Salman has a heart of gold: Subhash Ghai

New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai has given many hits in the past, but for his forthcoming venture Yuvvraaj, he credits actor Salman Khan. He says the project would have not been possible without Salman's support.

It was Salman who inspired me to make 'Yuvvraaj'. At the time of crisis, when my films were failing and I was low on finance, Salman encouraged me to make a film. He said, 'Don't worry, I'm with you'. I was really touched, Ghai told IANS in an interview.

"I must say that Salman has a heart of gold and I don't have any qualms in giving him the credit for the film. Not even once did I feel that I'm working with a star. I felt I'm working with a family member, a younger brother," he added.

Along with Salman, "Yuvvraaj" also stars Anil Kapoor, Zayed Khan and Katrina Kaif in key roles.

Releasing Friday, the film is the story of three brothers driven by sibling rivalry and a woman cellist who plays the catalyst in bringing them together.

"Yuvvraaj", which has been made on a budget of more than Rs.450 million and is one of Ghai's most ambitious projects, is extensively shot in Austria and Prague.

In films like "Karz", "Meri Jung", "Khalnayak" and "Taal", Ghai proved his fascination for stories with a strong musical backing and he has done the same in "Yuvvraaj".

"For the last few years, I noticed a trend of video music culture on the silver screen where nothing matches - be it lyrics, visuals, etc. So, it gave me an idea to make a grammatically right song for the big screen," said Ghai, who was here to promote the film.

Ghai roped in Gulzar to pen the songs and used live orchestra for all the compositions in the film. A.R. Rahman and Ghai worked together for almost 82 days to create songs that are an amalgamation of Indian and western classical music.

"I told Rahman to create music of a different level. I told him: let's not use computer, let's use a hundred violins and real choirs," said the filmmaker.

Ghai said that he worked very hard and it took him nearly 12 days to shoot each song.

"When Rahman created the music, which was soothing to the ears, I realised that now it is my responsibility to ensure that the songs look beautiful on the screen.

"'Yuvvraaj' is a film which should justify what I thought and I hope that people like it and understand why I have made such a film in such a form which is different from what we see in movies nowadays," said Ghai.

The many films Ghai has produced in the past include "36 China Town", "Shaadi Se Pehle", "Joggers' Park" and the much acclaimed "Iqbal".

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