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Farhan Akhtar moves on to his next project

Friday, June 25, 2004 • Tamil Comments
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Not even a week since "Lakshya" opened to packed houses, its young director Farhan Akhtar has already thought of what he wants to do next -- a children's film for adults.

The young director with the snazziest hair bands that any man has ever owned ("I get bored with my looks. I need to change my hair or grow a beard or shave it off... right now I'm into looking decent!") says his next project might be a Hindi-English bilingual.

"It's a film tentatively titled 'Voice From The Sky'. It's right now in Hindi. But it might become a Hindi-English bilingual. It's a children's film for adults. The protagonist is an eight-year-old boy.

"I'm writing the film. That apart, I'm helping my sister Zoya by writing the dialogues for her film 'Luck By Chance' which she's writing and directing. That would be fun."

Incidentally, a phenomenally gifted child named Ayesha Kapoor is also at the helm of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black".

Farhan will start looking out for an eight-year-old as soon as "Lakshya", described by Time magazine correspondent Alex Perry as a path-breaker for Bollywood, is out of the way.

Another idea that he might go to in the future is a prequel to "Dil Chahta Hai".

"I'm not as interested in the characters after 'Dil Chahta Hai' closed as when they were younger. That interests me. I'd rather do a prequel than sequel."

Farhan has also chosen to return to his roots by turning a lyricist like his father.

"I wrote some lyrics for 'Bride & Prejudice' during the pre-production of 'Lakshya' while visiting my father for the scripting. Actually Gurinder approached my father to do the lyrics for 'Bride & Prejudice' but he wasn't comfortable writing in English. He directed Gurinder to Zoya and I, since he knows we write English poetry.

"My sister and I have collaborated on the lyrics. Two of the songs have been written to fit Anu Malik's tunes. Three other songs were written by us and then composed by Anu."

Was Farhan really offered Zayed Khan's role in "Main Hoon Na"?

"Well... I did read about how Farah Khan wanted to sign me for 'Main Hoon Na'. That was the first time I heard of my acting aspirations. At some level, I was very pleased and upset, pleased because she thought of me and upset because I was her last option. I've been offered acting roles. But it isn't something that I can consider right now. I don't have the confidence or talent to be an actor."

Interestingly, Hrithik, who has given an outstanding performance in "Lakshya", was also offered "Dil Chahta Hai".

Reveals Farhan: "That was when Saif was undecided. Then I saw Hrithik in 'Kaho Naa ... Pyar Hai'. His performance blew my mind. I narrated the script and then he wanted time to think.

"I guess at that time I was just a wannabe director while he was working with directors like Subhash Ghai and Sooraj Barjatya whom everyone wanted to work with. He didn't have the time. I couldn't wait because I had Aamir's dates. My priority lay with Aamir."

Hrithik has no other film on hand after "Lakshya". Grins Farhan: "Quite funnily, Aamir Khan was in the same situation during 'Dil Chahta Hai'. He chose 'The Rising' after almost three years. Let's hope Hrithik makes up his mind sooner."

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