This brown-grey structure is the house where film-maker, Sooraj Barjatya lives - as unpretentious and unassuming as the man…as unobtrusive as the family itself. The multi-storied bungalow - one in a row of many homes - on the windswept road facing the Worli Sea Face has, in fact, been the abode of the men behind Rajshri Productions since long before Sooraj was born. A small dargah sits simply within its precincts…a couple of feet away from the gate that opens wide into the narrow driveway.

A uniformed darban bids me enter...and I walk up the angled drive to the main entrance, to find a houseboy ushering me inside. Just like in his movies, I think, as I am guided towards the ground floor drawing room. On the way, my glance takes in the open door of the kitchen - and I see a pyramid of shining steel katoris - all in readiness for the evening meal....

Sooraj, a third-generation Barjatya, created cinematic history - by drawing in crowds to darkened cinema halls with his first film, Maine Pyar Kiya (MPK) and by reinforcing his Midas touch on the marquee with his second record-breaking flick, Hum Aapke Hain Koun! (HAHK) - at a time when video piracy and satellite television had made vicious inroads into theatre viewership. Yet, very little is known about the 41-year-old film-maker who has all along maintained a low profile, not given to public posturing or grand entrances and exits....

Even now, he walks in quietly, dressed in his customary sober shirt and trousers, for his afternoon appointment with us, soon after, wife, Vineeta, has offered refreshments…. A polite namaste and a shy smile instantly rekindle my initial impression of a man I had met for a HAHK...screening.

Time, stupendous success and unexpected failure have not changed him....

Apologising for his oh-so-slight delay, Sooraj explains that he was busy with the post production of Vivah and disappears for a few minutes to freshen up. Incidentally, Vivah - his first offering after the Hrithik Roshan-Kareena Kapoor-Abhishek Bachchan starring Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon (MPKDH) had failed to warm the cockles of moviegoers' hearts - is now facing the litmus test on the marquee even as you are reading this article. Missing from his real life home and from his new reel creation though is the computer-generated, film-names spouting lovable parrot. In fact, in an almost complete turnaround, Sooraj has gone back to the basics in this Shahid Kapoor-Amrita Rao starrer. In the new millennium, where special effects and sequels are dipping into techno fiestas, the director attempts to touch the heart…just as he did in his earlier celluloid creations - for even Hum Saath Saath Hain, though not as much appreciated as its predecessors, did not bite the dust in the way MPKD did.

Plonking down on a sofa in the living room downstairs - and calling for hot cups of chai - Sooraj refers to the romantic feel to his new movie, elaborating, "It's about the definitions and dynamics of a marriage. Once a boy and girl exchange an engagement ring, they suddenly become so important to each other that their lives take on an altogether different dimension. I feel today's youngsters are losing touch with the beauty and relevance of such a relationship. My film starts with an engagement and ends with marriage...."

Despite the debacle that was MPKDH, he does not seem too worried about connecting this time through Vivah with the brand savvy, jean hugging, motorbikes straddling youth: "I am not targeting the film at any specific audience. Going entirely by my gut instinct, I have made the movie from my heart. Today, viewers - no matter what their age or sensibilities - are educated and aware. They are willing to give any movie or any genre a decent chance as long as the sincerity and sensibility of the film-maker shine through...."

This was the verity Sooraj ruefully says he imbibed the hard way when his 'different' film - his only venture slapped with a U/A certificate - did not make the box office jingle. For then, in an attempt to be trendy, the director - much to his chagrin later - had gone against his grain. "I learnt a lot from my failure. Though Abhishek in MPKDH was a lot like me, I had tried to make something that what was popular - a light romantic comedy. I had to shed my roots for a film that I thought would be more acceptable to the youth."