An eye opening experience!

Kshama Rao

Director Vipul Amrutlal Shah has every reason to be excited.

On one hand, his television soap Ek Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka (on Sony Television), is set to run for a record 1000 episodes.

On the other, his Bollywood debut film Aankhen, with Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Sushmita Sen and Paresh Rawal will premiere on an international platform at the International Indian Film Awards (IIFA) ceremony to be held at Malaysia on April 6.

For Vipul Shah, it all comes down to, "When you have grown up on someone you idolise (Amitabh Bachchan) and have dreamt of working with him some day. And you realise your dream, you are obviously happy."

Big B is said to have readily agreed to be part of his debut project. "When I see Aankhen, I can't imagine the film without him."

Releasing on April 5, Aankhen is the cinematic adaptation of Shah's first Gujarati play Aandhalo Pato (Blindman's bluff). The plot revolves around a wronged bank manager who ropes in three blind men to pull off a heist at the same bank.

Adapting a play for a three-hour film must have been difficult. Did the original play script undergo changes? "The format changes but not the content. We can make it more stylish but not tamper with the screenplay. A good filmmaker always adapts the material to the needs of the medium. I made the play Aandhalo Pato ten years ago. I have grown since then. That could have led to some changes in the film."

Coming back to his experience of working with Big B, he says, "He is one actor who makes sure that the people he is working with are comfortable. Therefore, it becomes my responsibility too as a filmmaker to make his experience comfortable. This being my first film I had to ensure that he didn't feel he chose a wrong script or a wrong director. He needed to be completely confident of my capabilities. That done, the process thereafter was smooth."

Shah adds, "I was confident about my script and ability to pull it off. I worked for television, but the film industry is yet to acknowledge television and its talent." Producer Gaurang Doshi's belief in Vipul was so firm that, "He [Gaurang] told me [Vipul], 'I will get you stars. You convince them with your script'."

What challenges did the script which had already proved successful once provide to the director? "I could have become complacent about the fact it had been successfully accepted the first time. It was a story I knew like the back of my palm but the challenge was in taking it further to new dimensions."

But, he explains, "We have made the film with a lot of passion and madness, which I believe should be part of any film. Hope the audience shares it too!"

India News Feature Service

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