After 'Maqbool', Vishal Bharadwaj has come up with yet another Shakespeare adaptation- 'Omkara'. In conversation with TWF correspondent Vickey Lalwani the director, who is getting rave reviews of his film, talks about his new film and future plans.

Q: You were hell bent on releasing the film on July 28?
A: (Smiles) Yes. I had to make it into theatres on July 28 at any cost because for two weeks afterwards there are no significant releases until Karan Johar's 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'. 'Omkara' is a film that would need time to grow on audiences.

Q: So, you took on three departments of post-production simultaneously?
A: That's right. I was orchestrating the dubbing, mixing and background score in three different studios simultaneously. It felt like three different Vishals in three different places.

Q: The buzz and expectation for 'Omkara' is very high?
A: It has a huge star cast - Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Viveik Oberoi and Konkona SenSharma. So, the buzz is automatically created. That's one of the main reasons why you have the buzz.

But I am quite amazed at the magnitude of the buzz. Perhaps after 'Maqbool' audiences do feel a certain excitement about watching my films. They want to see what I have done with the stars. They want to know if a music director-turned-director can hold them for three hours with big stars.

Q: The film has a long love-making scene between Kareena and Ajay. Was it easy to shoot that scene?
A: No. We all felt awkward and even a bit embarrassed because Kareena was the youngest member of the team. But the scene was integral to the script. So, it had to be done.

Q: How did you do it then?
A: Kareena had to do a bare-backed shot. She was a bit nervous. So I rehearsed the love scenes with Ajay and Kareena with their clothes on. That not only made them comfortable with each other, it also made the whole exercise more technical and cinematic. I had read this technique in a book on cinema. That ruse worked.

Q: You guys could not finalise the title for a long time?
A: In the beginning, we were unsure about the most suitable title. And so we set up a contest, seeking the public's opinion was launched. Approximately 25 lakh people, the world over voted.

And more than 80 per cent of them opted for 'Omkara'. This title was also the first choice of Saif, Bipasha, Kareena, Konkana and myself. But yes, Naseeruddin Shah, Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi wanted the other title that we had in mind- 'Issak'.

Q: How was the entire set put together?
A: Our production designer Samir Chanda created the set from scratch. It took nearly 40-45 days to build and had 200 huts. It was so big that it could easily inhabit 1,000 people. Nearly 55-60 per cent of our film was shot here, so it was important that everything looked genuine.

So we recreated an entire village the way it would have looked in Uttar Pradesh- right from the typical roofs of the huts to the ochre-yellow colour of the mud. The set cost us Rs 2.5 crore to build (pauses).

Q: Please continue...
A: The set appeared so real that I actually mistook it for a real village. When we reached Wai on the day of the shoot, I told my driver to ask for directions to the set. We stopped at this huge village and my driver and I got out of the car to ask for directions. There were a whole lot of vans parked on the premises but I did not realise that I was actually standing on the sets of my own film 'Omkara'.

Q: Are you wanting to become a producer?
A: I am co-producing an anti-cigarette feature film 'No Smoking' with Kumar Mangat again. I am not new to production. Even 'Maqbool', 'Makdee' and my ready-for-release film about kids 'The Blue Umbrella' are co-productions. The proposed film will have an anti-smoking message though in an entertaining way.

Q: Who has been finalised for that film?
A: Only John Abraham has been finalised for the anti-smoking film.

Q: What happened to 'Mr. Singh & Mrs. Mehta' which you were supposed to make with Kareena and Aamir?
A: Aamir is not doing that film and I have decided to keep it on hold. But I want to do one more Shakespearean adaptation to complete my trilogy.

Q: Back to 'Omkara'. Are you nervous about the fate of the film?
A: Not really. I have a gut feeling that it will do well. I have made a very sincere film.