Suniel to partner Lakhia in 'Mission Istanbul'

Mumbai, Oct 5 (IANS) Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty has paid Rs.10.25 million to Apoorva Lakhia to direct the espionage thriller, 'Mission Istanbul', for his production house Popcorn Entertainment.

Confirming this, Suniel says, 'Why not? Why is the figure so eye-popping?

Apu deserves it, especially after the success of 'Shootout At Lokhandwala'.'

Nixing the rumour that Lakhia hiked his fee from Rs.6 million to Rs.10.25 million after 'Shootout...', Suniel says, 'No, when I signed Apu we didn't discuss the price at all. I had that much faith in his abilities. And what I'm paying him is just the base price. In return, I get his full commitment for the project.

'Apu won't just come on the sets, call the shots and leave. He will give full time to Mission Istanbul. He won't direct any other film during the shooting of my film. In fact, I'vemade him my partner. We will share the profits from the film, with more incentive for the director.'

'And tell me, if I want to hire a good director, how can I get one without incentive? All the super-directors, from Aditya Chopra to Karan Johar, are working in-house. Rakesh Mehra has tied up with UTV. And look at how productive their team is.'

Suniel company intends to work like this with directors as well as actors.

'Bobby Deol and Viveik Oberoi are more or less finalised for the film. The stars who work for my company will be paid their base price. In principle they won't work in any other project until my film is over.'

Is this a sign of Bollywood's increasing corporatisation? 'Oh, absolutely. Directors are the real stars of any film. It's about time they got what they deserve.'