'Mere Jeevan Saathi' no threat to 'Aksar'

Ananth Mahadevan doesn't know how to react to the sudden decision of his producer to schedule his film "Aksar" along with Suneel Darshan's long-delayed "Mere Jeevan Saathi".

Both films hit the screens Friday.

"Under normal circumstances 'Mere Jeevan Saathi' would have been such formidable competition. We can never undermine the Akshay Kumar-Suneel Darshan combination. Add to that, the Karisma Kapoor-Amisha Patel glamour quotient... This could have been a big threat to 'Aksar'.

"Unfortunately, 'Mere Jeevan Saathi' has been inordinately delayed. It is really sad when a film comes too late. In that sense, I have been lucky. All my three films have been completed on time. 'Aksar' took just 35 days stretched over a period of four months, that's it."

Ananth describes "Aksar" as a "pure emotional thriller". He notes Emran Hashmi's reputation as the serial kisser but also confesses the film has a kissing scene between Emran and Udita Goswami.

"In fact, I was very worried about it being perceived as sleazy. To my relief the censor board found it aesthetic. Very frankly, I don't think all those sexy jokes and kisses in Emran's last release 'Jawani Diwani' were necessary. The audience won't stand for irrelevant cheesiness. But I guess 'Kyaa Kool Hai Hum' has triggered off a risqu mood in our comedies."

Ananth calls "Aksar" an updated Alfred Hitchcock.

"It is more a how-dunit than a whodunit. It is a tribute to the film noire genre. But it is not a dark brooding thriller. It is got a lot of music in it."

He says unlike his other two films, "Dil Vil Pyar Vyar" and "Yeh Dil Mange More" where music and songs were integral to the romantic format, in "Aksar" the problem was how to fit the music in the suspense format.

"One thing we were sure of. Himesh Reshammiya had to compose songs very different from what he had done so far. I think the music fits in very well in 'Aksar'. In the past, we had great suspense musicals like 'Bees Saal Baad', 'Kohra' and 'Gumnam'. I can't say 'Aksar' fits into that groove. But, yes, it blends music and suspense... though I'd place it more in the genre of Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Khamosh'."

Most important, "Aksar" is an original piece of work.

"We don't have too many original thrillers, do we?" asks an upbeat Ananth.

After directing "Staying Alive", a film based on the late writer Sujit Sen's life, Ananth Mahadevan has now made a film from Sujit Sen's last script.

"Sujit was a close friend. And when he gave me the script of 'Aksar' he said something he had never said before. He called 'Aksar' a potential hit. I hope to god his words come true."