Directors Sajid-Farhad’s debut film It’s Entertainment didn’t work but their second film Housefull 3 is a major hit and has been breaking records. Here the directors talk about the making of their recently released film and their plans ahead. Read on...

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Applause and awards!We feel blessed that the film is a hit. We both went to nine theaters last Friday and our biggest award was seeing the public laughing at our punches! When the audience enjoys what you have worked so hard for, it’s a thrill. We felt numb with happiness. While we expected a hit, we weren’t expecting it to be so big. In India it has netted over `70 crore and with overseas grossed over `100 crore. It’s done equally well in multiplexes and single screen theaters. The audiences have loved it as it was a clean family entertainer and we will always make them. The best compliment that we got was ‘Arre picture kab khatam ho gayi yaar pata nahi chala!’

Our next projectWe have not finalised our next as yet. Direction and writing are both priorities for us. The reason we are directors today is because of the respect we have got as writers so we will never disrespect our writing. We will write, but for a few films. Rohitbhai (Shetty) is like family and we will always write for him. He’s an extremely caring man. During the H3 trial he met and hugged us and said he wouldn’t disturb us now for Golmaal 4. But now that the film has released we are expecting a call from him any moment asking us to write Golmaal 4.

Difficult to shootThere were some very important scenes which could have gone over-the-top. One was the entry scene of Akshay, Abhishek, and Riteish into Boman’s home as a wheelchair-bound person, a mute, and a blind guy to con him. If the audience didn’t accept them as characters and fall in love with them, the film would have started on a wrong note. But luckily we hit the bull’s eye. Every scene of Sandy and Sundi (Akshay) was very difficult to shoot. The climax scenes which we shot for over 12 days were tough to shoot as they were very gag-oriented.

Funnier: AK, AB or Riteish?Teeno pranksters ke baap hain but that helped us with their onscreen chemistry. The mood was so great, and everybody was pulling each others’ legs. Abhishek, Akshay and Riteish are also great friends in real life. While they never pranked us, their target were the girls — Lisa Haydon, Jacqueline Fernandez and Nargis Fakhri. Once Riteish kept sneezing near Jacqueline, who is a cleanliness freak. Akshay would spray her with water and hide while Riteish would tell her ‘I am so sorry!’ So she thought he was sneezing on her (laughs). The guys especially Akshay was so helpful. We had a big cast and he would go and stand first for the shot. Everyone followed him and nobody wasted time.”

Getting Abhishek in H3We had worked earlier with him in Bol Bachchan as writers. When we went to his home for a narration, we carried a showreel of our last film. He got up, hugged us and said we didn’t have to show him anything. AB trusts us. He has done a fab job in the film. We had worked with Riteish before in Double Dhamaal and he met us at Mehboob Studios while shooting for Ek Villain. We narrated one scene and he said yes. He is brilliant in the film with his sense of comic timing.

Your favourite character in H3?We love Akshay’s Sandy and Sundi ­­ — Akshay is outstanding as both. He has made them famous as he improvised on them while working. Today people try to copy his walk and make videos and put them up on YouTube. How superbly he has switched from one character to the other — hats off to Akshay Kumar. That’s why he is here for 25 years. He has proved his versatility with his performances in Baby, Airlift and now Housefull3. Akshay stood by us even after It’s Entertainment. We can never forget what he has done for us.