Rana (left) with real life Mausi

Q. You are doing a film on the grimy underbelly of Mumbai again. What gives?
A. Any comparison between Satya and Company would be wrong. Satya dealt with small-time crooks. There was a hint of the underworld but the protagonists did not have a clear idea about it. In Company I deal with the macro-level—a top-angle view of the underworld and how the company’s philosophy can affect individual personalities.

Q. What was the biggest challenge in the film?
A. To show a gripping narrative rather than an educational or informative film. The narration is complex but I’ve tried to portray it through a mentor-prodigy relationship that deals with friendship, betrayal and loyalty.

Q. How is it different from other gangster movies?
A. Company deals with organised crime. I realised that a policeman is less of an action hero and more of a strategist. The police play psychological games and look at crime as a disease. There is no personal animosity against the criminal. I’ve tried to show the cold and calculative attitude.

Q. Gangster movies usually come under a lot of controversy because of the use of abusive language, smoking and substance abuse. How have you balanced that?
A. Company is a classically fashioned film where expletives haven’t been used.

If Looks Could Kill ...

Bad girls do make it after all. Ayesha Dharker, whose suicide mission in Santosh Sivan’s Terrorist first got her attention, is now being feted with 299 others. Not for her talent but as one of 300 of the “World’s Most Beautiful Women”, according to Britain’s Sunday Express. The dusky beauty, who is currently in London, casually mentioned it to her family during an hour-long conversation and proud papa, columnist Anil Dharker, hasn’t stopped beaming since.

The list, compiled by a predominantly British jury of fashion photographers, writers, critics and editors, includes names like Madonna and Natalie Portman. Ayesha, by the way, is positioned at 173 but then let’s not nitpick, shall we?

Big Deal

ME TOO:Gustad

While Kaizad Gustad’s The Film might get the pre-release hype for its star cast—Malini Ramani, Padma Lakshmi and Rohit Bal—as the first Indo-Australian co-production, it is hardly an exception. Over 100 documentaries, films and music videos are either being shot or getting their post-production done Down Under. All this with no publicity. Sydney-based actor-director and The Film’s producer Anupam Sharma says, “Our brief is, don’t miss the next Lagaan.” Hopefully.

CONTROVERSY
Action Sequence

FIRM STAND: Mookhey

There seems no respite in sight for the cast and crew of Pyaasa. The trouble began when debutante and former Miss World Yukta Mookhey asked for money due to her. A few sharp interviews later the money came but so did the barbs. Producer Ramesh Sharma, who had already fired director
A. Muthu, needed some more dates to shoot which Mookhey was unwilling
to give. Result: Mookhey was dubbed “uncooperative”. Says mediator Anil Nagrath of the Association of Motion Pictures and tv Programme Producers, “They are yet to come to a compromise.” Caught in the crossfire are Mookhey’s co-stars, Zulfi Sayed and Aftab Shivdasani. Thirsting for peace.

—compiled by Himanshi Dhawan