Karan Razdan changes track with 'Umar'

Mumbai, March 20 (IANS) Writer-director Karan Razdan treads a new path with his just-released "Umar", a film about three lonely old men, after forays into making films that were dismissed as sleaze.

He acquired notoriety last year with the two back-to-back movies "Hawas" and "Girlfriend". So why the change of track?

"It's a subject that was with me for 14 years," Razdan told IANS in an interview.

"It's a very decent film. Not that I intended any notoriety while making 'Hawas' or 'Girlfriend'. Those were subjects that came to me quite naturally. I didn't make them because it had become a trend to make sexy films. Yes, they were bold films. But they had a point to make."

What baffles Razdan is the way Amrita Arora, one of the leading ladies of "Girlfriend", turned badmouthed and disowned the film on the chat show "Koffee With Karan" hosted by ace filmmaker Karan Johar.

"Why after so long? 'Girlfriend' is long gone. Amrita Arora had no problems doing the film, or the hot scenes...Nor did she have any problems promoting and marketing the film.

"Suddenly, sitting in front of Mr. Karan Johar she gets embarrassed about a film she has done? She is free to badmouth 'Girlfriend'.

"I stand by my film. I own responsibility for it. It's as much part of my growth as a writer and filmmaker as 'Dushmani', which I wrote for Shekhar Kapur, or 'Roshni', which I directed and which never got released. I have believed in every emotion I have put down on paper or celluloid."

Now with his new film "Umar", Razdan said he has found immense self-satisfaction.

"Kader Khan, Prem Chopra and Satish Kaushik play the lead. 'Umar' is about getting old and the loneliness that it causes. I am getting no younger and I feel the need to introspect and find my roots."

"Umar" is one of Bollywood's rare films about the old, like Mohan Kumar's "Avatar" and Amrit and Gurudev Bhalla's "Sharaarat".

"And what really makes me happy is the fact that Manna Dey has sung the theme song for composer Shamir Tandon. Mannada agreed to return to the microphone after he heard the film's theme.

"I think the last song he sang in Hindi was for Nana Patekar's 'Prahaar'. That really makes me proud."

Razdan, who once wrote and acted in the epoch-making TV serial "Rajani" in which he co-starred with his late wife Priya Tendulkar, has indeed come a long way.

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