by Subhash K Jha

As he prepared to release his thirteenth film Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (HDKG) Raj Kanwar was puzzled by his leading lady's indignant protests about the film's publicity.

"Why is she doing this? A film is like one complete body and soul. You are either part of it, or you are not. Ek shareer mein haath hota hai. Woh haath agar bole ke I'm not part of the body, it isn't right. She has done my film.

And before she did it she knew what she was getting into. We had never put it in an agreement that she will or won't be part of our publicity. Bipasha isn't a guest star in the film.

We wanted to project HDKG as a love story with two heroes and two heroines. Now she's quoted in an interview as saying she has only one song in my film. That isn't true. She has two major songs."

Raj Kanwar has worked with every leading lady from the late Divya Bharati to never-late Bipasha. "She's very punctual, respectful. I spoke to her secretary about what her problem is.

He said she didn't want to be projected as the second lead. But T Series is bound to project the other girl (Katrina) through her songs. Now Bipasha's songs are also on."

The prolific director is shy of speaking directly to Bipasha. "She's such a wonderful girl. I don't know what kind of insecurities are making her behave like this. Yeh to duniya ka dastoor hai ke achche achche talent aaate hi rahenge. Issmein insecurity nahin honi chahiye. Every artiste, whether it's Bipasha or Katrina comes with her destiny. What's the point of drawing attention in this way?"

Raj is unhappy about his film being mired in negative controversies-- first Anu Malik and Sameer being accused of plagiarizing Aadesh Shrivastav and Anand Bakshi's song, and now the Bipasha controversy. "I don't believe in this kind of publicity.

Every film has its depth and will find its level. I think Bipasha is bad-mouthing her own film. She's part of it and she cannot dissociate herself from it. For me Katrina and Bipasha are equally important. They're the two eyes of my film."

Raj admits Katrina has the meatier love story. "However my film would be incomplete without Bipasha.... HDKG is inspired by the story of a couple in Toronto whom I met during my annual summer vacation. I was stuck by their romance and immediately decided to make a film on their lives.

I drafted the story in seven days. I've raised a very important issue this time...What connects people in this world? What's the relevance and validity of traditions ? What keeps people together? Feelings!

What's a marriage without feelings? I know of so many couples who are together in lifeless liaisons where their dialogues are restricted to, 'Khana lagaa doon...Bachche school se aa gaye?'....Why resort to traditional bonds at the cost of true feelings?

It's said God arranges couples in heaven. In that case why does he make us fall in love? God has given us one life. Let's not live our lives trapped in traditions. I know the traditionalists will be offended.

But as long as the there's some debate between traditional and liberal elements on the question tradition and marriage, I think I'd have succeeded."

He's all praise for his leading man Akshay Kumar. "When I worked with him for the first time in Andaz my problem was, how to give a romantic image to an actor who has done so many actions films? Akshay ke andar ek kamaal ka actor hai. That actor is yet to be tapped. He lives and eats cinema.

He values punctuality. And his energy level is unmatchable. And what a hot pair he makes with Katrina. They're the USP in HDKG...just like Lara-Priyanka in Andaz. Akshay and Katrina don't only look made for each other.They look mad for each other."

Akshay and Raj are likely to work together again on Raj's next film. "Why not? I'm working on two scripts. They'll have familiar themes that will be treated differently. One of them is a period film set in Kolkata in the 1960s. In HDKG I have to divert audiences from the comedy that Akshay has been doing recently. This is his first film where his spoken language is utterly natural."

Raj's last film Andaz was a golden jubilee hit. "I waited for two years to resolve a dilemma between multiplexes and single theatres. After Andaz I again wanted to make a film that appealed to audiences everywhere from Bihar to Birmingham.

I've always made popular films. I can't move away from my style of filmmaking. But I've introduced innovations in the packaging. I still need biscuits with my morning tea.

The difference is, earlier the biscuits used to come directly from the bakery. Now they come from branded packets. I'm here to entertain people. I've succeeded most of the time. If out of my fifteen films twelve have been super-hits, that isn't a bad ratio, is it?"

After Andaz and before HDKG he was working on another subject. "But I thought I had done that already. I wanted to do something in keeping with the times and yet completely my own.

I hope I haven't made my old mistakes in HDKG. Prem ki bhasha, music ki bhasha...main nahin chhod sakta. I can't start making Hollywood –styled films."

The prolific director feels he hasn't got the recognition he deserves. "The media has always given me a step-brotherly treatment. I can't hard-sell myself. I was never brought up to tom-tom my own achievements.

My work has always spoken for me. A child is grappling within me. He wants me to rebel and move away from the expected. I've done that in HDKG. What's love? That's what I've asked in my film. Bold hai....let's see how it goes."