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."

For Sooraj, being true to himself meant being a largely reclusive person, surfacing only into the spotlight when his multi-starrers are due for release. "You cannot change my basic nature," says shy Sooraj, with a gentle smile. "I interact mainly with my family and close relatives…and of course, with my unit at work. I prefer to quietly observe rather than talk."

A greeing with her husband, Vineeta says that she is finding it rather unusual that he has agreed to give an interview. "I have hardly ever seen him talking in this manner," she says. "I am grinning and bearing it," jokes Sooraj, pointing out that you cannot take the lad out from the man. As a child he was "not really intellectual or studious. Teachers at my school never knew me at all…. I did not sit on the front benches. But my shyness was not a sign of insecurity…. I have always wanted to be away from people. I revelled in the family zone as I grew up with the lady members in a joint family in a protected environment. That is why the women characters are stronger in my dream world. For, what I show on screen is exactly the way we live."

Interestingly, the strong presence of the family in young Sooraj's existence provided an emotional cushion so omnipresent that "till the age of four, I could not make out who my real father was and who my uncle was…." No wonder then that when he realised that he wanted to become a director, he approached his grandfather, the venerable Tarachand Barjatya. "I was never into elocution or drama, nor did I hold a camera while I was growing up," he recalls. "Then I happened to see The Sound of Music. I loved the musical and wrote a letter to my grandfather that I wanted to make a film like that. He sent it to my father (Rajkumar Barjatya)."

Sooraj was deeply - and naturally - influenced by his grandfather with whom he had long conversations about life and living…and of course, the young boy's career choices. "He would rise at four in the morning to write his letters," the grandson fondly remembers. "I would end up talking to him at all sorts of hours. At that time, while I was growing up, I was confused and did not know what to do. All I wanted to do was make money. Today, my grandfather's room is the guest room and remains my favourite place to sit, think and write. It is suffused with all my memories - the place where I can get creative and with a Shirdi ke Saibaba book in front of me, the focus is complete...."

Yet, you can with all impunity say that the young lad veered towards direction fired by his producer-father's experiences. As a teenager, though their production house had a credible history of hits, Sooraj saw his family banner go through a phase of flops in an industry that was swiftly moving forward in tune with more modern cultures. "I remember asking my dad if we could have just one more hit," he states softly. The boy who had been sitting in editing rooms ever since he was 12, had understood that film-making is a director's medium. "Quite often, I saw younger directors brush aside my more experienced father's views…. I was soon driven by a need to give concrete shape to his vision. I wanted to make a film he dreamt of. I used to feel terrible as a kid, when my dad would have to give explanations why one of his films film did not do as well as he had expected it to do."

And, so a film director was born. His embryonic career finally began to take shape on the sets of the much-acclaimed Mahesh Bhatt directed, Saaransh, a Rajshri production. It was a quiet beginning, but what else do you expect of Sooraj? As he flashbacks, "I went on the sets of the film and on the first day, I stood on the sidelines…till Anupam called me and helped me to become a part of the unit. There were no concessions because I was Sooraj Barjatya."

The rest is cinematic history…still in the making. The director for whom, "the ultimate is to have a scene come alive naturally on screen" still remembers his clammy hands when he canned his first shot. "It was with Salman, my hero"," he states. "When I said 'Lights, camera, action…' I felt as if I had taken off with, no point of return. It was a great high." The movie's release marked another technicoloured moment in his career. "My first taste of success was again with Salman outside Metro Theatre…. We waited for the verdict. We were worried because there was no sound from inside…but soon Salman was mobbed. I quickly lost contact with him and knew that we had a hit on our hands."

Success rested lightly on his shoulders and with the "pressure to perform I got on to the next film immediately". HAHK kept him on a roll...but Sooraj was rudely jolted by the flak MPKDH faced. He says honestly, "I was not prepared for criticism. My earlier three films had all done well…. So, to have a film that did not go down well with the audiences came as a big shock and I began to lose confidence in my judgement. For a moment I thought that the audience was not following me. I also thought that there was a mistake in my thought processes. I took a break. Those six months were bad. I was upset. I would go out from the house and return soon after. I did not know what to do. I went to my father and asked him to guide me…. I also travelled widely and knew that I had to make a film that would tell the audiences that life is good. In a world spiralling out of control, we like to hope…. Simple feelings are important - even to me - told in a meaningful way. That is why my favourite recent film is Veer-Zaara. For me, Black was sheer power. I couldn't watch the little boy in the first half of Koi…Mil Gaya suffer so much. As a film-maker, I feel it's my duty to give audiences a feel-good feeling, something that pulled me through my dark patch and made me stronger. Today, I am prepared for anything."

The difference in his sensibility is obvious - reflected not just in the way he speaks but also seen in the growing maturity of his films. He puts it simply, "As a director I am more complete today but each film has taken a toll… It has taken a slice of my life. From the young lover of MPK, to the youth who became a father in HAHK, to the hero who lost his mother in HSSH, the characters have reflected shades of my personality."

People who have worked with him on his films - and even Sooraj - will be quick to admit that the quiet man off the sets is a firm tyrant on it! "I am involved at every stage. I may be tolerant but I have my way of telling my cast and crew what to do. I don't need to rave and rant or throw things around. In fact, till now the only actor whom I have yelled at is Abhishek Bachchan...."

I almost laugh out loud…but Sooraj, ever the man in control, is not perturbed by my lopsided vision of his personality, emphasising, "I never laugh on the sets insisting that the decorum be maintained. I never let the momentum come down. This is possible only because I prepare a lot. Every scene has about eight to nine characters. There is no room for last minute improvisations…. I cannot entertain any sort of discussion on the sets."

At home, wife, Vineeta lives the movie with him as he continuously asks her for her feedback. "Somewhere, when I am working on my project that becomes my real life. The real world is intrusive and unwanted. Just leave me alone is my feeling of the moment….," he admits. This does make it tough for his family (his eldest son, Devaansh - in his ICSE year at school is the only one showing any inclination to follow in his father's footsteps…the younger boy, Avnish who gets bored on the sets and daughter, Eesha, have a lot of growing up to do). "Once the movie is released there is a sudden vacuum as if it is a completely new day, a completely new life…. I go back into myself, my home and my family."