He hasn't seen much success lately with his last film flopping miserably, but Deepak Shivdasani wants to put that all behind him with his latest "Julie" -- so much in the news lately with Neha Dhupia's skin show.

Leading lady Neha seems to be cornering all the attention, and Shivdasani is gung-ho that people are at least talking about his film and waiting to see it.

Says Shivdasani: " 'Julie' is getting noticed. That's what matters. My last film 'Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke' was a failure. I wanted to run away from India because I couldn't pay my creditors. I wanted to migrate to the US and work as a cabbie there. Thank god I stuck on.

"I had finalised another script as my next film. It was a male-centric script. But I found it hard to get across to any prominent actor. Then I thought, why not make a female-centric film? At least I'll have my protagonist's full attention. It was extremely difficult to make a film on the life of a prostitute. How does a woman sell her own body for a price?"

Shivdasani says he has been impressed by films about prostitutes like B.R. Chopra's "Sadhana" and B.R. Ishaara's "Chetna". "The sound recordist of B.R. Films saw 'Julie'. He said I must show it to B.R Chopra Saab. What a compliment!"

When did Neha Dhupia come into the picture? "I wanted a new face to play the prostitute. I needed someone innocent. Also, an established actress wouldn't have been uninhibited about the skin show. I wanted an actress who would believe in me and the script. I looked at a lot of fresh faces."

Somewhere in between, Shivdasani also started shooting for a Hindi version of the Telugu hit "Idiot" with Zayed Khan and Celina Jaitley.

"At that time, I was jobless. Mr Puranchandra Rao is such a reputed producer. I threw myself at his feet and begged him to let me do 'Idiot'. I was lucky to get it. But I wonder why it isn't over as yet. Only the songs and the climax remain."

While "Julie" is a story based on Shivdasani's idea, "Idiot" is the third remake after "Bhai" and "Gopi Kishen", both of which were successful. "When I do a remake, I make sure I bring my own interpretation to it. I make sure I adapt the south flavour to the north. True, south remakes aren't working. But I feel confident about 'Idiot'."

Shivdasani admits he felt totally isolated from the industry after the failure of "Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke". "I needed to remind the industry that I was still around. In 'Julie' I'm inspired by Raj Kapoor's 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili'. In that, the girl goes from the purity of Gangotri to the corruption of Varanasi. Likewise, in 'Julie' my heroine travels from Goa to Mumbai.

"Perhaps 'Julie' is being perceived as a sleazy product. That can't be helped. I am very confident about my film, specially the climax where I've created a powerful emotional impact. People may come to see skin. They'll leave with soul."

Shivdasani has earlier directed rugged macho films. "That's true. Even 'Madame X', which had Rekha in the title role, was about an underworld don. 'Julie' was a change. But I was one with the character. On many occasions, I got into Julie's shoes. I understood what my protagonist went through."

Shivdasani, who has earlier worked with stars like Rekha, Suniel Shetty and Mithun Chakraborty, is totally against the star system now.

"I feel I should now make films without established stars. At least I can be the master of ceremonies on the sets. When 'Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke' flopped, it was entirely my funeral. I lost Rs. 33 million. I remember the film released on Aug 18. On Aug 20 I cried all by myself. Hopefully, this Sunday I won't be crying. My fingers are crossed."

What about "Asambhav", which releases with "Julie"? "It's a bigger film. But 'Julie' will get a better opening. I feel it." Next on Shivdasani's plate is a film called "AAA".

"It's not Amar Akbar Anthony. It's Anjali Anna Anamika. But it isn't 'Charlie's Angels'. It's going to be on the lines of 'Yaadon Ki Baraat' and 'Kill Bill'. And I want to shoot the entire film in Hong Kong. I'll be introducing a girl trained in martial arts in one of the roles. For now, I'm happy doing female-oriented films. I can't chase male stars. I'd rather chase my dreams."