<b>Let’s start with the obvious question…Did you expect Chennai Express to be such a big hit?</b><br>Not at this speed and consistency. We heard the film, we liked it and we believed in it. Once we started making the film, various versions began to surface. Some said it would be a comedy and some said it would be an action film. So I told Rohit (Shetty) when we market the film, we’ll tell everyone that it’s a family film. There is also a love story in the film but when the audience saw the shot of me in a white shirt in the trailer, doing an action scene, they assumed it was an action film. When we saw the first cut, we all loved it. And we could convey what the film was all about during the promotions.<br>Thanks to a few breaks, the business soared. Like, in the South and the holidays we got when the film released. If there hadn’t been another release at the same time, business would have soared faster. I think families have taken on to the film. When we visited cinemas, we got the feeling that kids, their moms and a few older men and women were appreciating the film. But the truth is no one knows the formula for a successful film.<br><br><b>Apart from the climax sequence, you do not play a ‘hero’ in the film. What made you say ‘yes’ to such a film?</b><br>People tell me that I don’t play characters but very few actors will play this role. He is a darpok, a wuss. And I have encouraged that as well. Jitna Rohit aur uske writers ne likha tha, usse zyada kiya.<br>In Chennai Express, the hero’s shortcoming is that he is shy and scared and circumstances put him in a completely alien place. So when he overcomes his fears, he emerges as the hero because there is no villain in it. Even Tangaballi is not a villain. My character’s shortcoming is the villain itself and the way he comes back. I think that is heroic.<br><b><br>In RA.One, you were a superhero; in Don 2, you were the biggest villain; and in Jab Tak Hai Jaan (JTHJ), you went all out to woo your woman. But, in Chennai Express, you play a really meek character. Were you not skeptical about that?</b><br>I think its charming when the girl is tough and the guy is a little dumb. And in the end, the guy assures the girl that he will save her but in his own stupid way. And even when he fights, he doesn’t exactly pack a solid punch; he throws things at the people he’s fighting with. Coming to your question, JTHJ was Yashji’s romantic hero who would do anything for love. I personally liked Don a lot because there is nobody in the world who keeps coming back as a bad guy. He can fool anyone, even the best of the best. I feel like a Don, that’s why I find it very interesting. And RA.One is a superhero.<br>No, I was not skeptical about this role because it’s a sweet, romantic comedy with Rohit Shetty’s brand of humour.<br><br><b>It is said that when there is great chemistry between an actor and director, the outcome is brilliant. Does that explain why the first half is Rohit Shetty-ish and the second half is your kind of cinema?</b><br>If left to me, I would have liked the whole film to be Rohit Shetty-ishtyle. When he explained how he was planning to cut the trailer, I told him I just wanted the trailer to have two things. One, the bench shot, because my son Aryan really liked it. And second, the tag– Come Fall In Love Rohit Shetty-Ishtyle. I told him this would not be a Deepika, SRK or XYZ genre film; it would be Rohit’s-ishtyle film because he has his own genre. And that is what I learnt while working with him.<br><br><b>All your films are promoted as ‘an SRK Film’. What made you to promote Chennai Express as a Rohit Shetty-Ishtyle Film’?</b><br>I have never promoted my film as my films. My Name Is Khan was promoted in the name of autism. I thought I should go out and talk to people about what autism is. Don was promoted by its character. G.One in RA.One was a superhero. I feel first the actress’s name should appear, then the director’s name and then the hero’s name because the film actually belongs to the director. I genuinely feel that neither Deepika nor I have done a film like this before. You know, a full-on comedy masala film. Kareena (Kapoor) and Ajay (Devgn) have done it and they understand that genre. It was an enlightening experience for me.