Thrillers are my chosen genre: Amjad Khan's son

Mumbai, Nov 14 (IANS) Late actor Amjad Khan's son Shadaab has quietly gone and completed his first directorial venture 'Highway 203', a thriller starring K.K. Menon and Perizaad Zorabian.

Shadaab, who debuted as a leading man opposite Rani Mukerji in 'Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat', has left his acting aspirations behind.

'What keenly interests me is scriptwriting. I have 20 scripts ready. In fact, one of them, 'Sandhya', was made with Jackie Shroff and Raveena Tandon in the lead. The film never got released, though its director Sangeeth Sivan has become belatedly successful with 'Kyaa Kool Hai Hum',' Shadaab told IANS.

'Thrillers are my chosen genre. 'Sandhya', which I wrote, was one.

'And now I've directed one. My producer Prince Dendona and I were both keen on the title 'The Accident' since 'Highway 203' is centred on an accident,' added Shadaab who played villain in J.P. Dutta's 'Refugee'. His father Amjad Khan had shot to fame as the villain Gabbar in 'Sholay'.

The film, ready for release in February, was originally meant to feature Naseeruddin Shah and Tabu.

'Tabu showed great interest and then vanished without a trace! Shah one fine day got his secretary to inform me he isn't doing the film, but that's okay. The goodwill that my father generated died with him.

'I don't expect anyone to be nice to me just because I'm my father's son. No one can say I've made 'Highhway 203' on my father's steam. I'm glad I got K.K. and Perizaad. K.K. is an astonishing actor and Perizaad, who plays a very bad aspiring actress, was a surprise.'

Arif Zakaria is also part of the cast.

'It isn't a big film in terms of budget. But I wouldn't like to call it a small film. I believe I've made a good film.'

Asked about his next film, he said: 'Of course, it will be a thriller. I want to cast my friends Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff, Zayed Khan. They will all happily agree to be in my film. Zayed is a childhood friend. He can never say no to me.'

Talking about his marriage, Shadaab said that he has mellowed down ever since.

'Yeah, I've married Romona, a girl I knew in school and lost touch with. When her name came up for marriage, I immediately recognised her. I'm far more calm now,' he puns with a laugh.