Saawan Kumar Tak’s emotional cum destiny saga ‘Saawan - The Love Season’ is due for release this week and the director shares his experience about the film. Those who don’t believe in destiny will start after reading the interview.

Why did you approach Salman for this film?

When ‘Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya’ did not meet the box-office expectations, I promised the two leading actors, Kapil Jhaveri and Salloni Asvani, that it would be my responsibility to ensure that they settled down in their careers. I felt I owed it to them considering that I had launched their careers. The big question was however the choice of an actor for the central character in the film. When I wrote the character played by Salman, I knew that only a big star of the stature of Salman or Shah Rukh could do justice to it. Since I knew Salman, I decided to approach him knowing that he would not be able to accommodate too many dates for me in his tight schedule.

Salman took special pains for this film. Why?

I was quite delighted when Salman initially acceded to spare a few days for the film but the course of the film changed soon after he gave the very first shot amidst a huge crowd that had gathered on the day. He delivered the dialogues in his impeccable style and paused for a while after he heard the thundering applause of the crowd that had gathered. Then he called me in his van and told me that the character he was playing was too good to be justified in a span of 20 days. I saw that he’d taken a great liking for the character.

The next day I sat down and restructured the story line to accommodate songs, scenes and some additional dramatic portions in the film. Moreover when this project started things started falling in place. I then roped in Johny Lever and before I knew it, the film was progressing at break-neck speed. It was as if destiny had designed it for me.

Tell us something about the film.

Ironically, the story of the film unwinds against a background of two conflicting beliefs destiny and coincidence. The hero believes in destiny while the girl he loves, believes that everything in life is about sheer coincidence. The two meet in Cape Town where an intense love story blossoms between the two but tragedy strikes when the boy loses the girl. The lovelorn hero, who is desperate to get back to his love, keeps yearning for her until the power above comes to his rescue and endows him with unique intuitive ability of foresight. That’s when he meets his lover once again under mysterious circumstances and rescues her from an accident that he foresees.

You say that you owe the entire film to Salman. Please explain.

The honesty and conviction with which Salman has rendered his performance in the film, is visible in each of its frames. He is the kind of actor who lives and breathes his character through the completion of the film. His intense, brooding look in the film and the stark honesty in his eyes, amply justify his deep involvement in the film. His dedication was also evident in the fact that he specially decided to grow stubble in order to give his character the look of a tormented lover. Moreover his longhaired look in the film, has given an added intensity to his character.

Some special anecdote you would like to give about Saawan.

The film has a 7-minute qawalli number picturized on Salman, which has been composed by Aadesh Srivastava. To keep the entertainment element alive, I have also added a parallel comedy track on Johny Lever and Bobby Darling. The picturesque locales of Cape Town where the story takes off, have given the film an ideal backdrop. I hope destiny makes its presence felt once again and makes the film a roaring success at the box-office.