Mohit Suri discusses his next love story, opens up about wife Udita's pregnancy, and talks figures

Mohit Suri has proved with Ek Villain that he can set the cash registers ringing even without the Bhatts. However, he returns to the family banner to wield the megaphone for cousin Emraan Hashmi's next with Vidya Balan. Excerpts from an interview:

You moved out of the Bhatt camp to prove a point. Do you feel validated after the recent hit?
True. I'm about to become a father, I have to be more responsible now. My wife Udita (Goswami) and I had a minor tiff and she left for a holiday alone. She was mountaineering, rafting and skydiving when she discovered that she was pregnant.

Son or daughter?
I want a daughter, Udita wants a son. If it's a boy, they will both gang up against me. (Smiles) I'm in a happy space.

Will your next film, Hamari Adhuri Kahani, be different from your usual style of filmmaking?
People tell me to ride on a safe ticket, I won't. Whenever I have listened to unsolicited advice I have made films like Crook. I was told not to make a dark love story like Aashiqui 2 because only happy love stories like Student Of The Year work. I still went ahead and made it, I love flirting with danger.

Doesn't flirting with danger come from your association with uncle Mahesh Bhatt?
(Laughs) I was not around when he was directing films.

But you know of his love for daring subjects?
I know that he wouldn't have chosen to make an Ek Villain, I don't think he liked that film much. After Ek Villain, the Bhatts wanted me to do a remake of Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin or Sadak but I stuck to Hamari Adhuri Kahani, a story waiting to be told. It's about a woman who finds love but sadly, after marriage.

So, Vidya has an extramarital affair?
Yeah, but you can love a person without being physically involved. The film has a lot of human values involved. Some people come and touch your life so strongly that you can't evict them from your system. You are too consumed with him/her and the eviction is just not easy. I'm like that. I get strongly attached to people without any reason.

Why Vidya?
You connect to her at a personal level when you talk about human values, she's perfect for the role.

Will she have to lose weight for the film?
She has to look attractive. She is anyway losing weight, get ting into shape. That's one of the reasons she is on a break.

Ek Villain may have worked well commercially but it had a major flaw...Aamna Shariff's role was not fleshed out.
The role was not fleshed out because I wanted to show that besides a nagging wife, Ritesh (Deshmukh) has a psychological problem too. Every man has a nagging wife, but does every man kill?

Buzz is, Karan Johar has offered you Rs 9 crore to direct the official remake of Intouchables.
(Laughs) How does Mirror get to know everything? But yeah, money is finally coming in. Sorry, I can't disclose the exact figure.

Mohit Suri is just 33 years old, but he has already made nine films seeing enough flops before his last two superhits. He is terrified of so many good things happening in his life together, be it his successful film, his sister Smiley's marriage and his wife Udita's pregnancy. Over a cup of coffee, excerpts from a conversation with the filmmaker:

You had told me that post the release of your film, you would plan a baby. Any plans?
Yes, Udita is expecting. This is her fourth month and the baby is due in January. She comes from Dehradun and still has those small town values, where she is not comfortable talking about it. Also, she feels afraid that too many good things are happening, so something will go wrong and I hope it doesn't come here. After Aashiqui 2, there has been a phase of change in my life. I was talking to her in the morning today and I feel that more than ever before I feel responsible, be it towards fatherhood or for the monies being put into a film being made by me. Earlier, it was just me living in a house doing everything on my own, where I didn't need too much money to survive. I was considered talented but not someone to reckon with. That has changed.
There was so much happening at the same time. My film's release, my sister's marriage and the most critical first three months of Udita's pregnancy. I felt like I had three releases at the same time.

Talk about your sister Smily and her bond with Emraan Hashmi.
Emraan organised half the things for her wedding, including her mehendi ceremony. She has grown up in his house, so she is like one sister between the both of us. If Emraan and I are fighting, she mediates between us. Emraan and I have grown up together and my mother practically was his mother.

Vidya Balan was always your choice for Hamari Adhuri Kahani. Had she ever said a no for the film?
Never. I am just 33 and have made nine films already. I was told nine years back when my films were not doing well that I should work with bigger stars and that time, too, I had said that whatever it is, I will be a star on my own. It has taken me nine years and nine films to prove that conviction. Most people don't make nine films in a lifetime. I have made a film a year to have this belief that we can do these numbers with the cast that I want.

Aashiqui 2 changed your life. Is it also your favourite film?
More than anything else, I like Aashiqui 2 the most as I put my voice in to that film. It was not a bag of skills, as the plot was very thin in it. I will have hit films and flop films, but India has liked me as a person, as I have put my personality into Aashiqui 2. That is what makes it special.

While Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur have never accepted their relationship, what is your view?
One thing I feel really happy about is seeing Aditya and Shraddha getting mobbed today. I saw the difference between shooting with her in Aashiqui 2 and now, both in Goa. I keep telling the both of them, 'I won't forgive you if you both don't do well and don't become stars. You owe this to me.' They have never admitted their relationship to me. But they were dating for sure. They are stupid and think that I am stupid also. But I love the both of them. And I have promised the both of them one thing that if they ever talk to me about the other person being wrong, I will in fact instigate their relationship to break up even more.

Who do you want to make happy in your life?
I suddenly look at Udita very differently now. This is the first film I have done outside the Bhatts. She has been the one constant throughout. She has been with me from my first film but I remember even before we got married, she told my aunt, 'It's easy to be with this boy over the weekend, but try and live with him for 10 years and bear with him.' I don't think I am the easiest guy to deal with. I am too involved with my work, I cry with it and I live with it. Sometimes, a woman wants to feel special and when you are making a movie only that is special for you. I don't have parents and her parents live in Delhi. Hats off to her for having lived alone here. She also gave up her career just for me. She is 30 and was sure that she wanted to have a baby. She handles my money and she is the most important person in my life. Thankfully, after nine films, I now have started making some money. I want to give her all the happiness.

She is someone who is so clear cut and is in love with Mohit Suri and not my films. She is not a fan of mine. I don't know what she likes about me as I keep asking her that but she thinks I am a fraud as I am not as romantic as my movies. I do know that she knows that I am not a quitter. I may have my limitations, but I will never desert her. I have never seen her throw up in her life. Normally, she is the one controlling me and is the stronger one, so I have never seen her like this before and I don't like to see her like this at all. I am taking her to London for a holiday this weekend.

I have not visited my school friends for over 10 years now. Udita is a practical person and she doesn't want me to hang out with just the filmi people. So, after my holiday with her, I will be going to visit my friends there. She knows the person I should be also along with the person who I am.

Do you miss your parents?
I lost my mom when I was eight, so I don't really have that many memories of her, but I lost my dad when I was 30 just before Murder 2 released. He never got to see my first successful film. Also, Udita and he were very good friends. So, I guess, this is the thing I hold on to. I have never been to a filmi party before where there are other known people coming there for me. I do miss him. I don't have bouts of laughter or anger after a hit film, but I always cry to celebrate my happiness.