He says his goal is to break the record set by 3 Idiots. “I’m working towards that. And I’ll reach there without Aamir Khan.” He says one reason he’s not keenly pursuing Aamir Khan is because he doesn’t want to retire early. “If both of us come together, our film will make so much money that I will have to leave the country and give up filmmaking. The tax-men will hound me forever.” He hastens to add (to appease the tax men, perhaps), that he personally hasn’t made any money on all his three hits. “Sajid Nadiadwala has made money; Akshay Kumar has made money… but not me. The only way I could make money is by producing my own films. I’m not doing it because I don’t want the added responsibility.”

Somehow, we perceive Ajay and Sajid as being poles apart but according to him Ajay is his brother from another mother. “Don’t go by Ajay’s serious demeanor. He’s a prankster number one since we were in college. He was my senior there. We were his chamchas. He was the big brother type driving an open jeep, impressing the girls and we used to be his cohorts, hoping that someone noticed us too. I know him from back then and it’s really a mystery why it took us so long to make a film together.”

It’s another mystery that he hasn’t made a film so far with Shah Rukh Khan. “SRK is family; I can make a film with him anytime I want or anytime he wants. But I haven’t yet got a script ready for him. No point in going to him with a half-baked idea.” Sajid reportedly acted as peacemaker between Farah Khan and SRK after the slapgate incident between Farah’s husband Shirish Kunder and the star. He blames the media for blowing the thing out of proportion. “Let alone the tabloids, even the serious newspapers reported it as if it was some national calamity. I couldn’t allow it to go on. I called Gauri, who is my rakhi sister and asked her whether we could visit her. She said we were most welcome and all of us went to Mannat. SRK and Farah hugged each other and were crying like children. Everything was back to normal within five minutes.”

The director says his sister and Shah Rukh Khan share a bond which goes beyond that of an actor and filmmaker. “They have been friends for 20 years. He was a witness at Farah’s wedding. They have shared everything together and know each other inside out. Fights happen in every family but you don’t stop being family because of the fights. They are working on Happy New Year together and it’s going to be a big hit, take it from me.”

Critics hate his films with a vengeance but he doesn’t care a hoot about them. “I’ve attended a few special screenings for critics. I’ve seen them laughing at gags but when you read theirs reviews the next day you find the film has been massacred. You can only shake your head and wonder at this behaviour.  My critic is the common man. I know he isn’t seeing the film for free. That the snacks he’s buying cost a bomb. So I make sure he gets more than his money’s worth when he watches my film.”

The talk veers to his personal life. According to tabloids, he’s all set to marry Jacqueline Fernandez. He rubbishes the claim and says he will not speak about his love life. “Yes, I’m seeing somebody but I won’t tell you who. I don’t want to talk about it because we aren’t seeing each other for publicity purposes. I’m part of this industry and know how and why such talks flourish. We are seeing each other because we are committed to each other, because we love and respect each other and like each other’s company.” He muses about how perceptions change. “The same people who earlier made jokes about our jodi today say how cute we look together. I want to escape all this scrutiny.”

It’s strange that he hasn’t been in a steady relationship before. Sajid says he’s learnt from his mistakes. “I was commitment phobic at one time. I’ve had many girlfriends but could never bring myself to commit to a relationship. I could have been happily settled and worrying about my children’s grades.” He considers Farah’s kids as his own and pampers them no end. “Czar, Anya and Diva are the most adorable kids in the world. And the most intelligent. I take them home and make them watch classics of world cinema. I’ve started their training, since they are going to be filmmakers. We were watching The Sound Of Music the other day and they just loved the songs.”

Lastly, I ask the funnyman whether he ever gets angry. Is it when someone says, ‘Shut up, Sajid!’ He says nothing ticks him off. “My sense of humour is bigger than my sense of anger. I can’t remain angry because the silliest thing might trigger off a wave of laughter.” Changing tracks, he says contrary to belief, he’s quite a serious man at heart. “I don’t socialise. I’m not even on social networking sites because I don’t need to create hype around me to garner publicity. Given a choice, I’d just watch films. I’ve kept the ticket of every film I’ve watched in the last 20 years and I still go to watch every film, first day, first show, every Friday. Despite all the success, I remain a wide-eyed kid very much in love with the magic of cinema.”