By Joginder Tuteja

SHORTKUT-THE CON IS ON has flopped miserably and tongues have started wagging if writer-director Neeraj Vora was indeed the right choice for making the film.

After all, the film was the remake of very successful Malayalam film UDAYANANU THARAM and it must have required some real bad rehash for this Akshaye-Arshad starrer to fare the way it has.

Moreover, it is known fact that writer-director Anees Bazmee had first worked on re-writing the film to suit the sensibilities of Hindi speaking audiences before Neeraj Vora took over.

So the question is; why didn't Anees himself go on to direct this Anil Kapoor production? Why was Neeraj Vora roped in who has earlier directed PHIR HERA PHERI and KHILADI 420.

All Anil Kapoor had to say, "Anees was associated with the project from the very beginning once I bought the rights of the Malayalam film which was originally directed by Roshan Andrews. Anees adapted it into Hindi and came up with the first draft. In the process of doing so, he changed the original script completely and made it into an original story."

So why didn't Anees himself continue with direction as well?

"I had quite a few directors in mind and Anees was an obvious choice. However, he was busy in other films and Neeraj turned out to be the best bet. What went in Neeraj's favour was that he is a writer-director", Anil reasoned.

One wonders though if the wait for Anees Bazmee would have been worth it. After all Anees Bazmee has been closely associated with the Kapoor family for years.

He had earlier directed Boney Kapoor's NO ENTRY, roped in Anil Kapoor as one of the main leads in WELCOME, is helping Sanjay Kapoor's launch as a producer by directing IT'S MY LIFE and is already busy with Anil Kapoor's next production NO PROBLEM.