Excel Entertainment had a muted start in 2011 with the Abhishek Bachchan-starrer Game failing to take off at the box office. In fact, some of its last few films, including Zoya Akhtar?s first film Luck by Chance and Karthik Calling Karthik also didn?t click. But Zoya Akhtar?s second film, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, has more than made up for it. In ten days, the film grossed over R100 crore, and in its third week, it?s still drawing crowds. The film?s success also contributed handsomely to July collections, with the industry touting the month as the best in the year so far. Together with Zindagi… other films like Delhi Belly, Murder 2 and Ready also performed well. Ritesh Sidwani, co-owner and director of Excel Entertainment, the company he founded with Farhan Akhtar in 1999 and produced Dil Chahta Hai two years later, says he was nervous before the release of Zindagi… ?we just hoped we had been able to create an urgency for people to want to see the film.? With films releasing in a rush every Friday, producers are having to think out of the box to promote their films and get people to the theatres. For Zindagi, a story around three friends on a road trip in Spain, the producers decided to make the stars, Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar and Katrina Kaif take a road trip from Mumbai to Delhi. ?While passing even small towns like Surat, Baroda, we realised that people were identifying with the characters, some would identify with Imran (Farhan) or Kabir (Abhay) or Arjun (Hrithik),? he said. In a conversation with Sudipta Datta, Sidhwani explains why the Zindagi numbers will work wonders for other directors and gives us a glimpse into Don 2, the December release and a sequel of Shah Rukh Khan?s Don 1. Excerpts:

Did you expect Zindagi to do so well at the box-office?

We were nervous, and the bomb blasts just two days before the release made us more so. But people seem to have embraced the film. We knew we had made a great film, but it also did well because of great word-of-mouth. Pre-release, distributors were fighting for shows because Harry Potter was releasing and older releases like Harry Potter and Murder 2 were doing so well. But now that Zindagi has proved itself, it will have a long run. Incidentally, the film has also done very well overseas.

Why do you think it has touched a chord?

If you make a sensible big-ticket film with good production and other values, it appears to be doing well. People also seem to be identifying with the characters of Hrithik, Abhay and Farhan. Each has a different fan base and the film has managed to attract a wider audience. The audience has an appetite for really good entertainment and if the industry can provide that, films will do well.

In a way Zindagi was a risk too, wasn?t it, after all Zoya Akhtar?s first film Luck by Chance didn?t do well?

Well, the film may not have done well, but it established Zoya as a great director. I think Luck by Chance didn?t do well at the box office because people weren?t prepared for a film on the film industry.

The film looks expensive, how much did you spend on making it?

We can?t disclose numbers, but yes, it was an expensive film though I must say we got a lot of help from Spain. Since it was a road trip, the film starts in Barcelona but moves to nine different cities, and Zoya didn?t want any shortcuts. So our unit of the cast and 80-85 people we hired in Barcelona moved from place to place. So, yes, it was a fairly expensive film, but we have done exceedingly well since.

Do you think this is one of Hrithik Roshan?s best films?

His role is being appreciated a lot, the film showcases the fact that he is a fantastic actor and not just a larger than life star. What Zindagi may do is enable other directors take a lot more risks. It?s good for the industry and this July has been the best month this year for business. Overseas too, it?s the number one film of the year.

Now you will start preparing for Don 2, one of the biggest releases of the year.

Yes, we have just launched the teaser promo, it takes off from where the first film left off, where SRK says ?I am the king.? Don 2 is the return of the king. It?s a big film for us, for SRK.

Is Reema Kagti?s film with Aamir still untitled?

We still haven?t given it a name, it?s scheduled to release early next year, but we have almost finished shooting the film.

Foreign studios are again looking at India. What are your future plans?

We have a young population who crave for entertainment and now films are being monetised much better with satellite, music, digital rights quite high-priced. At Excel, we know we will produce three-four films a year.

For us, story-telling is the most important aspect of the film. As for foreign studios, they are not a threat, we can learn a lot from them. Even distribution and networking capacities improve manifold with such associations.

For instance, through Reliance and IMG Global, we were able to sell Don 1 to five non-traditional markets, including Russia. The Indian entertainment industry is only going to grow from here.