'We wouldn't mind calling Jashn a Mahesh Bhatt film'

After the success of Raaz -- The Mystery Continues, the Bhatts are ready with their next film, Jashn, starring Adhyayan Suman, Shahana Goswami, Anjana Sukhani and Pakistani actor Humayun Saeed.

The musical is directed by Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala, who had earlier directed The Killer and The Train, both starring Emraan Hashmi. There were rumours that Mahesh Bhatt was unhappy with the way Jashn turned out, and decided to fix it himself by making it his directorial comeback. But the director duo tell Nithya Ramani that the film is still all theirs.

First, tell us about yourself.

We started our careers with Raja Hindustani. We assisted [director] Dharmesh Dharshan. Hasnain's family knew Mr Dharshan and I knew Manish Malhotra, who introduced me to Mr Dharshan. We also assisted him in Mela and Dhadkan. After that we bifurcated -- Hasnain went on to assist Vikram Bhatt and I assisted Rakesh Roshan for Koi... Mil Gaya and Krrish.

Since Dharmesh and Mahesh Bhatt were related, we got our first break as co-directors in The Killer. Vishesh films decided to produce it. Since we knew the Bhatts for over 15 years, we gladly joined them.

Our second film came immediately. Our writer Sanjay Masoom came up with the idea of The Train. We liked it and during the climax shoot of Killer, we pitched the idea to Emraan. We were very lucky to start shooting The Train within 10-15 days.

Both your earlier films flopped at the box office. Do you think that was because they were Hollywood remakes?

We never denied the fact that we were inspired by Hollywood films. Certain movies inspire us to get different perspectives. After these films released, we got a lot of flak for making inspired films. So we took an oath not to copy any film ever.

We decided to make films from our own experiences, and that is how Jashn was born. It took us eight months after The Train released. So Jashn is more Raksha-Hasnain than any other film.

Perhaps the films flopped because they were remakes. Train, definitely yes, because the turning point was no longer a suspense. Looking back, I think we could have done a better job.

Did that come as a baggage for your next?

No. We are happy that we were recognised for our earlier films. Films either do well or they don't, but we have to move on. We don't regret having made them. We can't reverse anything in life so we take everything and move on.

Can two people direct a film? How do you solve creative differences?

There have been great director duos who have generated wonderful work like Abbas-Mastan, Nadeem-Shravan and Laxmikanth-Pyarelal. Ultimately it is team work. How many people work on a film is immaterial.

Of course, we have creative differences. But when two people get together, they complement each other. We are very aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses. As long as we concentrate on our strengths, we know where we are going. We fight it out. People who work with us for the first time think the film will be stalled. We fight like cats and dogs. Since we know each other so well, we know who is good at what and we let the other take charge.

Who initiates the ideas? Who comes up with the story?

It comes out of discussions. In case of Killer, the story idea was Mahesh Bhatt's and we developed on it. We took a week to come up with the basic screenplay. In case of Jashn, the story was ours.

What is Jashn about?

Jashn is about a nobody who wants to become a somebody and the struggle he goes through to be successful. We put the story across to Mahesh Bhatt and he loved it. That is how the title of the film -- Jashn: The Music Within -- came about. I remember Maheshji saying that we had just found our resonance.

The film is very close to us, as it is based on us. All the failure and flak we faced has found a voice through Jashn.

The credit goes to Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt for giving us a free hand. Sometimes we have to bow to the demands of the market. This time, we decided to follow our hearts.

After two thrillers, do we expect another thriller with Jashn?

No. It is an emotional drama. The film is a musical drama about a boy who wants to be a star but hasn't found his voice yet. Apart from the fantastic story and performance, the USP of Jashn is the music. We have three music directors -- Sharib Toshi, Nouman Javiad and Sandesh Shandilaya.

Why did you decide to change genres?

We didn't want to typecast ourselves. After Killer and Train, we wanted to do something different. We believe that the biggest crime one can commit is to give up on oneself. That's a line from Jashn too.

When we planned Jashn, we wanted someone very young -- about 18 to 20 years of age. Since Emraan worked with us in our earlier two films, we thought why not cast him here again. But he didn't look 20. It would have been difficult for people to accept him as a 20-year-old.

When Mohit [Suri] was shooting for Raaz, he suggested we take a look at Adhyayan. On meeting him, we found him very raw and vulnerable. We knew he would fit the character well. He has done full justice to the character Akash Verma. In fact, he identified with the character. When we met him, we could see the failure in his eyes. His first film flopped and he wanted to prove himself to his father [Shekhar Suman].

Humayun plays Anand Bajaj. We wanted someone who looked very sophisticated and dignified, yet very powerful. The character needed someone with fantastic acting skills.

Maheshji met Humayun in Pakistan. He is very famous there but very new here. That was a plus point for us.

We roped in Shahana Goswami much before Rock On!! happened. We were looking for someone unconventional. We auditioned her and found her perfect for the role. She is the most level headed person we have ever come across. She reminds us of Smita Patil. She plays Tara Bajaj, a beautiful, rich, dignified teenager.

Adhyayan and Shahana play brother and sister.

Any fun anecdotes on the sets?

The first day of shoot was with Adhyayan and Shahana on the ashtami of navratri. Maheshji had gone to Vaishno Devi and we got a message from him wishing us luck. We were shooting in Madh Island. The first shot had Adhyayan strumming his guitar. That gave us a lot of motivation to go ahead with the film. It was a very tough and important schedule.

Another highlight of the shoot was when comedian Micheal Palin (A Fish Called Wanda) visited the sets.

There were rumours that Mahesh Bhatt is directing the film and is making a comeback with Jashn?

It is true that he was on the sets for a few days. We wanted an experienced person to help us with the direction. Jashn is a highly emotional film and we needed someone like Maheshji. Since he is the creative head of Vishesh Films, you are bound to see him on the sets often. He is the boss and we are grateful that he stepped in to help us. We learnt a lot from him. If he wants to make a comeback, we would be honoured to have him through this film. We wouldn't mind calling Jashn a Mahesh Bhatt film.

There are rumours that Mohit Suri has been roped in as well.

He has shot the music videos of the film.

What's next?

Another original that we're working on.