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'Rakht' is an original: Manjrekar
By Taran Adarsh, May 27th, 2004 - 0930 hrs IST
“I haven't attempted something like this before,†Mahesh Manjrekar clarifies at the very outset, before he unfolds his latest flick RAKHT to the handpicked global press at the IIFA weekend in Singapore.
RAKHT, produced by Dr. Vijay Mallya and Popcorn, is a supernatural thriller that boasts of an impressive star cast - Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Dino Morea, Bipasha Basu, Amrita Rao, Neha Dhupia, Yana Gupta, Himanshu Malik and Abhishek Bachchan. Is it tough giving screen space to so many characters in the film?
“The length of the role is not that significant. What really matters is how you perform and the impact you make even in two scenes of substance,†Manjrekar states, “In RAKHT, the actors get enough scope to prove their mettle. Even Yana Gupta, who has a song in the film, has one important sequence to display histrionics.â€
RAKHT marks the production debut of Dr. Vijay Mallya, a topnotch industrialist. “We flew to Bangalore to narrate the script to him. Only when he liked it did he offer to be a part of the film,†Prakash Khubchandani of Popcorn informs me, “He walked into the project with his eyes open. He may not be involved with the day-to-day nitty-gritty's of film production, but he does keep himself abreast with what's happening around.â€
Manjrekar denies that RAKHT is inspired by RAAZ. “Just because it belongs to the same genre doesn't mean that it's an offshoot of RAAZ. And neither is it a copy of an English film,†he states.
Dino Morea enacts a negative role in the film. “I accepted it as a challenge. It's better to experiment with your roles,†he informs me. Manjrekar seconds that. “Didn't Shah Rukh accept negative roles like BAAZIGAR and DARR so early in his career? And didn't those films catapult him to the superstar status overnight? Like I said, the actors have scope to perform in RAKHT. You may not have seen them enacting similar roles before,†says the director of VAASTAV.
Manjrekar seems to be making films with Sanjay Dutt only. “I have worked with Ajay Devgan in TERA MERA SAATH RAHEN and also made a film with Govinda [JIS DESH MEIN GANGA REHTA HAI]. But, I agree, a majority of my films have been with Sanju. That could be because I subconsciously have Sanju in mind while writing the scripts,†he admits.
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