In a chat with IANS, while on a trip to his hometown here, the 54-year-old said: “I will be doing a second part of the 2009 national award winning best film ‘Kanchivaram’ (Tamil), then I have a major project which will go live very soon on HIV-AIDS and a third one, which would be focussing on the girl child.”

Priyadarshan, who moved away from Thiruvananthapuram and settled in Chennai a long time back, is spending a lot of time here in his new role as chairman of the state-owned Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.

“The film on HIV-AIDS would be shot mostly in Mumbai and it will be ready for release next year. I have a lot of hopes from this film because this issue has to be seriously looked into by the authorities,” said Priyadarshan.

In a hugely successful career spanning close to three decades, the filmmaker churned out 85 films in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. He said when he entered the hugely polarised Bollywood, many did not like the idea of remakes.

“Look at what is happening there now. I wish to know what is wrong in doing a remake. My first Malayalam film (‘Arabiyum Ottakavum P. Madhavan Nairum’) in nine years will hit the screens next month and mind you Ajay Devgn has already given me the green signal that he would like a Hindi remake of the movie,” said Priyadarshan.

Incidentally, the dream team of Priyadarshan and superstar Mohanlal that immortalised the Malayalam film industry with blockbusters like “Boeing Boeing”, “Chithram”, “Vandanam”, “Kilukkam” and “Thalavattam” just completed their latest Malayalam comedy “Arabiyum Ottakavum P. Madhavan Nairum”, which will be released in October.

Is he worried about the response to their new film?

“Yes, I am a bit tense about what sort of response my new Malayalam film will get because expectations are huge when I team up with Mohanlal. It is a film where one can expect to keep on laughing from start to finish,” said Priyadarshan.

And on his next Bollywood film, “Tezz”, slated for a Jan 26 release, he said it is going to be his first major thriller.

“I have huge expectations from the film because no compromises of any sort has been made and it has been one film where the investment in ‘efforts’ is also huge,” said the versatile film maker.

While talking about the film on the girl child which will go on the floors next year, he turned emotional.

“For many years, this has been held close to my heart simply because of the topic. I have been speaking to top experts in this area for some time now and this has evoked passion and excitement in myself, which I feel is needed for the film,” said Priyadarshan.

He said his next Malayalam film is going to be a remake of a yesteryear Malayalam classic.

“Please don’t ask me which film it is going to be because courtesy demands that I will first have to speak to the people behind that film,” said Priyadarshan.

Asked why AOL was so actively involved in the movement, Sri Sri said succinctly: “Common sense”. His opinion on the way the government handled the issue was equally forthright and brief – “bad advisors”.

Sri Sri responded to questions related to various aspects of the ongoing movement against corruption in an exclusive interview with IANS via e-mail.

“It’s a conscious effort to get those heroes back because I started missing them big time. I want to go to a theatre and I want to see my hero. We used to have it, but now we have romantic films, we have romcoms, so we have started missing heroes. I am in the business and I can pull it off,” Salman told IANS in an exclusive interview.

“People thought we were putting our wrong foot forward with Dabangg’,” said the 45-year-old who has worked in more than 80 films in the last 23 years.

” ‘Dabangg’ was made for the masses. We were discouraged for the title ‘Dabangg’. Who is going to watch the film named ‘Dabangg’? Half of the people can’t pronounce it properly and most doesn’t know the meaning. The hero is a cop from UP (Uttar Pradesh). New girl, new director, ‘mar jaoge, barbaad ho jaoge’ (it is suicidal, it will ruin you),” said Salman.

“We kept on making the film. We didn’t have a financier and we had to produce the film. We knew what we were making, but most people thought that this was another C-grade kind of action film. When the first promo came out, more than anything the children hooked on to it. When we were kids, we always wanted to see heroism,” he added.

One of the hit Khans of Bollywood, Salman believes, “When you have action backed by proper emotion, nothing can stop the film.”

He has delivered quite a few turkeys at the box office, but says he never panicked after facing disasters.

“I didn’t panic when my films bombed left, right and centre because I knew that those films are going to bomb,” said Salman who feels he has a certain responsibility towards his audiences.

“I have realised that I have some responsibility towards that one person who spends Rs.10 or Rs.500 to see my movie. Even if I don’t get any remuneration, salary for my films, I am fine with that…It’s something I am not worried about at all.

“What I am worried about is that when the film releases, when the guy who has spent Rs.10 to see my film, he should get entertainment worth Rs.100,” said Salman.

