In your own words, pls give us a very brief synopsis of The Mistress of Spices, so it can put the film in perspective and help our users appreciate the remainder of the interview better.

The film is about TILO (played by Aishwarya Rai), a woman who runs a spice store in San Francisco. It’s a magical, romantic film about how TILO lives her life for the Spices, which represent tradition. TILO gives her customers Spices to help them with their problems and everything is fine until she starts falling in love with DOUG (played by Dylan McDermott). It’s an immigrant’s tale about how we all try to keep the magic of our homeland alive as we move to another country.

Mistress of Spices is based on Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel, which you and Gurinder read way back in 1997 and decided to translate into a film. What took the film so long?

Every film we’ve ever made has taken a long time because it’s important to get all the elements right for a film - the script, casting, finance, etc. Chitra’s book stayed with us over those years and we’ve always been passionate about making the film because it’s such a unique way of telling a story about roots, traditions and the way that cultures influence each other.

You also involved Chitra in the process of turning it into a screenplay. What was that process like?

Chitra is a wonderful writer and a truly lovely person. We stayed with her and her family in the Bay Area and had long discussions about how to bring her book to the screen. I lived in San Francisco for many years and I loved the way Chitra captured the rich diversity of the Bay Area and used magic realism in a completely fresh way. Because Gurinder and I loved the characters in the novel it was a nice adaptation to write and Chitra was always very supportive. Chitra and her family saw the film when we premiered it at the Toronto Film Festival and she said some touching things afterwards on stage about how much she enjoyed the film.

What is it that draws you to themes centred around Indian or oriental ideas? You’ve also been active with Japanese themes…

My own background is Japanese American and what inspires me are stories about the way we all live together now. As the world gets smaller people increasingly live in multicultural societies where we are exposed to many other cultural influences around us. I see this as a very exctitng time full of possibilities, not as a negative. One of the things that drew me to The Mistress of Spices is that it shows we all have traditions that we value and hold dear, we all have similar desires. If you can help show people how connected we all are then it makes it difficult to see anyone else as ‘different’ - cinema is a great opportunity to humanize people.

Why Ash for the central role, apart from the fact that she’s such a beautiful actor?

When we made ‘bride & prejudice’ Ash read the script and loved the role of TILO - she just connected with her right away. We talked about the kind of film we wanted to make - a kind of fable with subtle, understated performances. I knew that Ash would show a very different side of herself in this role, a new layer to herself as an actress.

What was your first and basic brief to Ash about the role?

Ash had her own strong opinions about who TILO was and they were perfectly in line with my vision of the role. As soon as Ash and Dylan started rehearsing together I could see their chemistry was very strong. My main brief to Ash was to keep it simple, TILO changes subtly over the film as she opens herself up to her new world.

Has she done justice to the role? What has her performance been like?

Ash has done an amazing job and people in the UK have been saying it’s one of her finest performances. It’s a beautiful performance that shines from the inside. I’m pleased that when Ash saw the film she was struck by its beauty and magic - it’s something different that audiences haven’t seen before.

Why did you pick Dylan McDermott to play Doug in the lead role opposite Ash?

I needed a strong American actor who could hold the screen with Ash. Dylan is a fantastic actor and audiences all over the world love him from his award-winning TV series ‘The Practice’. He’s very masculine and extremely handsome and yet he has this history that he carries on his shoulders. He and Ash really sizzle as their romance builds because they’re both vulnerable in their roles - she feels a little suffocated by her roots and he feels completely cut off from his roots.

I haven’t read the original novel, but going by the storyline of your film, a key cathartic role is played by the spices, or the ire of the spices, which are enraged when Tilo breaks the rules she was ordained to live by. How challenging was it depic

We wanted to turn the Spices into characters because the film is like a love triangle between TILO, DOUG and the Spices. The Spices had to come alive as characters so we wanted to do that both visually and with the music. Santosh Sivan is one of the best cinematographers in the world, his work is absolutely breathtaking, and we spent a lot of time talking about the tone and look for the film. He’s shot the Spices in a way where you always feel their presence in the film - they’re watching TILO’s every move to make sure she doesn’t break any of the rules.

