Esha's acting skills not fully utilised, says Varma

Mumbai, Aug 29 (IANS) Director Ram Gopal Varma seems quite impressed by Esha Deol and says her acting skills have not been fully exploited. The actress plays an intense role in his new horror-comedy "Darling".

"Esha's character in the film has been treated with intensity. She is a good actress who has not been utilised fully," said Varma told IANS. "Darling" releases Sep 7.

The director, whose expertise lies in making horror and underworld films, tries his hand at comedy for the first time in "Darling" and is confident that it will succeed in eliciting laughter from the audience.

"Thematically, 'Darling' is of a different genre. It is a horror comedy, which makes you laugh. It begins as a romantic comedy then becomes a murder mystery and then turns into a horror film. It is a highly emotional, relationship story where the basic premise starts with comedy," said Varma.

The film will see Fardeen Khan as the male lead. This is Varma's third film with the actor after the thriller "Jungle" and "Bhoot".

The film has been produced by T-Series, which is known for making musicals. But Varma is happy with the publicity of the film, which also stars Isha Koppikar.

"I am extremely happy with the promotion of the film. I've got a very good feedback. At the end of the day, Bhushan Kumar (of T-Series) knows what he wants. In fact, I give him credit for the songs - especially 'Tadap' and 'Aa khushi'. It was his taste and I went by his judgment. Not that I didn't like them. I have shot the songs myself."

However, Varma admits if he had produced the film himself, it would have been a serious flick.

"Eventually, if I had made 'Darling' myself I would have made a serious genre film. I am glad it was his film and it was because of him that it has turned into a musical horror film, which is something I could never think of."

Talking about Bipasha Basu, who was signed for the film but later replaced, Varma said: "Every film goes through a transition. We work on the project every day and from the time of the planning to the real execution, there are a lot of changes. I have high regard for her.

"Right now I have no plans of working with her but, yes, if the character demands and she fits the role, I definitely will. There are so many ifs and buts in a project you know."

Varma refuses to call the song "Aa Khushi" featuring Nisha Kothari an item number.

"I don't understand this item song. The song is used in the context of the film and it is just another song. I had liked the song earlier and it couldn't be used in any other film. It fitted the shot perfectly, hence it has been used."

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Darling