Not at all! It was meant to be a very small film when we started out. There was a point when we thought it would not even release in America. We didn't have any buyers there. Warner Independent shut down, and they were our main people in America. That was heartbreaking. That's when Fox Searchlight picked it up and revived it. The film went to the Telluride Film Festival, and that is where the first splash happened and it came to life.

Why didn't you go to the Globes?

Slumdog Millionaire is the international version, and it will have a dubbed version in Hindi called Slumdog Crorepati. The producers didn't want a regular dubbed version; they wanted it as real and close to the original as possible. So I had to come back and work on that. I wrote the whole film in Hindi, and got back all the actors to dub for it.

Dev Patel's part is dubbed by this boy from Chembur, Shafiq Motwani. I had to look out for two-three weeks for this voice. I was telling Danny that I'm having to re-cast Jamal all over again. Shafiq's voice is just like Dev's, it's so uncanny! You won't be able to tell the difference.

Do you expect the film to do well at the Oscars?

I've no idea; I can't say. This film has a life of its own, it always did. Things have been falling into place for it after all the difficulties and hardships. I hope that continues.

Before Slumdog, you have cast for Mira Nair in Monsoon Wedding and Vanity Fair, and Steven Spielberg for The Terminal.

I was assisting Mira Nair in Monsoon Wedding, and casting was one of my jobs. She said that I was very good at casting, and gave me credit for that. Since the film became a big hit, and the casting worked so well, work started coming in. The Terminal was one of them, and it had one big part to be played by an Indian.

All these films came to me; I didn't look out for them -- even Slumdog Millionaire. I was leaving town when I got a call from Tabrez Noorani, the line producer of Slumdog, asking me to meet a couple of people for this new venture. I was quite reluctant initially, but he insisted. So I did.

I'm usually very reluctant at first, and then when I meet the director and if the project is good, I get very excited. I don't see myself as a casting director; I don't see it as a career. I'm a casting director by default. It's just a process of learning for when I direct my own film. The reason I'm in the business is because I wanted to become a director.

Also Read: Freida Pinto talks about Slumdog Millionaire

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