Celebchat

JACKIE SHROFF

On how things are looking up for him and the new film he is starting soon

The obvious question first. When is Grahan being released?
I am looking at a December 15 release for the film if things go according to schedule. Both my distributors and financiers have decided to stand by me and make sure the film is released this year. Things are definitely looking up as far as my production concern is concerned. In fact, we should hopefully be able to start JSEL’s second project Raju Raja Ram early next year.

You changed the entire cast and set-up of Raju Raja Ram recently. Why?
The decision was out of compulsion. I was planing to start the film earlier, but I couldn’t get the dates of both Salman and David Dhawan. Since both were too busy with their commitments, I decided the best way out was to change the set-up and start the film with an altogether new cast and director. That’s how I signed Govinda and Sunil Shetty and roped in Mahesh Manjrekar to direct.

Have you set a time frame by when to complete the film?
Grahan has been a training experience for me. Production is an all new ball game and it isn’t all that difficult if you are familiar to the tricks of the trade. I have done 90 films in my career so far and most of them were completed on schedule barring a handful. It all depends on how well you plan the project and execute it in the set period of time.

What about your career as an actor? Have you become more selective?
Currently, I have some of the best films lined up on the floors, whether it is the Govinda-Aishwarya-Namrata starrer, Albela, or the Sanjay Dutt-Raveena-Shilpa Shetty starrer, Jung, or even the Shah Rukh-Juhi starrer, One Two Ka Four. There are also Refugee, Dil Ke Aas Paas, Mission Kashmir and Farz. All these projects are promising and I have equally promising roles in them. How much more selective can one get?

Does that mean you have stopped signing the indiscriminate Mithun starrers in which you were seen recently?
I did not stop signing them. They merely stopped coming to me. I don’t consider them a mistake either. I had a definite purpose behind signing those films at that point in time. I had to repay a number of financiers, and the projects did not seem bad after all. Besides both Shatranj and Shapath, the two films I did with Mithun got a very good response at the box-office. By doing these films, I learnt another process of production whereby the budgets were low and films were completed in a record period of time.

There are reports that some financiers have filed cases against you for non-repayment of dues...
Like I said earlier, the scenario has changed. I have had a meeting with my financiers and have given them personal assurances about repaying their debts in due course. They have seen that I have started the process of paying off and clearing debts. I definitely want to be there in the industry for long. Hopefully the new millennium should bring a lot of good luck to me. Atleast that’s what I hope.

Manisha Deshpande