Farah and Shah Rukh Khan’s friendship has withstood a major fight and the director, who is back with the actor for their third film ‘Happy New Year’, says they have learned not to take each other for granted anymore.

Farah, 49, and SRK gave hits like ‘Main Hoon Na’ and ‘Om Shanti Om’ but their friendship suffered in 2012 when the actor and Shirish Kunder were involved in a fight at a party hosted by Sanjay Dutt. They, however, patched up soon and Farah decided to move ahead with her long-gestating project ‘Happy New Year’ with SRK.

The film, also starring Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah, is slated to release on October 24 and Farah promises that it is their best work so far.

‘This is the best phase of SRK and me as an actor and director. I think we don’t take each other for granted anymore. When you lose a friendship like that, you realise the worth of it.

‘So, when you get it back, you are grateful. We now talk about everything. We don’t let rumours affect us. There is no more stuff like this one said that and the other one said this. We talk it out. You will see this magic in ‘Happy New Year’,’ Farah told PTI in an interview.

In between ‘Om Shanti Om’ and ‘Happy New Year’, Farah’s third directorial venture ‘Tees Maar Khan’ with Akshay Kumar did not work at the box office. Farah says the film taught her a lot.

‘It is true that failure is the best teacher. Success gives you a high and you feel that you can’t do anything wrong. But failure forces you to take stock. I have realised that I will not make films in a rush. A script will take at least two years. Even mediocre films by others work but this does not happen with me. Somehow, people expect quality from me,’ said Farah.

The director, however, is not worried about the box office fate of ‘Happy New Year’ at a time when it is important for a superstar’s film to cross Rs 100 crore at the box office to be declared a hit.

‘We are taking a free fall with this film. Everything is bigger be it the star cast, scale or the story. Nothing is small in our frame. I am hoping that if anything happens SRK will catch me and I will be there for him,’ she joked.

Farah, a self-confessed fan of mainstream Bollywood movies, however, does not like being termed as a commercial filmmaker.

‘There are only two kind of films– good or bad. It can be a commercial film and still be good while an art film can also be bad. I am happy that people separate my films from others. There are many films today where it would be difficult for you to recognise the name of the director if you remove the name. They look similar and somehow also work at the box office. I am happy that people recognise my films,’ she said.

Farah, who is currently in the US with Slam! The Tour with the star cast of her film, wants to take six months off after the release of musical-heist drama.

‘People have started asking me about my next but I have to run my house and be a mother to my children too. I am thinking about taking six months off with my children and Shirish after ‘Happy New Year’ releases.