"It is a simple film, narrated simply with simple music," said Subhash Ghai at the music launch of his new production Jogger's Park.
Ghai revealed that the film's story took birth from a conversation 25 years ago with a young girl who had a similar experience. "I wanted to make this film, but I got trapped in commercial cinema," he said. "Even today I am trapped by my image. Otherwise, I would have loved to direct Jogger's Park. But [director] Anant Balani has done a great job."
This small-budget film made in Hindi and English and releasing this summer revolves around a model, Jenny, who meets Justice Chatterjee in Jogger's Park. The cast includes Perizaad Zorabian (Bollywood Calling) and Victor Banerjee (Kalyug, Bhoot). This breezy romantic film goes on to explore what happens when the two meet in Jogger's Park -- a well-known park -- in Bandra, northwestern Mumbai.
Perizaad, Divya Dutta, Amrita Arora, chief guest Jagjit Singh and director David Dhawan attended the function. Dhawan directed Ghai's last production, Ek Aur Ek Gyarah (Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, Amrita Arora and Nandini Singh).
Describing her role as a fun-filled one, Perizaad said, "I epitomise the youth and the songs go with the mood. My favourite is Asha Bhosle's Habba habba hui. It has a Arabic feel to it."
A tight-lipped Divya was only willing to reveal that she plays Victor Banerjee's daughter. "It is very different from anything I have ever done. I am the surprise of the film. This film will also make them [the audience] sit up and notice me the way they did in Praan Jaye Par Shaan Naa Jaye."
After the just-released Bhoot (Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar, Fardeen Khan, Rekha), Jogger's Park will be Victor Banerjee next release.
Asked how he managed to convince Banerjee to be a part of the film, Ghai said, "I sent him an air ticket from Calcutta. We discussed the story on the phone. He was more than happy to be part of the film."
Ghazal singer Jagjit Singh has also contributed to the soundtrack. A personal friend of Ghai for 40 years, Singh revealed, "I had promised him that when he makes a small film, I would definitely sing for it."
Composed by Tabun Sutradhar, the soundtrack features Jagjit Singh, Asha Bhosle, Usha Uthup and Adnan Sami. Virgin Records, who are releasing the album, have introduced copy control CDs, which cannot be copied on to a hard disk or another CD.
Mohan Mahapatra of Virgin Records added, "It is not 100 per cent foolproof, but we have tried to make it almost 85 per cent foolproof, which will make it difficult for any layman to rip the CD."
As a strategic move, Virgin Records is only flooding the market with CDs of the film. Cassettes will follow only after the CDs have been sold out. This is to aid their anti-piracy campaign.
Picturising love songs are a massive task for any filmmaker. "A song with a girl and boy expressing their love to each other has been done in 6,000 ways," said Ghai. "How can one do it different and say it anew?"
But he added, "Jogger's Park tells the story in a straightforward manner with a lot of soul in the subject. What happens next is not in my hands. Each film has its own destiny. Jogger's Park, too, has its own destiny." 
Interestingly, not only has Ghai played assistant to debutante choreographer Ponnu Verma, but has also penned some of the lyrics in the film. "One of the writers did not turn up for a recording session. I saw a pen and paper. Ushaji [Uthup] had written an English song and I fixed that in Hindi," Ghai explained.
Remembering his regular lyricist -- the late Anand Bakshi -- Ghai said, "Bakshiji was my necessity, weakness and support. I looked around and found Zameer Kazmi, who has also penned the lyrics of Jogger's Park."
Known for his big-budget movies like Karma, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak and Yaadein, Ghai nevertheless feels that in the process of making big films, a filmmaker becomes stagnant. "I am trying to change that with Jogger's Park. It is an earthy film," he said.
