Box-office numbers matter to me the most: Rohit Shetty

Rohit Shetty, (above) who has helmed three films in the Golmaal franchise and is gearing for the fourth one, says he keeps a close tab on the money made by his films and wants maximum number of people to enjoy his work. “It matters to me the most. I want my film to do great business. The box-office numbers reflect this. It’s about how many people have seen the film. Every director wants that his film should be seen by a number of people,” says Rohit, who has directed films such Chennai Express (2013) and Dilwale (2015).

Rohit is happy if another filmmaker’s movie does well, too, as it benefits the entire industry. “I keep a tab on the business done by other films. If a film does well, it does well for the whole industry, that includes me,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Rohit admits that he changed the story for his film, Dilwale to cater to the fans of actors Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. However, he says that this didn’t really work wonders for him. The initial plan for Dilwale was it to be a three-hero film and Kajol would just have four to five scenes in it. When asked if there are times when an actor becomes larger than a film, Rohit says that this was not true in this case. “That was my decision to change it and nobody else’s. No one forced me,” says Rohit, who will be judging a stunt-based reality show.

The filmmaker says that despite so many films, a new project always makes him nervous. “No matter how confident you are, it happens,” shares Rohit.

PHOTO: YOGEN SHAH