Now fans are waiting for his Ready” and “Bodyguard”, both remakes of southern films. “Ready”, a remake of the 2008 Telugu movie of the same name, was directed by Sreenu have Vaitla who is wielding the megaphone for the Hindi version as well, while “Bodyguard”, inspired by director Siddique’s 2010 Malayalam romantic comedy, is being directed by Anees Bazmee.

“I think it’s a coincidence that my next films are remakes. Earlier they (South) used to copy our films. My father’s scripts used to be broken down and made into films. Now ‘Dabangg’ and ’3 idiots’ are being remade there.

“When we remake a Hollywood film or a Chinese film, they are watched by the whole world, but when they (southern filmmakers) remake our film, a limited audience watches it – like Tamilians watch Tamil, Malayalis watch Malayalam. So it doesn’t make any difference at the box office,” said Salman.

His last two films “Wanted” and “Dabangg” were mega hits. Is he looking forward to making a hat-trick with “Ready”?

“I am looking at 100 hat-tricks together, which everyone is looking at. Who wants to have a disaster? Who wants to have a flop? If you have a disaster that means either you compromised somewhere or your thinking has gone totally weird. Everyone wants to make a ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, a ‘Deewar’, a ‘Sholay’, ‘Hum Apke Hain Koun’, ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’,” said Salman.

Asked if he would venture into niche films, he said: “Doing niche films is
like going down from Amsterdam to Andheri.”

The actor is known to avoid watching his own films and certainly never heaps praise on them.

Asked why, Nana said: “I don’t see my films because once I finish dubbing, my creativity is over and nothing fascinates me, not even the release of the film. I can’t change anything. If I were directing a film, I would stay with it till the end.”

He is eager to work with directors like Raj Kumar Hirani and Neeraj Pandey.

” ‘Munnabhai M.B.B.S.’ is one of the best films I have seen in a long time. I would like to work with Rajkumar Hirani. Another person I would like to work with is Neeraj Pandey. His ‘A Wednesday’ was an amazing movie,” he added.

Some of Nana’s memorable performances were in “Parinda” (1989), “Krantiveer” (1994). “Khamoshi: The Musical” (1996), “Wajood” (1998) and “Welcome” (2007).

After wearing the grease paint for years, Nana doesn’t have to make extra effort to get into character.

“Subconsciously you keep on gathering things in you personal life. I have been in this field for 40 years and it’s like blotting paper, you know. You keep absorbing the good and bad of different real characters,” said Nana, who is planning to direct his second film.

A lot has been written about how Nana’s character in “Shagird”, releasing Friday, is loosely inspired by late encounter specialist Rajbir Singh, but the actor says he doesn’t know anything about the similarity.

“I really don’t know whom my character resembles. You should ask the director and the producer. This character has dark shades. He is loyal to himself, not to his profession,” said Nana.

He had earlier played an encounter specialist in “Ab Tak Chhappan”, in which his character resembled Daya Nayak of the Mumbai encounter squad. Did he make a conscious effort not to repeat himself in “Shagird”?

“My director had seen ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’, so obviously when he offered me the same kind of role, it had to be different from what I have done before. It’s his responsibility – if I were repeating anything, he would have corrected me. I am fortunate that I got such a nice director,” said the actor who rarely watches his films.

But he bent rules for “Shagird”.

“The film will surprise you again and again. I normally don’t say good things about my film. Fortunately, I have watched this film and this is not because of me, it is because of Tigmanshu Dhulia. He narrated the film so well,” said Nana.

His list of dislikes is longer than likes and one of the few things he appreciates is filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s acting in “Shagird”.

“Anurag is fantastic. He has done theatre. Normally, directors are awful actors, except a few. When they act, they look so lousy. Raj Kumar Santoshi is a wonderful actor and Kashyap is an exception. He is really nice. He has quite a big role,” said Nana.

He plans to reach out to TV audiences with a docu-feature on historically significant places from across the world.

“I have some concept in my mind, which I am going to shoot, and then I would give it to some channels. This is not commercial kind of stuff. I would go abroad, shoot in different places and narrate the historical significance of that place. It won’t be a travelogue.

“I have been doing the research for many years. It’s not possible for you to shoot it in two or three months. During the winters, you can’t shoot at many places,” said Nana.

“Even if everyone gives half a percent (of their remuneration), it will be huge money.

“The government takes 30 percent from (the industry) plus the entertainment tax. Where does it (money) go, I don’t know. I know that the money, whatever small percentage we give, should go to the workers in the film industry,” said the actor who gave two back-to-back hits with “Wanted” and “Dabangg”.

