I'd like to make another spy thriller with Saif: Sriram Raghavan

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Sriram Raghavan on the accidental casting of Varun Dhawan, the adaptation of Accidental Apprentice and his equation with Agent Nawab.

He's known for his taut thrillers, loaded with action, anger and angst, yet the man himself rarely loses his cool.

Sriram Raghavan comes out of a censor screening of his upcoming film, Badlapur, with an 'adults only' certificate and can still shrug nonchalantly, "A 'U/A' rating would have given us a wider reach but the tradeoff would have meant diluting the film's tone. I'm happier with a clean 'A' and no cuts. At least it's still the film I set out to make."

But the certificate means that this is the first Varun Dhawan starrer which will be inaccessible to his teenage fans. He's effectively cut off a large section of his audience. "I wouldn't show it to any under-10 kid, but yes, today's teenagers are mature enough to have enjoyed the film. I wish we had a mid-rating like PG-13, but since we don't, I had no choice but to take the risk of them not seeing my film. I hope that with Badlapur Varun gets a new fan base," he says.

Varun, he was the first actor Sriram narrated his story to but he entered the picture almost by default. The writerdirector had just finished a narration with producer Dinesh Vijan and just when he popped the question, "Who do you have in mind to play the protagonist?" Varun called. He was in the vicinity and Dinesh invited him over. Sriram narrated the story for his feedback and was surprised to see that Varun connected with the subject instantly. "He asked all the right questions and was talking about it even the next day. It was his intelligent response that made me sign Varun," Sriram admits.

He had read about the real life account which inspired the film in a newspaper and was instantly intrigued. Halfway through, he stopped reading and brainstormed with his team over what would happen next, before going back to the original story. "It was a revenge drama but went beyond that and didn't have a conventional ending. That sparked off my interest and I met the people connected with it, got the rights to the story and made the film," says Sriram, who then went on to cast four girls"Yami Gautam, Huma Qureshi, Radhika Apte and Divya Dutta"to play characters, rather than actors, who are important to Raghu's story. Getting Nawazuddin Siddiqui to play the antagonist was another coup. "Varun and Nawaz belong to two different schools of acting and this created unexpected friction which was good for the movie," he reasons.

Once Badlapur releases, Sriram plans to go back to Vikas Swaroop's Accidential Apprentice which will be his next film. "I already have a version ready but I need to sit with it for a few days before I show it to Vikas and Deepika (Paudoke). I had sounded her out, vaguely. I'll take the final draft to her and if she likes it, we'll take it forward. Since the girl is the main protagonist, I need my heroine before I decide on the rest of the cast," he reasons.

Would he want to cast Varun again? "I'd definitely like to work with him but I don't think there's a role for him in the Accidental Apprentice," he shrugs. And Saif Ali Khan, his Agent Vinod? "Saif for sure, he's a really good actor. Agent Vinod didn't work so I don't know if a sequel is viable but I'd definitely like to make another spy thriller with him and ensure this one succeeds," the filmmaker says.

And why didn't Agent Vinod work? There was talk of too much interference from producers, Saif and Dinesh. "Things were blown out of proportion. I think we all loved the genre too much but I don't blame anyone," he insists. "The fact that I'm working with Dinesh again, proves that there was no real problem."

There's also a fun thriller that he plans to make for Tips after Accidental Apprentice. "I need a young actor for that one but haven't decided who it will be," he says.

There's also a sci-fi thriller with a love story at its base. "It's been stewing in my computer for some years. One day soon, I'd like to look at it again. After a year or so, I might have fresh perspective on it," he muses.

But for another week or so, it's still a one-way ticket to Badlapur. How confident is he of its box-office prospects? "Numbers are scary, let's not think of them now," he signs off.