Interview with Farhan Akhtar

Rock On!! (2008) film wallpapers :













Interview with Farhan Akhtar about Film Rock On!! :
We have the biggest of actors turning directors by the dozen. Naseeruddin Shah, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan, Nandita Das have all wielded the proverbial megaphone in the recent past. But since his Dil Chahta Hai days, Farhan Akhtar has always believed in turning the tide and now the director is turning actor with this Friday’s big release Rock On!!. Here is an interview with the man, who’s also sung six of the nine tracks in the film...

Are you feeling more nervous with Rock On!! than what you felt in the lead up to your directorial projects?

No, no... I feel the butterflies before every release, whether I have directed them or produced them or acted in them... (Laughs)!

How did Farhan Akhtar suddenly become an actor?

Gattu (director Abhishek Kapoor) came with his script to us, which we (co-producer Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan) totally loved. Then he asked me if I would like to play the role of Aditya, the vocalist in the band. I had done a film called Fakir before and I felt I would be able to justify the role. To tell you honestly, a year back, I wouldn’t have imagined that things would turn out this way and I would be doing not one but two films as an actor. (Farhan is also doing sister Zoya’s Luck By Chance opposite Konkona Sensharma.)

Did you need to sing the songs as well? You could have easily got a Shaan or Sonu to be your voice...

It was Gattu’s idea... He felt that I should sing my own songs. He took an audition, liked what I sang and we got cracking. I went for a vocal training with Shankar (Mahadevan) before we started recording. I will tell you why it was important that I sang. See, when you see an action hero doing his own stunts, you feel all the more excited. Here when you will see the actor singing his own songs, it’s bound to have an effect on you.

Was it difficult to be directed on the sets? Would your natural instincts take over and would you start calling the shots?

See, right from Dil Chahta Hai, I have always had such an atmosphere on the sets of my film that everyone and anyone was welcome to make suggestions. It’s not that the director cannot discuss with anyone. Of course, he has the last word but the others around him can give inputs. And it was the same on the sets of Rock On!!. If I had an idea, I would share it with Gattu.

What do the stars whom you have worked with as a director — Aamir, Saif, Hrithik, Shah Rukh — think of your move of getting into acting?

I haven’t had a chance to speak to them after I shot Rock On!!. From what I hear they are all happy for me. Shah Rukh is the only one who has seen the film and likes the way it has turned out.

Is it a good thing that everyone is perceiving the film as Return of Dil Chahta Hai from the promos?

I am aware of such a perception and I can understand why it is so. From the promos it comes across as a film about friends, who are young and cool. But once you watch the film you will realise that the story here is very different. And I don’t mind if people go inside thinking it’s a film like Dil Chahta Hai. Perhaps, it is for the same audience.

What happens if this Friday, Rock On!! releases and you become the next heartthrob. Would you sign a lot of films?

I don’t mind taking up acting assignments but I would surely not stop directing. My next film Voice from the Sky starts in November, which, as you know, I plan to shoot in a village in Bengal. So I would ideally like to do everything, I wouldn’t like to limit myself to just acting or directing. I also plan to take up music seriously.

You were supposed to debut with a Rituparno Ghosh film with Amitabh Bachchan as your father and Shabana Azmi as your mother. What happened to that?

I don’t know. I had agreed to it. I don’t think that’s on anymore.

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