Salman Khan has made Shuddhi bigger and better: Karan Malhotra

Karan Malhotra who had disappeared after his direc torial debut, Agneepath, is back in business. Salman Khan has stepped into Hrithik Roshan's shoes but before Shuddhi takes off, he will wrap up the remake of 'Warrior' with Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra. After two years of oblivion, he opens up to Mirror. Excerpts:

Hrithik dropped out of Shuddhi citing date problems.But reports claim that he was worried about the tough task of toning up for the role after his accident and unhappy that the film revolves around the heroine and villain...
Well, there is a villain in Shuddhi and the lead role demands a certain amount of exposure, but Hrithik's exit had nothing to do with creative differences. I'd assume that his personal problems during the period led to him dropping out of the film.

You must have been shattered?
I was disappointed. I've learnt the hard way that you need to have options when journeying through life. I used to be quite stuck-up earlier, but now I no longer blame one person.

Are you in touch with Hrithik?
Off and on. We have an emotional bond, he was my first hero.

After Hrithik's exit, you approached Ranveer Singh and Shah Rukh Khan. They took their time, adding to the delay.
No comments on the casting. And on the delay, ek haath se taali nahin bajti. If somebody was delaying the project then I allowed it to happen. If it hadn't been for Karan (Johar) and my wife Ekta, I wouldn't have survived, emotionally or financially.

Did you ever think of aborting Shuddhi?
The media insisted Shuddhi would never be made, but Karan and I boosted each other.

In the interim, you decided to remake Warrior...
I had discussed the idea with Karan after Agneepath, and suddenly things fell into place.

Back to Shuddhi, how did Salman come on board? And how do you see the film now?
Karan and I met Salman at his Bandstand house. He said `yes' after listening to just 20 minutes of the narration.As for the second part of your question, Salman sir has made Shuddhi bigger and better.My film is now top-lined by India's biggest star who has a phenomenal reach.

Salman is known to be quite moody, how will you handle him?
I have worked with him as an assistant director on Jaan-E-Mann and Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge. Of course, this time I'm the director so it will be a different experience.

For the leading lady will you go back to Kareena Kapoor?
Shuddhi has changed from what it started out to be.When changes happen, one needs to look at things afresh.

It's Deepika Padukone's dream to work with Salman and now that the date clash with Bajirao Mastani has been averted, she can still do Shuddhi...
Who wouldn't want a popular and successful heroine in his film? But we haven't taken a call yet about whether it will be Deepika, Kareena or someone else.

Now that the hero has changed, will the script change too?
We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, I am focussed on Warrior.