What role does music play in the film? Tell us about the music, and the way it’s been used.

Music is a key to showing how TILO’s relationship with the Spices changes as she opens herself up to America. I worked with the composer Craig Pruess, who has done all of Gurinder’s films, to give each Spice its own unique instrument. The Spices call out to TILO musically when they want to her to give a particular spice to a customer. As the film moves on the music changes subtly from traditional to more modern, so when TILO gets closer to DOUG and starts to break the rules we’ve used a song by Bally Sagoo which mixes the old with the new.

Your third film with Gurinder Chadha, Bride And Prejudice, was the first film ever to open at Number One in the UK and India on the same day. How successful do you believe (and not hope!) The Mistress Of Spices will be with the audiences.

I’m very happy that our previous films have been so warmly received by audiences around the world and in India. I hope that audiences get to discover The Mistress of Spices and see it as a film which has many of the cultural themes Gurinder and I have explored in the past, but it has a style of storytelling which is totally different. In the UK audiences appreciate that it’s a romantic, magical fable - a new way of looking at cultural complexities.

The Mistress of Spices seems likely to connect with viewers Internationally and in the metro multiplexes in India, and is obviously targeted to such an audience. Do you plan to release it like any big commercial movie with 300-350 prints in India to

The Mistress of Spices is being released by PVR in India. We wanted the release to be more like ‘Bend it like Beckham’ - let it be a film that people discover and encourage their friends and family to see because it’s something fresh. It’s not a commercial formula film - it’s an intimate, sensual, film that takes you into a magical world.

At what point of time did you think you’d be able to pull off a sequel to Koi… Mil Gaya?

It was not pre-conceived or pre-meditated. In fact, when I saw LORD OF THE RINGS, where just a ring could carry forward the story into a trilogy, I thought, in KOI…MIL GAYA, I had a real living character, who could take the story forward, upon whom the alien `Jadoo’ had bestowed supernatural powers. I couldn’t have left it at that. The concept of that passed-over power would have been incomplete without taking it forward. What would Rohit (Hrithik of KMG) do with that bestowed power? How would he use it for the good of humanity. He was innocent. He had no selfish motives in KMG. So, in Krrish, his power from Jadoo is passed on to his son Krishna, who uses it for saving the world from disaster.

How does the transition take place from an Indian hamlet to a foreign country, Singapore?

KRRISH begins where KMG ends. The story had to move from Rohit and Nisha. They die in a mishap (which is narrated in flashback) and their offspring Krishna is being nurtured with the same kind of fervor by his grandma Rekha.

But having inherited the extra-terrestrial superpowers from his father, Krishna does several rescue acts. His dare-devilry is the talk of the town, and a TV correspondent comes probing. Later, the story shifts, taking Krishna to Singapore, where a scientist is devising his own designs to usurp supreme powers, and Krishna’s mission is to save the universe. Krishna thus transforms into Krrish, a universal entity.

It is said that most of the film has been shot in Singapore…

Yes, almost 60 per cent of the film has been shot in Singapore and their hospitality has been both humbling and heart-warming. There’s not a single corner of Singapore that I have not shot in. Singapore has never been presented the way KRRISH presents it. Earlier, I had promoted New Zealand, Australia and Bangkok too, in a similar manner, and it has helped boost their tourism in a profitable way.

How are you planning to reciprocate the Singapore government’s gesture, through KRRISH?

KRRISH showcases Singapore, actually. It is in fact dedicated to the friendly people of that country. Moreover, I will be holding premieres in Singapore, where my entire unit would be present.

Back to KRRISH the movie, would you concede that it is a mélange of Superman, Spiderman, Batman, The Mask Of Zorro, et al?

This is a wrong notion. I have not been inspired by Superman, Spiderman, Batman or whatever. Neither have I used their illustrative dare-devilry gimmicks. They were comic book characters that were later translated into celluloid heroes.

