MUMBAI:

Very few know that Kunal Kohli, who made hits like Hum Tum and Fanaa, has a secret club

of likeminded filmmakers with whom he meets up regularly.

“We do form a club together — me, Farhan, Madhur Bhandarkar, Rakeysh (Omprakash) Mehra, Ashutosh Gowariker, Raju Hirani and Vipul Shah. We meet regularly in one another’s house. I remember at a recent awards ceremony, Raju and I partied, had our meals and did everything together. We’re free to comment on one another’s films.

“We’re free to like each other personally and dislike our works. When Vipul Shah was releasing Namastey London, he showed me the film and asked for my honest opinion.

I’ve very close friends in the industry like Aamir Khan and Prasoon Joshi.” Kohli is making a political satire next.

“I got the idea a while back. It’d be nice to see present day politics with a smile on the face. It’s a genre I haven’t attempted.” And Kohli will probably produce the film on

his own, away from Yash Raj Films.

So is the political satire a stab at the awards? “The year I got the golden Filmfare, Ramesh Sippy had got his life’s first Filmfare award ever. Can you imagine the maker of Sholay hadn’t got a Filmfare award for 35 years?” — HNS