There have been speculations about who will play the male lead in the remake of the 1990 hit ‘Agneepath’. While the names of Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan popped up, filmmaker Karan Johar clarifies that no one has been finalised to play the part Amitabh Bachchan immortalised in the original.
"I haven`t made any statement whatsoever around the man who would eventually be playing the role of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan that was made iconic by Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. All I have said is that, yes, we are going ahead with a remake of `Agneepath` and that`s about it," Johar told reporters.
Whether it is Hrithik, Abhishek or someone else, Johar must be having a wish list?
"Well, the wish list is to get the screenplay right. For the moment nothing else is more important than that," he said.
Even though the film is being produced under the banner of Dharma Productions, Johar won`t be going behind the camera for the movie.
"True, I would be stepping aside and the film would be directed by Karan Malhotra, who has assisted me on `My Name Is Khan`. That`s the only thing which has been finalised... everything else you hear is mere speculation. We will finalise the cast once the script is locked. Currently, it is still in the process of being written," he added.
Malhotra is not really a novice when it comes to filmmaking. He has earlier worked as an assistant director with Ashutosh Gowariker on "Jodhaa Akbar", Farah Khan on "Main Hoon Na", Farhan Akhtar on "Lakshya" and Raj Kumar Santoshi "Lajja and Pukar" amongst others.
Since it is close to two decades since the release of "Agneepath", would the remake have a different milieu to it?
"Certainly! We are adapting the film from the original, but ours would be a new age version that would fit in well with today`s time. We really hope that we are able to do justice to the original and make the remake exciting for today`s generation," Johar said.
Dharma Productions, meanwhile, has as many as seven films that are in different stages of production. These are "My Name Is Khan", "Wake Up Sid", "Kurbaan", "Koochie Koochie Hota Hai", remakes of Hollywood flick "Stepmom" and "Agneepath" and "I Hate Love Stories".
How is he managing it all?
"Believe me, it`s not difficult at all. All you have to do is to follow a three-point mantra - delegation, outsourcing and trust. Along with that, if you have the right vision and infrastructure in place, which we do have in Dharma Productions, it isn`t difficult to crack it all.
"That`s the way you manage things and I have been fortunate enough to have a team with which it has become possible to helm a number of projects at the same time," said Johar.
Among the seven films, three are ready to hit the screens.
"`Wake Up Sid` is all set to arrive on Oct 2. `Kurbaan` will come in late November. Other than that, we are looking at an early 2010 release for `My Name Is Khan`. Yes, these have been busy and really exciting times," the filmmaker said.
