Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala speaks to TWF correspondent Vickey Lalwani about his Rs 60 crore kickstart to animation, about Hera Pheri 3 and Hollywood forays.

Q: Sequels generally don't work. Did you really expect the returns that Phir Hera Pheri gave you?
A: Well, I had taken the utmost precaution of not getting carried away by the success of Hera Pheri. And that's exactly what I am going to do when I make Hera Pheri Part 3.

Q: You changed the girls in Hera Pheri Part 2. Will they further change for Part 3?
A: The girls may again change. But the guys (Akshay, Sunil, Paresh) will not. Let's face it. The story is of Raju, Shyam and Baburao.

Q: Why are you working on 3D animation?
A: Why not? In the last one year, animation has become a parallel entertainment industry by itself.

Q: How are you going about it?
A: To begin with, I have started a company which will work on animation projects. It's called NET (Nadiadwala Entertainment Technology). This division is making India's first two 3D animation movies- Ramayan and Mahabharat.

Our company made the first Mahabharata film (Abhi Bhattacharya, Padmini, Pradeep Kumar, Jeevan, Dara Singh) in 1963, which ran more than 25 weeks. We are well equipped in terms of the team of writers and will leave no stone unturned in research.

This 3D will be the first of its kind in India, not the type where you need to wear special glasses but the type where the characters are almost real.

Q: Please continue...
A: Ramayan and Mahabharat are being produced at a cost of Rs 30 crore each. Work on both these films has begun and they will release almost simultaneously. To work on these, NET has contracted story board artistes who have worked on Hollywood animated movies like Cars, The Incredibles, Madagascar, Ice Age and Finding Nemo.

NET will also provide an International level academy for teaching and training students in the art of story boarding and 3D animation graphics. We will also undertake animation projects outsourced from abroad. We have many friends in LA who have shown tremendous interest.

Q: Is the animation work being done in your Juhu office itself?
A: No. I have a new office with a proper infrastructure created specially for this work, near Fame Adlabs.

Q: What are the plans for the release of Ramayan and Mahabharat?
A: I am planning to give these films a worldwide release in 2008. Both films will be dubbed in all major foreign languages and released internationally. Also, in India, these films will be dubbed in the regional languages and the voices to the characters will be given by the famous filmstars of that particular region. I have more plans on the animation front.

Q: Uh huh?
A: I am looking forward to see these films go to the Oscars as India's official entry. And yes, I am going to do Hera Pheri too on animation, where the voices of the actors shall be retained.

Q: Why do you choose Ramayan and Mahabharat?
A: These two epics are famous worldwide and can be targetted for an audience from age groups of 5 to 90 years. Both these subjects tell you that good triumphs over the evel. It installs your faith in God and fellow human beings, which is necessary in today's times.

Q: We heard that you planning to get into Hollywood?
A: Yes. I am going to produce two very big Hollywood projects. These films will have not small but big actors, top directors and hi-tech studios from Hollywood. Some Indian actors might be included.

Q: You have two Hindi films under production- Welcome and Fool and Final?
A: I am almost done with them. Fool and Final will release first. I am looking at January 26, 2007, for the release date. That maybe slightly in the distance, but in today's times, it is very important to time the release well. I am also working on many Hindi films, for which I will finalise the directors and the cast very soon.