Saif - Fully loaded for Bullet Raja! (pic)

Saif as Raja? That's perfectly understandable. He is the closest you get to royalty in Bollywood. Saif as the trigger-happy Bullett Raja? Well, that is filmmaker Tigmanshu (Tishu) Dhulia's vision.

Tishu says the script was with him for a while. But after the critically and commercially acclaimed Paan Singh Tomar, there was a clamour to do Raja. Yes, he had originally called his film just Raja. "It was Saif's suggestion to call it Bullett Raja," he reveals.

Talking of their bombastic combination, the Paan Singh director continues, "I worked with Soha Ali Khan on Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns and I'm sure she spoke to her brother about this script. Saif, in turn, expressed a desire to work together." And, that's how the Nawab and Tishu took their association forward.

"To have an actor with a vernacular image playing this role would have been boring," says Tigmanshu. "I needed someone like Saif, who is charming and sophisticated, because it's more of a challenge to get him to play something the audience will not normally associate him with. My hero is not dark and intense. He is endearing and impulsive. In fact, Saif never starts a fight in the film, but he ensures he always finishes it."

Besides being a bit sanki, another endearing quality that Saif has in the film is that he's a dil-phenk aashiq (a true blue lover boy). Interestingly, this is the first time he has teamed up with Sonakshi Sinha. Talking of their pairing, Tishu says, "After years, I saw a screen couple that has the Amitabh-Rekha magic. Saif and Sona are in sharp contrast with each other and therein lies the interest factor. According to me, they make a fantastic jodi."

Bullett Raja, produced by Brandsmith Motion Pictures and Moving Pictures Production, and presented by Fox Star Studios, releases November 29.