Santosh Sivan's AIDS film is the best - Bhardwaj

Mumbai, Aug 11 (IANS) Vishal Bhardwaj, who has made an AIDS film for the Bill Gates Foundation, said that critically acclaimed director Santosh Sivan's effort was the best among the movies made on the sensitive subject matter.

'Santosh's film for the same series is far superior to mine,' said Vishal. 'In fact, Santosh's film is the best of the entire lot and that includes my film along with Farhan Akhtar and Mira Nair's.'

Santosh, whose earlier films 'The Terrorist' and 'Halo' had received rave reviews, is delighted by his colleague's compliment.

'Vishal has seen all the films in the series, so he's in a position to comment. That's very generous of him.'

Santosh's AIDS film in Kannada titled 'Prarambha' brings back veteran South Indian actress B. Saroja Devi in a key role.

'There was a role in 'Prarambha' for which she was tailor-made. I just asked her if she would do it, and she readily agreed. My short-film also stars Prabhu Deva.'

He said he had the time of his life directing the two contrasting actors and added that a child also plays a key role in his film.

Santosh said he loved working with children. 'For 'Halo', I had altered the script to accommodate a physically impaired child because she was keen to play the part and I didn't want to break her heart.'