Comparisons no problem: Raju Hirani

On the film not being screened at popular Mumbai single screens Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha Mandir
Aamir: Why do you think it’s not? We have a theatre in Bandra called Nandi, which is selling tickets at prices lower than Gaiety’s  about Rs 60. I don’t want to take the names, but some theatres sell tickets in black. So whatever their rates, they open the booking window and shut it within 10 minutes and put up a “houseful” board. And then they sell those tickets for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. Our purpose is that in these theatres where the ticket prices are lower, people should get it at those lower prices. If we don’t want it to go at Rs 60 why will we put pk at Nandi? So this question you should ask the theatre owner. Ticket pricing is not in my hands, that’s controlled by exhibitors and distributors. As a creative person, I will say that I would like my film to reach all over irrespective of how much you can afford. I keep telling trade there should be a chain of theatres that sell at Rs 25.

On Hindutva protests
Aamir: For every film there are groups that protest. This is not the first time it’s happening to my film. It’s a democracy. If that is their opinion, so be it.

On pk being leaked online
Aamir: I think piracy has been happening for many years now. So now what to do? (chuckles). All films are leaked. The collections seem to indicate that this is not affecting us so far at least. Fingers crossed.

On comparisons with Oh My God!
Raju: It’s our bad luck that our film came later, but we had started writing it long before OMG was being made. We have always chosen to tell unique stories. So at the time of writing, we thought it was a very unique story. Then we saw OMG!, but we still chose to make pk. Thematically they maybe the same, but I don’t think the films are similar at all. We don’t have a problem with comparisons.
Aamir: If there is a theme two filmmakers have felt is important enough to make a film on, I think that’s a good thing.

On pk being called “preachy”
Raju: I haven’t heard of this. You cannot please everyone. We’ll go with our conviction. It’s not a conscious effort to preach or send out a social message.

Religion or God as a risky topic to explore
Raju: These are things we believe in and if you look at the film, it’s basically talking about love. If you think strongly about something, you should say it out loud. Otherwise nothing will be said.

Ranbir’s role in pk
Raju: Ranbir was not in the film initially, but we keep modifying our scripts. So when we finished the film and we showed it to a few people and then we realised people were feeling sad with the ending. So we re-wrote the ending to make people happy.

Recent films you have liked
Aamir: I loved an unreleased film called Margarita With A Straw. And I loved Queen.
Raju: A documentary that Aamir showed me called Searching for Sugarman.

On pk sequel
Raju: We have one very basic idea but we don’t know where it will go yet. At the moment I’m working on couple of scripts.

On keeping a low profile
Raju: I am happy in my own space. It’s not like I don’t go out, I do go out but it’s mostly with friends. I feel awkward at public functions.  

On daughter Ira having Bollywood dreams
Aamir: Not that I know of. If she does she’s most welcome. I think it’s a wonderful field to be in and I’d be happy if my kids try to join it.

And any New Year plans?
Aamir: I am planning to spend some quiet time with Kiran and my mom and Azad and her parents. My resolution is to be more moderate in life. I am a complete extremist so I will try to learn moderation. That’s my resolution for 2015.
Raju: I want to go on a vacation before starting on my next. So let’s see.