Apoorva Lakhia's Mission Istaanbul hits theatres on Friday. Starring Vivek Oberoi, Zayed Khan, nikitin Dheer, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Suniel Shetty, Shriya Saran and Shweta Bhradwaj, the film deals with the life of a journalist who is caught in a scenario of terrorism.
Below is an excerpt from the interview:
Q: What's your mission behind Mission Istanbul?
My mission behind Mission Istanbul is all about living in a world surrounded by terrorism, and the idea that the most common thing connecting most countries in the world right now is terrorism, not love and peace.
Q: You have always cast the Bachchans in your films. Why did you not take a chance with them for this one?
When I was working on Mission Istanbul during Shootout At Lokhandwala, I went to Abhishek with the script but he said he had no dates. I didn't want to wait. If they have time and I have a script which suits them, I will think of casting them.
Q: There have been many films on terrorism. So can we expect to see something different in yours?
Many films are made on love stories, aren't the? So why are love stories still appearing? My film is not about terrorism; it's about how media deals with terrorists.
Q: You have shot the film in Istanbul, any memorable experience?
When we went there it was so cold, the whole unit was smoking all the time! I think my unit has been very tough to resist that cold whether and shoot for long, long hours. There were scenes in the movie where my actors roamed about without shirts and I know how difficult it was but they did it like they were roaming in Goa!
Q: Mission Istanbul highlights both the negative and the positive characters. Any special reason for that?
Shabbir (Zayed) does have as dominating and strong a role as Niketan (Viveik). If you had four people in your film would you hide them and let two character sit at home?
Q: Zayed has only one hit in his career and that was Main Hoon Naa. Do you feel any risk in casting him?
If you are talking about his career that's true and I know that but personally I'm happy with Zayed's work. He is very close to Suneil Shetty and casting Zayed was his idea.
Q: We've heard that Vivek is not doing the publicity of the film because his role was reduced. Is that true?
He is shooting abroad for some other film and that's why he can't give interviews. He has a very special and important role in the movie.
Q: Did you do any research on terrorists or journalists in making the film?
I have not done any research on journalists because while watching news channels you get to know about them. I have done some research on terrorists: about their camps and how they operate.
Q: Is there a Ganpat-type song by Mika in Mission Istanbul?
Mika is a very good friend. I got him into Shootout and we recorded "Ganpat" by fluke. Actually we were recording " Hey Maa" when Mika was in the next studio and within a few minutes he came up with that song which we recorded right there. In Mission Istanbul he has done a song called " Apun Ke Saath Jo Bhi Ladega, Sar Saale ka wahin phutega".
Q: Why have none of your four films had a known female as lead?
Because my films are male dominated. There is no need to take a lead actress because they will ask for screen space and of course more money. I am thankful to my producer Suneil for forking out 24 crore rupees behind a Zayed-Viveik starrer.
Q: What do you mean by Zayed-Viveik starrer? Do you consider them as flops or not stars?
No no no! I don't mean that at all! Rs 24 crore is a lot of money and I don't want to hide the fact that they're not big stars. But I know they only need to get good projects to prove themselves.
Q: Tell us something about the actresses, Shreya Sarin and Shweta Bharadwaj.
Shweta is a great actress. She is a newcomer but she has the ability to become a top actress. She dances very well. And on other hand Shreya is very popular. We were searching for someone with typical Indian looks and she looks so pretty in a churidar! No one can beat her beauty in Indian traditional dress.
Q: How you find Niketan Dheer?
Niketan came to my office looking for work. One look at him and I decided to cast him because no one in the industry has his physique. And he is a great actor: the complete Bollywood package.
Q: What's the message of Mission Istanbul?
There is no message. Even Shootout had no message. The public should decide who is good and who is bad. I've not said if terrorism is good or bad because I truly believe that someone's terror is someone else's war. I think I'm too young to give a judgement or to give any social message.
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