Hrithik's comeback film? Arjun Sablok on his realistic cotton-candy film

Subhash K Jha

"It is a huge responsibility. But I cannot bring myself to think about it," says first-time director Arjun Sablok of Na Tum Jaano Na Hum on his leading man Hrithik Roshan.

Roshan's career is on a precarious bottleneck. The film also stars Esha Deol and Saif Ali Khan.

Everyone wants to knows if Sablok's maiden film releasing Friday, will be able to revive Hrithik's career. The director is not perturbed by the star's falling and rising ratings. "I am the only director who signed Hrithik before the release of his debut Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai and didn't increase his role to suit his superstar status. I shot with Hrithik for only 72 days, dubbing included."

Sablok says the openings for his film are encouraging. "The advance booking in Mumbai is very good. It is much better than Hrithik's last release Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage."

A well-known ad filmmaker, Sablok admits, "I wanted to make a slick and contemporary film which functioned within a theme and mood that celebrated deep-rooted Indian traditions."

Protesting vehemently against the press branding his film as an adaptation of the Hollywood film You've Got Mail [Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan], Sablok says, "It has no similarity to You Got Mail. My film is inspired by my parents' story. My father lived in Ludhiana while my mother was from Pathankot (both in the Northern Indian state of Punjab). My mother forbade my father from meeting her. Their love grew through letters."

Not many know that Sablok started as an actor. "I was in Yash Chopra's Vijay and Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, as one of Shah Rukh Khan's friends. The other was by Karan Johar. Soon, I realised I wasn't cut out for acting."

Sablok is confident that the audience will like Na Tum Jaano Na Hum. "I don't know whether it will be Hrithik's comeback film. But I do know that he has given all of himself to it.

"My biggest reward was when Hrithik's mother (Pinky Roshan) called to say Na Tum Jaano Na Hum is not Hrithik's, Esha's or Saif's film but my film.

Sablok describes his maiden film as 'cotton-candy mixed with realism', saying, "Hrithik said something very beautiful about Na Tum Jaano Na Hum: 'The audience will either feel the film's magic or it won't."