previous interview, you have spoken about how he often chooses films from the heart. The two of you seem to be similar in that sense; you are driven solely by the story you want to tell. Of course, the commercial aspect comes in later...
It is not a question of how much money you can make with one particular film. For actors and directors, it is a question of how you are going to train yourself to be the person who can make movies that will earn over a period of time. For that, learning is important. Many of us have not been to film schools and we learn on the job. The only way to learn is to experiment and attempt different things. After one successful film, I know that if I make a similar film, it will most likely make money as people have already accepted the subject. If I do that, my learning will stop and after three films, I will have nothing new to say. There are these risks we have to take with the intention that it will reap rewards later, if not right away. Which is why someone like Ranbir, who is going to be here one way or the other for donkey's years, needs to take those risks and learn more. For him, learning and doing new things is more important than the money that he makes right now.

What will he do with the money?
He already has more than he needs (laughs)!

Has your understanding of women changed through your own real life and cinematic experiences? Do you think you understand them better now?
I don't know if my understanding of women has become better, but I can say that now, I am more interested in them. It has always been there. As a child, I was always guilty about being interested in girls and women, now I am old enough to admit that, yes, that's the case. I am fortunate to have been in the company of admirable and intelligent women. I always feel that women are far more intelligent and sharper than men. So, more than understanding women, I think that I am fascinated by them.

In Love Aaj Kal, you showed parallel love stories belonging to different generations. In the older era, the man is in love with one woman, in the new age, he is confused about his choices. Do you think that the new generation construes love differently?
Yes, the definition has changed, but the basis has not. The dynamics around the topic has changed completely and with every generation, it is bound to change. Earlier, the impediment used to be an outside force, a barrier that would stop a man and a woman from coming together and the whole romance was to fight that barrier. Now, it has become internal. Today, you might have to combat some internal things to be with somebody. So, in that sense, the parameters have changed, but the basic desire of a man and woman to be together is the same.

Even the way we show love cinematically has undergone a huge change. Today, a couple in love kisses on screen, makes love and expresses themselves with abandon, without any fear of judgement...
Yes, that has changed, too. I think society has become liberal and therefore, cinema had to become liberal. Today, we have modern relationships, where even after living in for a long time and having an active physical relationship, a couple can take time to understand if they really love each other and want to be together for life. So, cinema is also trying to get there.

So, what we are trying to portray is more honest and closer to reality...
Absolutely! If you realise, today's cinema is actually becoming purer, as we aren't trying to camouflage emotions or add filters. Instead, we are removing them. Now we have a chance of portraying love stories more realistically.