By hiring cousin, I'm not starting family empire: Bhandarkar

Mumbai, Feb 6 (IANS) Director Madhur Bhandarkar has hired his cousin Kalpesh as a cinematographer for 'Jail' and says he is giving him a chance in the film only because 'he's talented'.

'I've been known to work with new talent. My cousin Kalpesh has shot one film, 'Mumbai Salsa', earlier. He's doing the cinematography in 'Jail' only because he's talented. Don't worry, I'm not starting my personal family empire,' Bhandarkar told IANS.

The director is set to take his leading man Neil Nitin Mukesh for a much-delayed trip around the prisons of Maharashtra to prepare for his role as a young inmate in 'Jail'.

'We couldn't really start the film until Neil visited the prisons. It was very important for him to get a feel of the environment. We start shooting in March,' Bhandarkar said.

Initially, the ones chosen for this special jail tour were the director, Kalpesh, scripwriters Manoj Tyagi and Anuradha Tiwari and, of course, Neil, who is expected to master some of the body language and prison habits to get into the skin of his role.

But now even Mugdha Godse has been included to visit three prisons in Pune, Thane and Nashik.

'It's true Mugdha's character doesn't have anything to do with prison life. But we all thought she should come along to get a feel,' said Bhandarkar.

There were initial reservations about her accompanying the group for security reasons. But Mugdha seemed spunky about the matter.