The 45-year-old actor says he will first strategise his initiative and then take action.

“I have to sit with all the heads of the (film workers’) associations and find out where the maximum amount of money is required. And the money would go there,” said Salman whose “Ready” will hit the screens June 3.

Directed by Anees Bazmee, “Ready” is a remake of a Telugu comedy of the same name and also stars Asin Thottumkal who teamed up with him in “London Dreams”.

The actor’s life has been dotted with legal troubles and other unpleasant incidents – if he was involved in a hit-and-run case and blackbuck killing, he has also been known for picking up fights with fellow actor Shah Rukh Khan and allegedly hitting his girlfriends.

But it seems now Salman has left them behind and set his sights on noble causes. In fact, he says he will mix work with social work by utilising some time and money for underprivileged people while promoting a film.

“I haven’t started publicising the film (‘Ready’) as yet. The way I will promote it is being finalised. Now the new funda has come up that you need 15 days to promote a film. Whenever these 15 days come, I will make sure there are 15 to 20 places where I can go and help those people under Being Human and come back,” said Salman referring to his NGO Being Human.

“When I go to these places, I would see who needs money and help. This money will not go to the administration. It will go directly to those kids who need it. Two or three operations will happen every day. When you go out for something like this, let’s not waste time by just smiling. That’s the biggest fraudulent act one can ever do,” he said.

The actor has planned to reserve a sum of the promotional budget to accomplish his charity work and hopes other actors will catch on.

“You are going to special children, underprivileged children, cancer patients and giving just a smile. What after that? I hope people, after me, catch up to this one thing and hope there is a competition on how much charity they do while going for the promotion of their film. Instead of spending the money on promos, PRs and all that stuff, let the money go into the country,” said Salman.

The first film from the 33-year-old’s production house is “Chalo Dilli”, which has got encouraging reviews. Directed by Shashant Shah, it sees Lara in the female lead while Vinay Pathak plays the male protagonist. It hit the screens Friday.

“‘Chalo Dilli’ was a very special film that came to us. It’s not a female-oriented film. It’s a story where both the cast have equal amounts to play and it feels nice to make a film, which is not arty or alternate cinema, it’s a commercial film with the simple story of a journey,” said Lara.

Some might feel the actress is oddly paired with actor Vinay, but says the story demanded so.

“It’s not necessary that you do all films with a superstar. If you think you will always do a film with a big actor, you would never get a chance to do a film. The story demanded someone like Vinay. He was very, very suited for the film,” said Lara.

“Shashant had written the script keeping Vinay in mind for the male character. He had first approached me to act in the film. He didn’t have a producer, neither did he know that ‘Bhigi Basanti’ existed,” she said.

Lara, who recently got married to tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, was longing to exhibit her acting potential as a solo lead after working in multi-starrers like “Housefull”, “No Entry” and “Partner”.

“I was waiting for the pressure of delivering. It’s not that I was trying to hide away from that. In the industry, you get very little chance, very few scripts where an actress could do something or take the burden of the film and end up being the heroes’ wife, girlfriend or love interest,” she said.

Acting in a home production doubles the responsibility, realised the former beauty queen.

“Being only an actor I used to deal with staff at one level and being a producer you have to deal with your actors at a different level. I am responsible for the whole unit. When your crew shoots in the freezing cold of Shekhawati, your responsibility multiplies. On the other hand, it’s such a high,” said Lara.

Did it distract her from acting at any point?

“Not at all. I think the level of professionals we are, once we are in front of the camera, nothing else matters,” she said.

Smith, 78, has used a stretch of the Indian Ocean between Africa and India as the backdrop of the new book, “Those in Peril”. It is also inspired by a slice of personal history.

“I once had a country home at Cap Colibri in Cerf Island near Seychelles, on the Indian Ocean between India and Africa. I owned it for 20 years and spent a lot of time on the island, in a fishing boat. When I went out in the fishing boat, I saw pirates,” Smith said.

The writer, “a keen angler and a hunter”, said he saw pirates heading towards the island of Mahe, not very far from Seychelles.

“I did not exactly shake hands with them, I saw them passing us. They did not attack me because I was not going to their island,” said Smith.

“The pirates come from Somalia in Africa to almost as far as India to capture ships. They attack vessels, take them back to Somalia and hold them to ransom. The insurance companies have to buy them back from the pirates. Piracy on the Indian Ocean is rampant – it is very, very big bad mafia,” Smith said.

Smith has to his credit the “Ballantyne” and “Courtney” series of novels. “Those in Peril” was published in the country early this month.

