It's easier to be cool about things, not to take life too seriously, when you haven't been through the grind.

Farhan Akhtar, the enfant terrible of Hindi cinema, has found his metier with contemporary screen plays that gather a whole new generation into their cinematic fold, creating an experience, identifiable with new aspirations. JAYASHREE MENON catches up with a filmmaker who, with just two releases has come of age.

Brazen liar and wild brat…. College dropout and film buff…. Two films old and anointed THE Generation Next director. How do you slot Farhan Akhtar? If the books - including tomes like Making A Good Script Great and From Script To Screen - stacked in his office are any clue; or the fact that his first film, Dil Chahta Hai (DCH), attained cult proportions and that his newest offering, Lakshya, generated tremendous buzz before its release or given that he's the son of Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, then Farhan Akhtar is either the enfant terrible of Hindi cinema or a perfect fusion of genetics and environment. Take your pick.

At 30, though Akhtar may have figured out what his lakshya (goal) is, he's clear he's not at all close to it. "I have not reached where I want to reach," he emphasises. "I am moving…hopefully upwards and by upwards, I don't mean I'm climbing up some social ladder!" So was he really a liar? "Of course I was! But, I only lied to get out of trouble. Zoya was the only one who could catch me out.

Lakshya has been written by father, Javed Akhtar, marking his return to full-fledged film writing after more than a decade. Wife, Adhuna, ace hair stylist, has also contributed to the much-talked-about 'look' of the Lakshya cast. Akhtar himself is producing Luck By Chance, Zoya's debut film as writer/director, even as he's busy penning his next script - a period film tentatively titled Voice In the Sky.

After dropping out of college and watching movies for two years, he joined Pankuj Parashar's unit for Himalayputra, Akshaye Khanna's debut movie. "I also did a three-year stint with a production house called ScriptShop. It was a great learning experience as I did everything - from production design to anchoring to post production. Adi Pocha of ScriptShop was a very encouraging teacher, which is how I jumped into writing my first film. DCH was a salad that I chopped up and tossed from my friends' traits," Akhtar reminisces.

DCH, written and directed by Akhtar, was intensely personal - did the young director have the same commitment to Lakshya, written by his father? "Absolutely," he exclaims. "Once I started reading the script it excited me. I immediately told Dad that I wanted to do it. He was shocked. He had merely narrated the idea to me to get my feedback on whether it could be made into a screenplay. I got attracted to Lakshya for many different reasons. I connected with what this guy is going through. It's not that he achieves whatever he set out to achieve in his life. But he finds that it's possible to set goals for himself. That's what achievement is all about - you set a short-term goal, you achieve it and then you set yourself another short-term goal and so on.