Initial anxiety has made way for euphoria. Dabangg 2 is over 50% complete and first time director is pretty much in his elements. With his confidence being further enhanced over a period of time and finding himself in the thick of things while directing his superstar brother in the form of Salman Khan who is riding high on his fourth century in a row with Ek Tha Tiger still going strong, Arbaaz says that he just went with the flow instead of over-calculating his moves.

"See, there would be certain amount of anxiety that comes with every job. It was there when I turned actor 15 years back with Daraar. Then it was also there when I opened my production house for Dabangg. So it was but natural to be curious about how things would look like when I start calling the shots. However, more than anything else, it was a feeling of positivism that surrounded me", says Arbaaz in a relaxed tone.

In fact one half-expected the actor to be either bogged down by the enormity of affairs or being super-charged about being mid-way through the shoot of a film which, by all arguments, is easily the most awaited before the year comes to a close. "Abhi to bass shuruaat hai but one thing is sure that I want to be engulfed by positive people and positive energy. That helps you do things better and be clearer about what you want to do. Instead of proclaiming that 'Oh, so what's the big deal in calling the shots', it is better to evaluate your decision on an every day basis", he says.

Though it was always in his mind that he would turn a director one day, the ripples caused by Abhinav Kashyap opting out of the film led to Arbaaz stepping in immediately. Though this meant that now he had to balance out his twin jobs of being a producer as well as a director with an added pressure of being solely in charge of a franchise as big as Dabangg, he also benefited immensely as the development turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Smiles Arbaaz, "There was a major reason behind my desire of calling the shots. As an actor, I had discovered during last 15 years that I was fascinated more with what went behind the scenes than in front of it. I found it to be more creative. As an actor, sometimes I felt a little restricted as I was not really in control over the roles that I wanted to do. There was some progress though when I started production because I found a little more control coming my way. I always knew that sooner or later, I would turn director. After all, I couldn't have been relegated to being producer for the rest of my life."