Following his comment, Priyadarshan has apparently been put on the 'block' list of many important cellphones in Mumbai.

But he says: "I was quoted out of context. I'd never speak like that about Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. They've both been very nice to me. If I've hurt either of them I apologize to them publicly, and would like to add that in any conflict between filmmakers and politicians, I'd naturally and inevitably support my own fraternity."

The Shiv Sena has been targeting Shah Rukh and Karan's film My Name Is Khan after the actor spoke against the exclusion of Pakistani cricketers from the Indian Premier League.

Priyadarshan wanted to call his new film Ishaq with Ajay Devgn, Bipasha Basu and Akshay Khanna. But he found out that a film titled Ishqiya is already out.

"Vishal Bhardwaj beat me to it!" laughs Priyadarshan. "He took the title Ishqiya. And once that was out, there was no point in calling my film Ishaq. So we've named it Garam Hawa after M.S. Sathyu's classic."

Priyadarshan hopes to live up to the title of Sathyu's film. "I'm not such a bad filmmaker, you know. If I'm the director of De Dana Dan, I also made Kancheevaram."