What is the story of your forthcoming film Apna Sapna Money Money?

As the title suggests, the film is about money. It is an inter-connected story of how certain people who want money create confusion around it.

It is about the voyage of diamonds from Goa to Mumbai by Celina Jaitley. Suniel Shetty plays the role of a cop, who is chasing her. Celina then puts them into a bag of a kathak dance master played by Riteish Deshmukh. Then the diamonds are packed in sandals, which gets passed on to Riya by Riteish so it keeps on rotating and creating confusion.

What prompted you to make a multi-starrer film? Was it the market pressure?

No, it wasn’t the market pressure at all. My script demanded 15 characters and if I was getting all great actors to act in my film, then why not?

But all these characters have a special trait, like Chunky Pandey plays a Nepali don, Anupam Kher plays a pundit and Rajpal Yadav plays a wannabe Sarkar.

Was it tough to rope in and work with so many actors?

It wasn’t tough working with so many actors. I have worked with majority of them except Shreyas and the girls.

You can easily impress upon an actor to work for you when you have a great role for them. It need not be great in terms of length alone; it may be just seven scenes, which have the potential to be very good.

Your lead character Riteish is a conman in the film. Don’t you think the conman subject has been done to death in recent times thus making it tougher for your film to stand out?

Riteish plays a conman in the film but my conman is not like the one in Bluffmaster or Bunty Aur Babli. My conman uses a lot of disguises to con others and this idea will appeal to the masses. Riteish has three different get ups in the film. He plays an eighty year old Nepali, fifty year old Kathak master and he plays a girl named Sania.

Shreyas Talpade’s Iqbal and Dor were serious films, so what prompted you to sign him for a comedy film?

In this comedy film Shreyas Talpade is the only character that is serious. I wanted someone who is very simple and nice and the audience can relate to and Shreyas fitted the bill.

How was it working with Mukta Arts?

I had my entire script ready when I met Subhashji and told him that Riteish is the lead and I will need many more actors. At that point of time he took the decision to make the film and the budget that he allotted was more than would have normally been allotted to a Riteish starrer.

If you look at the film in a purely commercial manner, it is a Riteish Deshmukh starrer. Usually when you go to a producer and mention that Riteish is the actor, they first calculate their recovery, which eventually lands up in the film not being made.

Did the association with Mukta also help you to rope in so many actors?

Riteish, Jackie, Suniel and Chunkey were finalized before I went to Mukta. But the backing of Mukta has helped me in getting so many actors. Shreyas Talpade came in from Mukta and so did the actresses.

Are there any plans to do more films with Mukta Arts in the future?

I am in talks with Mukta for a few more stories but it all depends on how this film fares at the box office.