It was quite a brave move to create the dirty picture, how did the idea come up?

When you want to do something specific, the best time to do it is when you’ve had the experience behind you. A lot of people said it was the wrong move at the time because traditionally films on women are not that talked about, but I knew what I was going to do with it and I wanted to changed the way people approached that genre and fortunately I have an actress who supports me, so it is definitely going to change quite a few things.

Will this film change the way people look at Vidya Balan and Naseeruddin Shah?
By putting these actors in a movie, which is so sexy and so uninhibited it forces you to respect the product, because these are not actors who will lend there names to anything sleazy or exploited. There has to be a lot of meat for them so that in itself helped a lot in joining the perception of the movie.

What was there initial reaction when they read the script?
Vidya asked me to leave her house. She was not impressed at the fact that I wanted to do a movie like this with her. We had previously talked a lot about working together so she couldn’t believe that I actually turned up with something like this. She took a lot of convincing so I was very patient with her and she took her time, but when she did come on board, she decided that she wasn’t going to be hassled by it. She is a very clear thinking girl and decided to put her faith in me.

And Naseeruddin Shah…
I think a lot of people see a very mature man inside of Naseeruddin Shah. I see a young boy, I’ve always felt that way. I think there is a young kid itching to get out and have some fun so after your being burdened with so many difficult characters and so many displays of his talent and doing all these difficult mature things I just wanted him to unleash his boyishness and his madness on screen. He just jumped into it, and it was a big relief for him, and he gave it his best - he was really apprehensive, he took a lot of time to rehearse especially his choreography and he was very clear that he wanted to be a little over the top.

What’s the Dirty Picture about?
It’s a heightened voltage erotica but beyond that it has the complete package with colourful music, peoples lives, different relationships, there’s a lot more to it. Sex is a three letter word, it’s not complete without the whole experience and joy and we need to be open about this and celebrate it. Great things of our time have opened this topic up and its sad we are faced with society that doesn’t allow us to talk about it. We are not preaching, it’s just looking at a woman’s life in a different angle.

Are you ready to shock the world?
It’s a bold step, and it will give women entertainment just as much as men. It is erotic but in no element of being cheap. I couldn’t wait to direct this film, and have retained every bit of it but given more colour and painted it with a bigger canvas. I was supposed to be doing another big budget hero film but I was so glad to have taken this on as it’s been my best till date.

What sort of scripts attracts you?
Ones that are able to open up different aspects of human emotion and the human heart and mind. How people cope with things in life.   

The Dirty Picture is out in cinemas now.