Milan Luthria is off to location hunting in London and America for his keenly anticipated flick 'Hat-trick'. We catch up with him on the eve of his departure to know more about finalizing of balance starcast, composer and above all manage to extract a little more about the film's theme.
A UTV production, the film was always supposed to star Nana Patekar, Nasseruddin Shah, Hema Malini, Paresh Rawal, Kunal Kapoor and Rimmi Sen. But Milan throws a surprise by mentioning that Rimmi hasn't been finalized yet for the role. Why? "Well, she is on the cards but hasn't been finalized yet. We are still in the process of giving the screenplay some final touches and it would be unfair on our part to offer her something that is incomplete!", Milan explains. But wasn't he earlier quite excited about her being a part of the film due to her sexy features which were, as per him, were 'unique'? "Yes, I still maintain that", he says, "but for the moment we do not want anything in haste. What is important for 'Hat-trick' is to get the casting accurate and get the right people for the right role!"
In the last conversation with Milan, he had mentioned that there would be 4 more actors added to the starcast, an Indian and a foreign couple. What happened to that? "We have dropped that entire angle from the film and hence there is no more requirement for signing on new actors. While developing the screenplay, we realized that this part could go away", he discloses!
People want to know more about the film from the director who has always ventured into different subjects, be it 'Kachche Dhaage', 'Chori Chori', 'Deewar - Let's Bring Our Heroes Home' or his most recent [and successful] film 'Taxi No. 9211'. Can he divulge something about it?" "What I can tell you is that the film is very funny and topical with each of the actors presented in a different look. Also the film is clearly based on today's time and has a contemporary feel to it", he says with enthusiasm.
But that hardly tells about the film's plot. How about some food for thought there? "Arrey yaar, I am bound by the contract and hence can't tell much", he laughs, "but a little that I can tell you about the film's concept is that it is something that you pull out of a magic hat. Every character in the film tries to be one up than the other and this is where the fun lies. Also, I am creating such an atmosphere in the film that everyone, whether it is Nana, Nasser bhai, Hema Malini, Paresh Rawal or Kunal Kapoor, would be required to come out of their comfort zone. As you would have observed by seeing my films, I am a performance based director and I want to act as a catalyst between the actors, script and the works so that each of the actors try to do better than the other. Since each of them is a capable actor, something that no one would debate, I am sure that there would be fireworks."
When he says contemporary cinema what is he trying to convey here? "Well, 'Hat-trick' is indeed a representative of contemporary film making. Tell me, was it possible to make a film like this 2 years back with an assemble cast like this? Now we know that things are changing because the moment you rattle down a list of actors like this, the initial reaction itself is good enough to keep the film in news from pre-production till the time it is actually released. I observed something similar in case of 'Taxi No. 9211' when the names of Nana and John were announced. These are the kind of things that stand out in today's film making because gone is the time when the films revolved solely around heroes and heroines. Even the concept of having a special appearance star in the film just for commercial gains is not a good idea too because in the end it just dilutes the effect that the film was initially slated to create", he explains.
With so much inclination towards contemporary cinema, have there been any films that have impressed him most, "'Maqbool' and 'Apaharan'", pat comes the reply, "now these were the films that worked because there was so much honesty of approach and integrity in these films!"
So is he thoroughly happy with the way his final starcast as shaped up? "Oh absolutely yes! When you look at them, each of the actors has his or her own brand of audience. While the senior actors are known professionals for years, a younger actor like Kunal Kapoor is gaining huge popularity amongst females after 'Rang De Basanti'. That's the reason the starcast, when looked in entirety, doesn't give you a feeling of a mish-mash. And that's because everyone falls under some bracket or another!
His last 'Taxi No. 9211' had some funky music by Vishal Shekhar but in 'Hat-trick' he has opted for Pritam. Why a shift when the composer duo had belted out some fine tunes? "There are two reasons for that", he explains, "First and foremost Vishal Shekhar are already working with me for Ramesh Sippy's next. Hence it's not as if I have moved away from them. In fact they are friends first and then the composers. It just wasn't working out with everyone's commitments to have them for two of my back to back films. Secondly there is a positive reason for roping in Pritam as well. I believe he came up with mind-blowing music in 'Gangster', something which I simply loved."
So how does the schedule for 'Hat-trick' look like? "See we leave tomorrow for location hunting in London and America for 3 weeks while the shooting begins in September and ends in November. Come February and we should have the film ready for release", he concludes.