The novel, a departure from Smith’s usual historical sagas of Africa, travels between an oil field in the Middle East to Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Hazel Bannock is the owner of the Bannock Oil Corporation, one of the major global oil producers. While cruising on the Indian Ocean with her 19-year-old daughter Cayla, her yacht is hijacked by Somali pirates, who demand a crippling ransom. A complicated political and diplomatic set of protocols prevent the major global powers from intervening.

Hazel then calls on Hector Cross, a former operative of the British Army’s Special Air Service (SAS) contracted to the oil company to provide security, to lead the rescue mission.

“I had spoken to the geologists, engineers and executives on oil fields for the book. I chose oil because without oil, societies would break down. It is one of the most important products – the world runs on oil,” he said.

Africa pitched him to fame in 1964 with his first novel, “When The Lion Feeds”. In it, the character Sean Courtney was named after Smith’s grandfather, Courtney James Smith.

“Courtney sold a lot of my books; he is a man from my imagination. He was a strong man and a kind man and had the elements that I admire. He was my archetypal hero. Courtney was not a coloniser. The British East India Company in India was a coloniser,” Smith said.

Smith’s books span more than 500 years of African history. Seven of his novels have been adapted into movies.

“I was born in Zambia in central Africa (Jan 9, 1933) and my family is in Africa. I left Africa for the first time when I was 30 to go to England. My ancestors were British and my grandfather came to Africa some time between 1890 and 1895,” Smith said.

Smith’s insights into the lifestyles of the African tribes come from close proximity to tribals.

“I have lived in a ranch and in a farm with tribal people. Except me and my family, the rest were all African tribals. I have been very close to them,” Smith said.

Comparing the situation in Africa to that in India, Smith said: “Like the way India now belongs to Indians and is governed by Indians, Africa is for Africans, and governed by Africans.”

Smith will take a two-year break before he begins his new book. “I hope to come to the Jaipur Literature festival next year,” he said.

“I personally believe in our country, if you want to see sex, you can go online and download it for free. Why would somebody pay Rs.50 or Rs.100-Rs.200 for a movie ticket just to watch sex?”

Referring to her movies, she said: “There is no sex in these films. But in none of these films do we run away from sex. They have just been labelled titillating. When I made TV shows, people called them regressive. Clearly, everyone wants to generalise everything.

In 2010, Ekta launched ALT Entertainment, a sister concern of her Balaji Telefilms Ltd, to cater to upwardly mobile young Indians with television and film content.

She released Dibaker Banerjee’s bold and explicit project “Love Sex Aur Dhokha” under the banner, and realised there is a definite market for subjects and treatment that are closer to reality.

So now comes “Ragini MMS”, about a couple who go for an adventurous weekend and get filmed by 24 cameras amid some paranormal activity, and “Dirty Picture”, which traces the life of sex icon Silk Smitha.

“I choose a mid path. I can easily tell you that none of these films is high on sexuality. In fact a lot of our Hindi films where they show dupattas flying and deep cleavage, have a lot more sexuality. The difference is that they show it in a covert, more hidden way. But actually it is much more titillating,” said the daughter of Bollywood’s Jumping Jack, the veteran star Jeetendra.

Caught in an unusually fun-loving mood at a hotel here, Ekta broke into guffaws the moment the stark contrast between her family-oriented dramas and the films was pointed out. She is after all known for soaps like “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” and “Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki.”

“I am a living contradiction. I am chalk and cheese. Expect the unexpected from me! I can easily manage the two sides because I am a Gemini – a woman of all moods – I am Bohemian and conservative,” she said.

But 35-year-old Ekta, who kept fiddling with the many threads and bracelets worn on her left wrist for superstitious reasons, finally gave the reason behind the films.

“I was getting extremely tired with television. I love my television but I was getting bored doing the same thing over and over again. And I didn’t want to go niche on television. Niche on TV is not allowed because audience for TV is so large.

“I can’t monitor and I can’t give advice as to who should be watching what on TV. So I didn’t want to get experimental. I would never show something on TV which I am not comfortable watching with my parents or grandparents.

“I could have never had any kind of creative freedom on TV; so then I did movies! Now, I am able to do all kinds of entertainment…and that, I feel, is the biggest blessing!” she added.

And not once to mince words, Ekta readily admits that “Ragini MMS” is definitely not the kind of movie she would watch with her parents.

It is “strictly for youngsters!” she exclaimed.

