After 15 years as an assistant director, Karan Malhotra directs his own film, Agneepath. The debutant tells us how Sanjay Dutt got fed up of prosthetics and decided to shave his head, while his wife foresaw Rishi Kapoor in the character of Rauf Lala during their wedding reception

Why are you remaking Agneepath?
Honestly, Agneepath is not a remake. The revenge-based storyline is the same but the plot is woven around a whole new world and has a completely different approach. If I wanted to do the same thing, what is the point of making a new film?

How did you get Karan Johar to back the film?
Karan was once chatting with all the assistant directors about their favourite films; and Agneepath was definitely one of the top three films in my head. I have lost count of the number of times I had seen Agneepath as a kid. Karan asked me if this film could be remade and I said, 'Why not?' I requested him to give me a chance to develop a script.