My Krrish is a real-life hero. Krrish has done all the stunts himself. There are no CGs (computer graphics) where Hrithik is involved. You’d be surprised to know that even for risky shots, we have not used dupes, as my special effects team comprising Mark Kolbe and Craig Mumma were present throughout the shooting of the film. They wanted a first-hand account of what was being shot, and with whom. They suggested Hrithik perform his own stunts, which he did with great mental and physical stress and strain. The thrills are unparalleled.

Hrithik did hurt himself during several shoots…?

He hurt himself, but not during the shoots - it was while rehearsing. A couple of times it was a cause of great concern!

How was Priyanka Chopra finalized for the role of heroine?

Hrithik is from home. And he plays the principal role. Why should I have opted for a heroine who was doing 10 films and had no matching dates, whereas I wanted bulk dates? I don’t work on that basis. I want my entire team to be focused on my film. Priyanka had the dates that I required.

How did it strike you that, besides her availability, Priyanka would suit the character?

I had seen her dressed in a simple salwar-kameez with glasses while attending the funeral of Yash Johar. Her appearance struck me as someone down-to-earth, practical and simple. I was looking for a character with just those kinds of looks and appearance. I decided then and there that Priyanka would play the TV journo that I was looking for.

However, there was a negative image attached to Priyanka, thanks to films like `Aitraaz’ etc…

I have always believed that the image of an actor does not carry a film to success, but it is the film that gives an image to an actor. KHOON BHARI MAANG gave a different, diffident image to Rekha. At a time when films on reincarnation were based on male-female re-birth, I made two brothers’ reincarnation story in KARAN-ARJUN. Then, in KAHO NAA… PYAAR HAI, the two look- alikes - first pre-interval and the other coming during post-interval, had no relation. In KOI…MIL GAYA, Hrithik was a weakling, that was contrary to his established macho image in KAHO NAA…PYAAR HAI.

Priyanka looks both glamorous and simple. It all depends on how you present your character. I am not concerned with stars or their images, but their characters in my film.

Does her character as a Star TV reporter have anything to do with your tie-up with the channel for KRRISH?

Yes, of course it does.

Why is your brother Rajesh Roshan, known for his exemplary talent in background music too, only doing songs, and not BG, which is done by Salim-Suleiman?

That’s only because the film is being dubbed into Telugu and Tamil, and Rajesh is busy with the recording of the songs in those languages. That’s how Salim-Suleiman are in the picture. Moreover, they are extremely talented too. So, there’s no question of undermining anybody’s talent.

Hrithik does look into your department, too…?

Yes, he does. And I appreciate that. After all, he has assisted me in more than a couple of films as director and he is involved with and well-versed in all the departments of my film. I don’t take it as interference, as the media projects, I consider it as involvement. I have formed FilmKraft and expect my son to carry it forward. Some day, he too will take over the mantle as director. And I would be a proud father.

Just as KRRISH has taken off from where KOI…MIL GAYA concluded, would you be making sequels to KRRISH too?

There’s certainly a scope for sequels to KRRISH.

Could you enlighten us about the thrilling sequences in the film and how you convinced the famed Tony Ching Siu of Hong Kong to supervise the action sequences in KRRISH?

When I approached Tony Ching Siu in Hong Kong and introduced myself as Rakesh Roshan, a filmmaker from India, he asked to see my credentials. And when he saw KMG, he was convinced I could create a global impact. But he had conditions. And I made sure of what exactly he wanted, so that there would be no delays during the actual shoot.

He wanted a 250 ft high crane for a shoot in Manali. You’d be surprised to know that Tony has never choreographed an action sequence without a crane of that dimension, and it was impossible for us to transport such a huge equipment along by-lanes with short bridges. Eventually, it took us days to arrange one from Delhi. If these possible bottle-necks had not been cleared before the shoot, it would have entailed loss of time. This was one of the experiences that I learnt during KRRISH. At the end of the day, I have no regrets, since the results are awesome.

What is the scope for music in an action oriented film, such as KRRISH?

First of all, let me clarify that KRRISH is not an action-oriented film. It is a romantic thriller. There are four songs in the film that come at appropriate times, and two remixes in the album.

KRRISH is definitely one of the most eagerly awaited films of 2006….

I don’t know whether it is the most eagerly awaited film of the year. But for me, it is the most important, at the moment.