Simons will now be in charge of the Indian team for next month’s tour of the West Indies as the 62-year-old Fletcher, now a British citizen, will join the team only after the series due to prior commitments.

“I have never worked with Duncan, so I am looking forward to working with him. I am sure he will bring in some fresh ideas to the team like he did during his English stint. But I think coaching the No.1 team in the world will be a real challenge for Fletcher,” said Simons, who was appointed the bowling coach in January 2010.

Simons and his compatriot Gary Kirsten, the former India coach, forged a successful partnership that saw India becoming the No.1 Test team and winning the 2011 World Cup after 28 years. Simmons also played a key role in India’s success in South Africa, where they drew the Test series for the first time.

On his extension, Simons said: “I had agreed in principle to continue as the bowling coach. Now that they have agreed to give me an extension, I have to sit down with them and discuss the nature of the contract and the tenure.”

Simons admitted that looking at India’s stature in world cricket, his job will only get tougher.

“These are exciting and tough times for me. The last one year has been great for me and now the job has become tougher. The challenge will be to keep the team on top. The expectations are always high from World champions and living up to them will be a challenge for this Indian team,” said Simons, who coached the South African team for two years (2002-04).

Simons, however, is concerned about the form of the fast bowlers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ahead of a hectic international calendar that also involves a tour to England for four Test matches in July-August.

“Conditions are tough for Indian bowlers on pitches which heavily favour batsmen. I think we have to ensure that we have enough bench strength ahead of the two series so that we can rotate our bowlers. In the modern era, you always need a group of bowlers since you can’t always rely on your main bowlers to be fit,” said Simmons.

Asked if his bowlers need to cut down on the amount of cricket they play to stay fit, Simons said: “That is a personal choice, I can’t say much about it. My job is to give them confidence. When you’re confident you can run in and bowl quickly in good areas, they can play as much as they want.”

“Absolutely nothing will happen, the whole state is doing nothing, how can you think that some people will see it and feel the pinch on what they are doing themselves?” Anusha told IANS in an interview here.

“Nothing can happen until people stand up and regulate it. How many of us in the metros even want to think about it?”

Though the script talks about the serious problems, it makes audiences laugh.

“The content of the film has not been made comical by effort. Nothing is comedy. It’s an extremely serious movie. You will laugh because of the way it has been presented, but the laugh will not go easy on you – you will also feel the pinch,” she said.

Released Friday, the film has been produced by Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and it takes pot shots at the media, politicians and bureaucrats.

“Being in the media I have seen it very closely. In some instances, you can say that it is a sarcastic take on my personal experience of how media deals with an issue.”

“But on the other hand, even if I had not been a journalist and if I had been reading newspapers and watching news channels on a daily basis, I would have come up with the same impression that the observations of the media are not (always) right.”

Asked if her journalistic experience helped her write the script, she said: “No. There have been a number of articles in newspapers and magazines and above all it was more from general awareness. All those things made the script come into being, you know.”

If the issue is universal, why did she shoot the film in Madhya Pradesh?

“It could be anywhere in India. We had to shoot it somewhere and wherever we would have shot it, it would have looked like that. But if you see the film, it says it is Mukhya Pradesh. That means it’s a completely fictitious state and Peepli is a fictitious village in it. Even for the police uniform, we have not used it from any state of India,” said Anusha.

She maintains that around 900 people from across the country were auditioned to select each character.

“The audition was done in a very detailed manner. It was very, very important for the film. It took us a long time and actually the casting department did most of the work. They auditioned 900 people to choose the characters,” said Anusha.

Asked if the association with Aamir helped in the film having a wider reach, she said: “Of course, Aamir is the brand ambassador of the film if you want to call it that way. He already has a big fan following, he has friends and he could take the film to those people with less effort than any one else could have.”

She clarifies that before making the film, she was involved with documentaries and it was not a direct transition from journalism to filmmaking.

“It was not like leaving journalism to come into filmmaking. I left journalism in 2002 as I had done enough of it. I was doing documentary and looking out for funding when I got the idea for this film. So it was not a direct transition from journalism to filmmaking.”

“Peepli Live” was well received in the international film circuit too like the Sundance Film Festival, where it was the first Indian film to be selected for the competition section and the Berlin Film Festival.

The director is overwhelmed after receiving the Best First Feature Film award at the 31st Durban International Film Festival.

“I was completely numb. I think my reactions have all gone haywire. It was so difficult to react to something like that. It was very overwhelming because apart from Aamir and me, there were 150 people who worked day in-day out in on the film. For all of us, it’s a great achievement,” said Anusha.