Courtesy: IndiaFM
Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Editor-turned-director Yusuf Khan who made his directorial debut with Khel [2003] is now gearing up for his second tryst behind the camera with one of the hottest movies in the industry circles - Dharam Veer. The young director has a reason to smile as he brings together the father-son 'jodi' together after numerous years. At his recently acquired office, he gets into an extended informal conversation with this writer to discuss about Khel, life after that and now Dharam Veer.

You arrived with Khel [Sunny Deol, Suneil Shetty, Ajay Jadeja, Celina Jaitely] that unfortunately didn't turn out to be as big a success as it should have. What happened?
Khel didn't do well because of two reasons. One, the first half should have been shortened. Second, the screenplay was loose. People waited for Sunny to come on screen sooner than when he actually came. Second half though, was quite good and the larger than life feel of the movie was appreciated by both critics and public. But then that wasn't enough to rectify the damage. Also Khel and Baghban had released on the same day. For the first three weeks Khel did good business. But soon word of mouth spread around Baghban that resulted in the fall of Khel from thereon.

Did you realise the shortcomings before the movie's release?
Yes, but we never had a chance to rectify the movie after its completion as we always wanted to release the movie over the long weekend (October 2, 2003). I managed to see the final print very late in the day but by then there was hardly any time left to make amends.

In fact the movie was quite HOT in the industry circles when it released.
Yes, the theatrical trailer of Khel had become immensely popular. In fact such was the demand of this promo that it sold even more than Devdas. Soon after the promo was out, I was approached by film makers like Firoz Nadiadwala, K.C. Bokadia and Kria Entertainment, a US-based film company to direct their movies.

General perception about you still remained that you could deliver goods.
Yes, I was appreciated for the fact that in spite of a crowd of directors all over, my distinct style stood out. Another fact that got highlighted was about Khel being the 'Fastest Film' of Sunny Deol as we finished the work in 4 months. And guess what, the widely popular introductory scene of Sunny [when he raids a bar and bashes up Deepak Shirke and gang] was shot in a record 3 days.

And your strong technical background must have been a great help too.
True. Though I always wanted to be a director, I first wanted to gear myself up technically before I jumped on to direction. This is why I even did a course in DOLBY and was involved in background music and sound designing of numerous flicks. Meanwhile I have also worked as an editor for number of movies. I have been associated with more than 50 movies in past notably being Saudagar, Khalnayak, Trimurti, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Hello Brother, Shastra, Ittefaq, Khuddar, Jaan and Jeet to name a few.

Your sound design in Jeet was quite appreciated, especially the signature tune accompanying Sunny Deol.
It was after Jeet when there was no looking back. Earlier there were no sound editors in Bollywood, but I started the trend. I had explained this concept to Late Mukul S. Anand and he really liked the concept. It was my work on sound design in Khel that prompted a reputed critic like Khalid Mohammad to comment that "Sound is more powerful than even the film'!

So how did the life shape up after Khel?
Talks were on with Firoz Nadiadwala for a movie titled China Town, though it shouldn't be confused with Subhash Ghai's 36, China Town as the two subjects are different. My China Town was supposed to star Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty and Ajay Devgan together. 4-6 months went on without much progress and finally the project was called off.

Then there was another movie that was to be shot extensively in South Africa. A big budgeted movie with a corporate setup, we worked on it too for 3-4 months. The subject was a hardcore action comedy with Pakistani star Omar Sheriff doing the screenplay and writing. But then the corporate houses have their own way of functioning and this project too came to a standstill. But 'allah ke fazal se' I never bogged down and continued to do my work!

All this while I was interested in Dharam Veer. I remember it was during the last schedule of Khel in July 2003 when I talked to Sunny Deol about this subject.

How did Sunny Deol react when you came up with the story idea of Dharam Veer?
First of all, Dharam Veer is just a working title. When I approached Sunny Deol with the subject, he told me that it was his dream too to work along with his dad in a movie but they were hardly getting any worthwhile script. They wanted a powerful script to suit the powerful on-screen and off-screen persona of the father-son duo. Though they had worked together earlier in Kshatriya and Sultanat, it was just in bits and pieces. This is why even they were toying with an idea of coming together again! This conversation helped me as I got to know the "WHY" behind the lack of any Dharam-Sunny movie. And then I started developing the project!

How did the meeting with Dharamendra go?
It was a BIG day for me to be sitting in front of Dharamji and a BIG moment to narrate the subject to him. When he heard about Dharam Veer he just freaked out. He liked the subject immensely. Then I met Sunny and he too gave a positive response. This is when Padmalaya Studio entered the picture. They always wanted to work with Sunny. Since Sunny appreciated my work with Khel, he got us all working together for Dharam Veer.

What is Dharam Veer all about?
For some time I don't want the entire storyline to come on print, but I can at least talk about the basic subject in one line. Dharam Veer is about 'Bonding Of Father And His Son'. [This writer was disclosed the storyline of the movie and no doubt it makes for a perfect action-comedy that suits the style of Dharamendra and Sunny Deol to the T. No doubt it is going to be one of the hottest products in 2006].

How has the script shaped up?
Anees Bazmee has written the script and he is no doubt an intelligent writer.

And now the million dollar question. Who plays the leading lady opposite Sunny? And does Dharamji get someone opposite him too?
Oh absolutely! Dharamji too does have a leading lady opposite him who is herself a veteran and still gorgeous. While Sunny has a 'beauty' opposite him!

How about the baddies?
When there are garam-Dharam and Sunny together, there is bound to be a lot of action. And for a 'lot' of action, you need a 'lot' of villains. Our script too has a requirement of 8-10 villains, which results in an entire FORCE against the father-son duo. This is what makes the proceedings interesting and engaging as each of the villains keep making an appearance at regular intervals.

So does that mean that Dharam-Sunny bash the villains who take everything lying down?
Well, villains should be ready to be bashed. But I can promise one thing that most of them would be introduced and presented very stylishly on the screen. We have a list ready out of which we have to close on the final ones. Most of them have made a name for themselves as they can fit into any kind of roles. Believe me, you will love the way they appear on screen!

Last but not the least, who looks after the music and action?
Himesh Reshammiya and Sameer do the music while Peter Heains is in charge of the action. Dharam Veer would have a flavor of raw and stylized action wherever necessary. It is going to be extremely stylised.

When can we expect the magic to come alive on screen?
See, we are beginning the shooting early next year. From there it would take 7 months to wrap up.

And what's the budget of the movie?
Approximately 15-18 crores!

Has the perception of the industry towards you changed after the announcement of Dharam Veer?
Everyone has been quite positive and excited about the project. Reactions have been pouring in and they have been generally good. Distributors have already started showing keen interest. Regarding the perception, well post Khel, I could have either accepted anything that came my way or waited for a project that excites me. I choose the later and the result is right in front of you. This subject has been quite close to my heart for almost an year and I am happy to be making this film now. We were 7 debutant directors belonging to the same league who came together at the same time. Out of these only Nikhil Advani [Kal Ho Na Ho] and Rajkumar Hirani [Munnabhai MBBS] were well received while my Khel too was critically acclaimed.

What else is in the pipeline apart from Dharam Veer?
[Smiles] There are two more interesting projects shaping up. Just wait and watch and you would hear from me soon!

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