Over the years in Bollywood, a film’s value has been increasingly judged by its box-office numbers. The chatter about whether a film has made an entry into the coveted Rs 100 crore or Rs 200 crore club has been dominating conversations within the trade circles and sometimes even the audience. However, there are classics like Mughal-E-Azam comedies like Andaz Apna Apna or even a contemporary film on friendship, Dil Chahta Hai, to name a few, that are remembered for their content and cinematic appeal over their monetary success. Farhan Akhtar’s film Lakshya is one of those movies, which didn’t see enormous success, but continues to win him praise each time it clocks in another year.

Ask him whether judging a film success solely by its box office performance takes away from the creative success of a filmmaker, and he says, “The fact is that filmmaking is an art form as well as a business, so both are important, but one cannot overshadow the other. In recent times, it had become an unfortunate reality where the box-office figures overshadowed the strength of the content, and if something had strong content, but didn’t have a business to boast of, it was not be considered a successful film. But filmmaking is beyond only the box office performance of a movie. That is something that we must respect.”

Farhan feels that it is the industry that needs to change its outlook of judging a film based on its performance at the box office. “If we, the people within the fraternity, don’t respect it, then we can’t expect others to do it,” he says, adding, “That change really has to start from within us. If we can make the audience believe that we think that it is the content that’s important and it needs to be respected, then everybody will follow it.”

Not only do filmmakers have to contend with the pressure of the box office, but these days they also have to pay attention to people’s strong opinions about casting an actor from a certain background for specific roles. For instance, there was a lot of conversation and heated debates on whether or not Priyanka Chopra was the right fit to play boxer MC Mary Kom in the biopic on the athlete. During the release of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Farhan, too, was also asked why a Punjabi actor was not chosen to portray the legendary sprinter.

Farhan shares, “On a huge level, it depends on who the director wants in the film, and as an actor, it depends on what inspires them to do the role to the best of their abilities, which is their job. We choose from what comes to us. If a director wants to cast me in a film as Milkha Singh, it is his vision. I connect to that vision and story and do the best that I can.”

As a filmmaker, would he pay heed to such suggestions or prefer to go with his instinct? “You have to go with your instinct. Though you are making the film for the audience, your work has to be honest, you have to be honest with yourself first. If you can’t do that, then you can’t be honest with the audience.”