Nithya Ramani caught up with the young director, who spoke about his new film, and what he had in common with Jab We Met director Imtiaz Ali and R Madhavan.

First, tell us about yourself.

I was born in Jamshedpur, then in Bihar. I was in school with Imtiaz Ali and Madhavan, in the same class. I moved to Mumbai and did a course in Xavier's Institute of Comminucation. Then, I worked in Durga Khote Productions. Later, I started my own production house and produced ads.

My wife worked with Ram Gopal Varma on Ek Haseena Thi. She wrote the script and edited the film. That's how Ek Haseena's director Sreeram Ragavan became a close friend. Seeing my family and friends into films, it was natural for me to join films too.

I wanted to write, not direct. But I realised that I didn't want to do any more ads. I assisted Sivan Nair in Maharathi.

Since my wife was in the industry, I knew John Abraham and Neil. Neil called me one day, and asked me if I was interested in doing a film. I met him, the writers -- Sheershank Anand and Shantanu Ray Chhiber -- and producer Viki Rajani to discuss the script.

The concept was good -- about a camera that shoots pictures of the future. But I wanted songs and romance, along with the thriller quotient in the film. The script was about terrorism but I am a very peace-loving person (laughs). I didn't want to show terrorism. I told them what I had in mind, and they were happy with my inputs.

In the picture: Neil, Bipasha and Jehangir Surti.