'I am playing the idiot'

Zayed Khan: 'I'm playing the idiot'

Zayed Khan, who is all set to debut in Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne, is very excited about Farha Khan's Main Hoon Na -- where he is pitted against Shah Rukh Khan.

"He is an amazing actor," he gushes. "He is great fun to work with. As a costar, he is very kind."

Zayed recently signed another film called Idiot with Celina Jaitley. "I like the movie a lot. The title and movie are both very controversial. People are already asking me, 'So, are you playing the idiot?' I am, in an ironical way. My character is a man who wants to do things right, but he does it wrongly in the eyes of society and the law. I start shooting for the film in April."

"I have nothing against corporatisation. When I go to Hollywood, before I talk to an actor, I have to talk to a lawyer. Then I have to talk to an agent. It's an incredible process. By the time, I actually make the film, I am tired," reveals filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

Kapur, who was in India for a brief period, plans to make his next project, Paani, in Bollywood. Speaking of underworld money being laundered in Hindi films, Kapur recalls, "Years ago, a lot of assistants wanted to join me. I would not take them on because filmmaking is all about patience. Unless they waited for me for a year, I knew they would never become filmmakers. When they joined me I would say, beg, borrow or steal, your job is to make a film. Your honesty comes into the film, not how you get the money. But I am not condoning the coming in of the underworld."

He adds, "Almost 95 per cent of Bollywood films that have been major hits have been produced and directed by the same person or produced by the family and directed by the son or produced by the star. You have to understand that when the roles of funding and creative are one, when the spirit of entrepreneurship meets the spirit of creativity, then you have a Raj Kapoor, a Raj Sippy, a Guru Dutt or a K Asif. All of them produced their own films, all of them mortgaged their houses and their studios and their wives' jewellery."

After a disastrous debut opposite Fardeen Khan in Hum Ho Gaye Aap Ke, Reema Sen is excited about her next release, Jaal -- The Trap, opposite Sunny Deol and Tabu.

"The film is a thriller-cum-triangle. It is a very happening film. I enjoyed working with Sunny Deol. I yak non-stop with him on the sets. He doesn't really have a choice. Since I talk non-stop, he talks easily too."

As for her other co-star, Tabu, Reema explains, "I don't share many scenes with her except in the climax, but she is amazing. I was dubbing and just watching her expressions. One of the scenes gave me goosebumps. I didn't feel stressed about working with her. She is Tabu, yaar. She is beyond any of us."

Reema is now concentrating on Raman Kumar's Wah Wah Ramji starring Amarr Upadhyay.